Detail Q: MB S500 Black

[REZBMR]

ok...so i plan on detailing a black 05 s500 and i have a few q's....
my plan is to do this...Wash, clay, polish, wax

i've got the wash and the clay down, and for polish i was thinking about using the xmt 360 and a pc with a white or orange LC pad (obv starting with the less abbrasive) to remove the swirls in the paint...then topping it off with the liq Souverain wax...my Q is this...people keep telling me to not use a PC on a black car...this seems odd to me...can i use the pc on the benz without damaging it? also...any other steps i'm missing that would make this detail better...and what would one charge for a detail of this sort...thanks

[quantim0]

I don't think you will make any progress without a decent cutting pad on the typically hard MB paint. I don't want to use a PC on a german car because it doesn't cut fast enough to get through the swirls without mulitiple passes.

Always try the least agressive combo first, but don't be disappointed when nothing happens until you get agressive on that paint.

[REZBMR]

so i was right in assuming that if a detail place told me that they would only use hand techniques on the benz then they prob would not be getting the swirls out at all?

[ScottB]

you need to check with manufacturer to see if car came with ceramiclear clearcoat. If so, 360 would likely only work as a final polish.

[REZBMR]

I called mercedes and they said they never even heard the term ceramiclear used...lol...oh well...guess i'll start off light and work my way to more aggressive...

[P1et]

You need to look at some Menzerna products. If you have ceramiclear paint, it's the only polish you will want to look at.

[REZBMR]

damn...where can i get some? do any of the chain stores sell this stuff? If i detail it like i would any other car, will it still come out nice? or will the only polished that will work at all be the menzerna?

[Gary Sword]

My wife has a white 05 E500 and the clearcoat does seem to be very hard. I checked out the the whole car with 2-500 watt halogens last month. So far there are no noticable swirls on the car. I have never had to polish the car so far but I do my best to prevent swirls in the first place. MB is known for having some very hard clear coats. MB also puts more coats of clear on their cars then most American Manufacturers. I have also read that Menzerna products do work very well on the hard MB clearcoats but I have yet to try them.

[supercharged]

My wife has a white 05 E500 and the clearcoat does seem to be very hard. I checked out the the whole car with 2-500 watt halogens last month. So far there are no noticable swirls on the car. I have never had to polish the car so far but I do my best to prevent swirls in the first place. MB is known for having some very hard clear coats. MB also puts more coats of clear on their cars then most American Manufacturers. I have also read that Menzerna products do work very well on the hard MB clearcoats but I have yet to try them.
WIth MBZ clearkoat, if you are carefull enough when washing, you won't need to polish your car at all. Maybe hardly ever jewel it, but that will be it.

[sneek]

OHC might do the trick w/ a Megs cutting pad.

[REZBMR]

so if i polish the benz with a light cutting pad and my regular xmt polishes it will still look sweet when i'm done, just not as good as if i used menzerna? Maybe some XMT #4? Anyone know the best non-menzerna pad and polish combo for the MB's clearcoat? I just wanna be able to do a nice job for this guy, but i don't think i'll have time to order that polish (nor do i wanna spend 50 bucks on it when i don't know the next time i will have to detail a new benz) Thanks...