Also known as my mom's 2008 Mercedes GL450. In keeping my GTI and my dad's BMW clean, my mom's car occasionally gets neglected, mostly due to its immense size and my lack of desire to work on something so large. But my mom still likes having a clean car and it was really in need of attention so I started work on spring break. Due to time constraints I've had to break up detailing this car into sections. I did the interior a month ago on spring break, which is what I'm posting up now. I started doing the exterior (wash/clay and first coat of wax) last weekend and will finish it up (door jambs and final wax) the day of prom. Instead of a limo I will be driving a group of friends to prom in the Mercedes so naturally I want it to look perfect. Onto products and processes and whatnot, these just for the interior. Products: Zep Citrus, various dilutions Stoner Invisible Glass Megs APC, various dilutions 303 Aerospace Protectant Shopvac whose brand escapes me Various brushes Various microfibers Process: My mom keeps her interior infinitely cleaner than her friends keep theirs, so not much was required to clean it. Interior was first vacuumed and brushed, and all plastics received a wipe down with Zep Citrus 10:1, while dirtier spots got it 3:1 and were agitated with a brush. The artificial leather seats were also cleaned with Zep Citrus 10:1, after doing a test spot to insure it would not cause any damage. Windows cleaned with Stoner Invisible Glass, and finally all surfaces dressed with 303 Aerospace Protectant. As the seats are not actually leather I used the 303 on them as well. Is there some sort of conditioner that you would recommend for artificial leather? Pictures: Before: Afters: The Mercedes brand rubber floormats are awful, the instant you touch them with your feet they get marks all over them that will only partially come off with intense scrubbing, so they always look dirty There was blue dye transfer onto the driver's seat, I could only get some of it off... I feel like I took too many pictures. I will touch up the interior and finish up the exterior in the next couple of weeks and update this. As always any comments/suggestions are welcome. Thanks for reading! Clark P.S. As a side note, we recently got a call from Mercedes asking if we wanted to trade in our car--apparently they are low on used GL's and because we keep ours looking nice they wanted it
Not to many pictures at all! More is never a bad thing, atleast then I can skip through them if I have seen enough. I hate posts with only a few pictures lol. You do keep it nice! I'm eagerly waiting on seeing the exterior of this beast all done up.
Welllll...I finished up the exterior and touched up the interior today Instead of renting a limo for prom my friends and I are all taking this so I've spent all day getting it looking immaculate. Prom is tonight so I will update at some point after that
Have fun tonight! I detailed a GL450 2 months back except it was a lighter tan color, same trim combo though. THAT THING WAS HUGE.
Alright here comes the update. First off, I had a wonderful time at prom A huge storm hit us on the way there so the car didn't stay clean for long, but I needed to get it properly detailed at some point so I figured this was the perfect opportunity. Of all the cars that people brought to prom, we had the nicest and cleanest (sorry I like never brag but when it comes to cars I sometimes do...) The "before" pictures are from a couple weeks ago when I washed/clayed/applied Collinite 845 and detailed the engine bay. All the afters (minus engine bay) were taken yesterday when I re-washed it and applied AutoGlym HD and did the door jambs. For simplicity I've just written the procedure as though I did everything in one day. Products used: Zep Citrus, 10:1 and 3:1 Various brushes, including Raceglaze and EZ detail Megs Gold Class car was soap Cheap fertilizer sprayer Eagle One dressing applicator Blackfire applicator pads Westley's Bleche-White DI sheepskin mitt Vroom drying towels Orange CG microfibers (wax buffing) Costco towels (dirty work) ONR clay lube and QD DI fine clay Megs Wheel Brightener 303 Aerospace Protectant Collinite 845 Autoglym HD Duragloss Aquawax P21S polishing soap Terry cloths Procedure: I started with the engine bay, it was hosed down and then sprayed with Zep Citrus 3:1. Agitated with various brushes and then started up/blown with leaf blower to aid in drying. Final drying done with Costco microfiber, dressed with 303 Aerospace. Next to the exterior, I started by cleaning the wheels with Megs Wheel Brightener, wells with Zep Citrus 3:1, and tires with Westley's Bleche-White, agitated with various brushes. Some of that stuff is really nasty and I've finally started wearing gloves when I use it, as I should have been all along. Then I used the cheap fertilizer sprayer to spray a mix of Zep Citrus and Megs Gold class car wash soap to strip any last remnants of LSP off the car. The car was then washed with a mixture of Zep Citrus and Megs Gold Class (amazing smell by the way) with a DI wash mitt using the two-bucket method and a grit guard. Then I began claying, I used ONR at clay lube dilution and DI fine clay. Picked up quite a bit of contaminants off the back of the car and lowers. Dried with Vroom drying towels. Then I did the door jambs, they weren't incredibly dirty so I just used ONR at QD dilution and a Costco microfiber to tidy them up a bit. Collinite 845 applied with Blackfire applicator pad...I loved the pad and it made application so much easier! Next Autoglym HD was applied...I tried using the Blackfire pad for it too but I think I'll stick with the supplied pads next time. The tailpipes and aluminum skid pans were polished with P21S polishing soap and buffed with the terry towels. Next I dressed all trim and the tires with 303 Aerospace Protectant, using the Eagle One dressing applicators and a couple old paintbrushes. Buffed down to a matte finish (still getting the hang of it on the wheels.) Finally, I applied Duragloss Aquawax. All waxes and the Aquawax buffed off with the CG orange microfibers. I got a great deal on them and I've really liked them so far! I also did a bit of a touch up on the interior and put in the carpet mats as I don't like the Mercedes rubber mats. Now for pictures... Before: Afters: And there ya go, finally done! I'll get some pictures from prom uploaded if you want me to As usual any comments/suggestions are welcome. Thanks for reading! Clark
