Detailer's Domain: Extensive Detail on an 01 S8

[Phil@DD]

This was a huge undertaking. For 1 the car came to us with amazing gloss and depth, however when we went in to examine the car we found tons of imperfections on this 8 year old S8. The customer wanted this car to come out perfect, the total time to get this car right was 24 man hours. The exterior was washed, clayed, compound, polished, and finally Swissvax Divine was used to bring it out. Take a look and enjoy. Products Used: Exterior: Adam's All Purpose Cleaner in the Cam Spray Foam Canon Swissvax Paint Rubber and Optimum Instant Detail Spray and Gloss Enhancer for clay lube Menzerna Power Gloss Compound Menzerna Super Intensive with the Uber Green Pad Menzerna PO85RD with the Uber Blue Pad Menzerna Top Inspection Swissvax Divine Einszett Spray Wax Wheels/Tires/Etc Adam's All Purpose Einszett Wheel Cleaner Adam's VRT Uber Boar's Hair Wheel Brush Swissvax Wheel Brush Swissvax Autobahn Adam's Undercarriage Spray Adam's Glass Cleaner Interior: Uber Interior Kit Leather Master Foam Cleaner for Suede/Alcantara Leather Master Nubuck Protector Tools: Fenix TK11 Brinkmann MaxFire Metabo PE12-175 Flex 3403 The Uber Foam Pads (5.5inch) Tons of "Uber" Microfiber Towels Uber Drying Towels Cam Spray 1500A with Cam Spray Foam Gun Let's get the interior shots in first: Cleaning up the alcantara and protecting it Final shots Wash and Prep: Wax build up Etching in the paint more wax/old polish build up

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[Phil@DD]

Pre soak and cleaning up trim





Cleaning up the wheels (not much needed)


Engine Before




Cleaning the engine bay



All Purpose wash


Claying


Masking


Testing the area for paint thickness and plan of attack


Polishing
Before shots of passenger door
Different angles

[Phil@DD]

Halogen after PG/SIP/PO85RD



Fenix light on panel after PO85RD


After all that polishing.....
DUST!




After polishing before the rinse down (no wax)




Rinse down:


Engine Before /After




Swissvax Divine


Applying Divine


Removing Wax

[Phil@DD]

Final touches
Swissvax Autobahn on the wheels


Black Wow on the trim



Gummi on all the seals


After Gummi





After shots

[Phil@DD]

[Phil@DD]

Outside










Final shot


Thanks for the assistance on this one again Dan!!!! :thumb:

[critterracing]

wow great job. your in nj?

[Objectionable]

Looks great, what is Gummi?

[Phil@DD]

Yup we are in NJ.

Here is Gummi Pflege

Its used for the seals on the car.

[Objectionable]

Originally Posted by Phil@DD

Yup we are in NJ.

Here is Gummi Pflege

Its used for the seals on the car.

Don't know how I missed that.

Just have to say that I love the autobahn wheel wax. Like heated seats, didn't think I need it but now i can't do without it.

[Azn_C300]

Hmm, Gummi not shipped to Cali What's a good alternative that you'd recommend for seal treatment/protection?

[Phil@DD]

Swissvax Seal would be a great alternative

[anistufy]

Great work. You have done a excellent job.

[FT Benz]

Wow....awesome work.

[rory breaker]

Good work man! What polishing tool/buffer did you use, if at all?

Do you find a buffer is necessary to remove swirls on a black car, or are there products applied by hand that do the trick, that arent as expensive as Menzerna?

[Phil@DD]

100% percent you will need a polisher to remove the swirls on something like this, if you you will be there for days /weeks trying to polish it all out.

We used the 2 machines below, hi speed rotaries.
Metabo PE12-175
Flex 3403

For polishes and compounds which are oem to Mercedes nope I haven't really found anything close, why not use what the factory is using on your car on the production line.

[rory breaker]

It is just pricey - Im all for taking care of my cars paint and have always used great mass-marketed products with success because I dont want to spend $50 on a polish.

If I can get 90% of the results (which really is indistinguishable to the naked eye) and spend half on the products, I'd prefer to do that...especially on a brand new car with no need for intense restoration. If Im reading your response right, in your experience, nothing comes even close to Menzerna, even to the standard eye, that is cheaper.

[Phil@DD]

to each his own I have customers that feel that way for sure.

but are you looking at the size of the container of menzerna its 32oz most the walmart goods are 16 oz bottles, so make sure your comparing the right sizes.

menzerna does have 16 oz sizes.

next I would ask myself why MB is using Menzerna and not Eagle one or Meguiars on their production line before your car leaves the plant.

There are great products out there I just find after 10 plus years of using and trying just about everything that Menzerna is one of the best out there for compounds and polishes.

Remember these products are not filling your paint and hiding your imperfections they are correcting your paint, to do so you will need to use at the minimum an orbital polisher or rotary polisher.

if you feel the products you are using are great for your needs then go for it, I'm not here to change your mind in any way I'm just here to present other options and show you the results of what can be done with certain products.

[rory breaker]

Good point about the size, I didnt catch that.

I feel the products I use are good for my needs (keeping great paint looking great, not restoring, just avoiding/removing swirls and ensuring my paint stays glossy and protected) however I also feel there are better products out there for someone who doesnt want to spend 2 days detailing, maybe a few hours, and doesnt need intense restoration qualities.

Thank you for presenting other options, thats what Im looking for - you guys know way more about detailing than I do and thats the reason Im asking these questions, to lean on your experience.

[Phil@DD]

sure thing that's what we are here for.

[Phil@DD]

couldn't have said it better. we have had some customers come back to us 1-2 years later and only needed a 1 step polish and wax.