07 GL450: 2 days, 23 hours later...

imported_d00t

New member
Here's an 07 Mercedes GL450. When I first was contacted to do this car, I wasn't aware of the size. And it actually doesn't look THAT big. Until I got it in my garage. It's ABOUT the size of the smaller Escalades. But it really doesn't look that way due to the profile it gives off, a nice sleek design. I really like the car.



What I didn't like: It was BLACK. And in need of some correction :nervous2: . The good thing about this particular SUV is it is probably the best cared for car I have come across, SUV or not. Sure, it was swirled, but besides that, the paint was in outstanding condition. I didn't even bother with before pics because it wasn't dirty! Just dusty!



So on with the wheels, they were first rinsed off at pressure to reduce as much scrubbing as possible.



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The faces were then sprayed with Autoglym Custom Wheel Cleaner, and let sit for about a minute before agitating. The tires with sprayed with Eimann Fabrik Tire Cleaner, and the arches got P21S TAW.



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After the wheels were finished I moved on to the paint. The car was first rinsed thoroughly at pressure before being foamed. I then foamed it with 1oz of CWC and 1oz of CG Maxi Suds:



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And then, rinsed it off and continued with my two-bucket was with another 2oz of CWC. And then rinsed again. I then pulled the car in for a dry. The car wasn't even contaminated, to go along with the well-taken care of paint. I had a few spots that were spot clayed with Riccardo Yellow, with ONR as clay lube.



And then the condition of the paint:



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The process for the paint was all on the DA. I quickly found out the paint was NOT hard, but relatively soft. I ended up going with the KBPCM with M105/205. And then I refined the paint further with the rotary and a 3M UK Blue pad and Ultrafina. Overall I achieved about 85-90% correction which is what I was after, and very pleased with the results.



50/50 before ultrafina:



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Mirror Before:



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After:



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B-pillar before:



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After:



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Rear Quarter done (no ultrafina yet) door not:



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Door before:



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After:



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These pics are before any LSP because the fog was starting to roll in and I wasn't sure if I'd get any afters post-LSP.



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The car was then brought inside and the final touches performed. The exhaust was polished with mothers. The windows were polished with Wersktatt Prime and then sealed with Acrylic Jett. The wheels were also sealed with acrylic jett, tires got Megs HD 2:1 and the Arches received Adams Undercarriage Spray.



LSP for this car was Bilt Hamber Auto Balm using Ken's method of applying. Ken, I actually ENJOYED using BHAB with this method, it went on and half SO easily!!



Final afters:



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That's all, thanks for looking!



As always, C/C welcome!



:wavey
 
megadeth said:
awesome turnaround.



so what made it take almost 3 days?



Thanks! Just the sheer amount of paint involved. I also had to correct a mistake I made. I figured it was typical hard clear from Merc. The very first time I've ever NOT done a "start with the least aggressive and work your way up" and there's a reason why we do it. You never know. I went at it with KBRotaryM, and my halogens and brinkman with its dying battery didn't pick up on the micromarring it was leaving behind. So when I recharged the brinkman and checked my work, I had to re-do the entire front clip. There went day one!
 
I really like that in Black. Looks stunning. Great turn around on it. I had one in pewter. Looked more like an old mans SUV than anything else. But that black really sets it off.
 
Jakerooni said:
I really like that in Black. Looks stunning. Great turn around on it. I had one in pewter. Looked more like an old mans SUV than anything else. But that black really sets it off.



Thanks!



bufferbarry said:
1 day to redo a front clip? nice work man! it looks great what it was.



No I didn't spend an entire 8-10 hours just on the "repair" :P, but after a couple hours on the wash process, and then polishing the front clip one way (3 steps), then having to find a new combo, and redo what I did wrong on the front clip (another three steps) added up quite fast. Thanks though!
 
oh ok i see now. i was curious on that. honestly its been a while since i did a benz, i didn't know if that paint got harder? aaron definatly a good turnaround. that just kinda threw me off. a guy with your skills and one day to do a clip didn't make sense, but now it does.l good job.
 
bufferbarry said:
oh ok i see now. i was curious on that. honestly its been a while since i did a benz, i didn't know if that paint got harder? aaron definatly a good turnaround. that just kinda threw me off. a guy with your skills and one day to do a clip didn't make sense, but now it does.l good job.



Thanks again, Barry



dsms said:
Nice job. What happened to the lower plastic front lip on the passengers side, burned?



Thanks, Dave. No, it was some left over BHAB that's going to get wiped off, as the customer is coming to pick up some stuff as we speak. Thanks for pointing that out to me!
 
It looks nice.



Take this as constructive but I think you could have gotten a better result and saved a lot of time if you change your three step process a bit.



Try:



-105/polishing pad/rotary -(faster process and more cut then your PC/105 1st step)



-205/polishing pad/rotary -(faster process and more cut then your PC/205 2nd step while leaving minimal holograms)



-205/polishing pad/PC -(more then enough cut to remove any remaining holograms and gloss equal to your rotary finishing step)



Just some thoughts from my experience, hope it helps.
 
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