Hi guys! First post here. I posted a few days back about my mom's unclayable car. Bascially I was recommend to get a decon chemical, and I bought iron x. a short history about the car: 1. Bought new when our family was visiting my brother in California. We are in Vancouver. Actually we weren't so much 'visiting' my brother. Long story short, he was badly hurt in an accident and we had to be there with him with a safer car. 2. we got it when CAD and USD were basically 1:1. The american price was $5x,xxx, and the Canadian price was $7x,xxx!! We looked at A6 and Gs as well but the benz was the most beneficial purchase. (A6 and Gs price differencial was around $15,000 whereas the price differencial for this car was $20,000) 3. We were there for about 5 months without a home, meaning that I couldn't really wash the car myself (these are just all excuses I know... lol). So~ I just got used to being lazy, but after I got my Audi S4 about 6 months ago, I got interested in detailing. so I waxed a car for the first time about 4 months ago, and have waxed my car about 3 times. More work could be done to the car and they will be, I need some bug tar remover maybe. procedure: washed clayed iron x clayed again washed wax wax products: duragloss wheel cleaner CWC (first wash) CWG (second wash) Colinite 845 (first protection) Colinite 915 (second protection) Sonax fine clay Iron x Mothers metal polish Zaino 9 and 10 for the seats Turtle Ice tire dressing It is not perfect at all, but enjoy! EDIT: forgot to mention that I do not own a polishing machine, so I've no 50/50 shots Before shots (so sorry for the random order): Jean stains on the seats you can see the jean stains (Edit: how did I get it on the edge..? maybe it's not all jean stains..?) I read somewhere that all metallic parts should be masked before iron x..? just trying to play safe After shots: The trunk Grill Shot The wheels are curbed up BAD, this is the part of the wheel that's not curbbed cleaned seats did what I can do with this for now.. any suggestions what I should use to remove that stubborn dirt? Exterior shots after a coat of 845 and 915 engine bay was cleaned but without any dressing, it doesn't look all that good lol
Yea, not bad at all on the savings- does it have a clean title? Sorry to hear about your brother, hope he is OK. Car came out looking good, nice work. Depending on what kind of dirt that is on the door sill, you could try any number of things, but I'm not sure what all you have to select from. A few options: citrus degreaser, Goo Gone/ 3M gen. purpose adhesive remover, clay bar, steamer etc... What have you tried so far?
Looks good! Does it have real leather for the seats, or artificial? Because my mom's Mercedes GL450 has the same colored interior, with the artificial leather, and it has those same jean stains on the seats. How did you remove the stains?
Jean stain removal is very hard on surfaces as the dye penetrates the surface when given time to set and over time its like the color of the leather is dyed blue. The ways to approach is are with a strong cleaner, LM, or specialty dye removers and sometimes that requires sanding and re-dying the spot. Sadly, it is what it is and should be addressed ASAP. Great MB, we did the same with my moms RX350. 8 Month used vehicle was 48k here, while we paid $33k. Not bad savings Either way from now on we plan only to purchase cars in the states. The savings on a lightly used and more expensive new cars are insane!
@Rcrew: I only tried the Sonax fine detailing clay. I tried a very few drops of Turtle's bug & tar remover but it did not work. I feel like the goo gone might work cuz thats what it sort of felt like. the car does have a clean title. @TheRustySuper: I think it's artificial leather. I cleaned it for the very first time with zaino 9 and leather scrub, and conditioned it with zaino 10
I must say, the final shots are absolutely stunning when 1) "this is your first-ish detail", and 2) "you had no polishing/correction done" are factored in.(Even with those set aside, they look fantastic) I'm very impressed with your work. Constructive criticism? For the wheels, they came out great, but we can still see all the dirt that was left behind on the barrels. Removing them and cleaning them in and out would be a good idea. (A layer of 845 or two works wonders to ease future cleaning as well) Engine; if you have no dressing, you can use tire shine, which yields nice results. Door sills, try APC, if that doesn't work, than move to something stronger like a varied dilution of AG PowerMax. You interior detail was beautiful! Great turn out for the seats. Love 'em! :thumb:
Thank you JoeyV. I was not aware that I can use the same wax for the wheels. I have not drove my mom's car yet, so maybe I'll clean the wheels again and apply 845. the problem is that my ez detail wheel brush broke today so I have no small wheel brush that gets into the barrels... and I will get any one of the purpose cleaners that you and other members have mentioned. Thank you for the tips! means alot
nice work. detailing is rewarding. i love mercedes benzes and their finish paint. being in vancouver you have a real gem in ken at autowerks in maple ridge in your backyard. i would find a way to visit his shop and talk with him. he can steer you onto great products and how to get the most for your buck. i drove from oregon myself to meet him last year. his handle is 911 fanatic.
