Black Mercedes E320 Paint correction

[Jonbth]

I bought a new car back in November and it's been too cold to wax. I had the dealer apply a Simonize paint protectant with teflon. I want to wax it when it warms up but am not sure if I should just use wax and use something to clean the paint first.



The car is Glacial white and looks great the way it is now. I just want to try to improve the look.

 

[BradE]

I would clean the paint first to remove any containments and then rewax or use a sealant. I would go with a sealant.



I hope you did not pay a lot of $$$ for the dealer to apply a that stuff to your paint. Products containing teflon are a total maketing poly. Teflon in car products means nothing, for it to be a viable component it must be applied at around 700 degrees.

 

[Ron Ketcham]

You paid for a polymer sealant to be applied, granted, it is not a good one, may last 6 months at best, depending on how it was applied.



If you apply any product over it that has cleaners, which means light abrasives, solvents, then you will remove it!



As you will see in my reply several times--read the warranty, the small print!



So, let me explain that the sealant package you paid good money for is nothing more than what you could have done yourself!



There are sealant packages that work, that will protect, but the warranty is quite clear on what they cover, so read yours.



Why would I say this?



Here is why, ever buy life insurance?



The insurance company is betting you live longer than the policy and enough people buy the same policy so they have a big escrow account to pay the ones who do have a claim.



When it comes to sealant packages,(we are the largest of these companies in the world, in case you didn't know), these types such as you bought, pray that you will forget all about it when you have paint damage!



Then the run around starts, ----read the warranty!!



Can the dealership show you any documentation from the vehicle manufacturer that it actually does what the dealer says it does?



If it doesn't, then who ever tested and approved the product and validates it's preformance?



We provide DaimlerChrysler with their Master Shield product line, the same products that we have marketed under the ValuGard name for over 20+ years.



Ask the dealer how long Simoniz has been providing "warranty" products, and like I said, who the hell ever, other than them, ever tested and proved their ability to do what you paid for?



In short , who warranties the Simoniz product, what does the warranty really say about things?



Read it carefully, and then do what you feel is right.



Ketch





:down :down

 

[db2]

very well put Ketch

 

[kreativ]

<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote' >

So, let me explain that the sealant package you paid good money for is nothing more than what you could have done yourself!</blockquote>
Great post Ron.

The dealer packages usually come with both exterior paint and interior leather (or fabric) protection.

What kind of protectant is applied to the interior, and can we do the same thing ourselves?

 

[Ron Ketcham]

Do know that it must be a hydrocarbon solvent borne product and when we attempted to put ours (and Master Shield) into an aerosol form, it affected the resin that provides the protection.



While it appeared at first to work, we found that the resin was not holding up on the fabric vs the regular which you pour into a pistol or hot-shot sprayer and apply.



When there was several aerosols being sold in the mass market, all were not the same resin system, but a dimethal silicone, IE-ScotchGard, and those have some serious problems regarding the holding of soil to the fabric.



They will reject some fluids, but since are oily, hold the soil to the fabric.



That is about all I can tell you, I think the 303 may be as good as you can get in the mass market, but don't know how it is effective long term.



Ketch

 

[ultrajim49]

It reminds me of Protech: a protection against natures elements,done by a company in Holland.They give a warrant of 5 years,clearly stating that the only thing You may do is wash the car with warm water with NO WAXES , or You void warrant.

 

[Don2000g]

Good info Ron.



As for your waxing question, I would recommend you to strip off your sealant with a good cleaner such as Pinnacle Paintwork Cleansing Lotion or Dawn. Then try a quality sealant. Some of the more popular ones here are Blackfire, Klasse and Zaino. All 3 should give you equal protection as the product you currently have and even better shine. Laters

 

[Tru_Shine]

Hey everyone! Welcome back. I had a chance to give this Mercedes a new lease on life. It has had a rough life from the previous owner. Now the new owner wanted it brought back to a better then new condition. Here is the car when I arrived

I began by spraying off all of the heavy stuff with my pressure washer.

Then I applied some Diablo wheel gel wheel cleaner to let it dwell while I finished washing the car.

I used the one bucket method with a grit guard and a 100% sheep skin mitt. stripping the surface of any waxes using Dawn soap.

then the rinse

Notice how the Water just stays on the surface. This is because there isn't any protection. this is normally a bad thing, but it is what I was trying to achieve.

So after the wash, I get back to the wheels scrubbing them down with my EZ detail brush

Here are a couple more swirl shots after the wash

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Next I brought the car inside an let the paint cool down a bit. and then began the taping.

I used my Highline meter 2 to check the paint thickness just to make sure that the paint was not to thin.

the average thickness was 4-5 which is normal.

So next I began the compounding stage trying to find the right combo for this paint. I started off with my normal combo of M105 with a Cyan pad. but i just didn't feel that it cut hard enough to get some of these deeper RIDs out.

So I wasn't happy with the amount of cut from that combo. So I upped it to another level by using a Purple foamed wool pad and M105

and here is the difference......

So I worked my way around the car using the PFW/M105 on my FLEX 3401

I didn't get any pics of the polishing stage but My weapon of choice was Meguiars M205 polish on a Lake country Tangerine pad. using the FLEX 3401

But after the polishing stage, I applied Black Fire Wet Diamond paint sealant and let it cure for a little bit.

And here are the after shots.

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We all know how bad the Mercedes wheels get so nasty from the brake dust. even after driving down the road 10 miles they get covered. So I sealed the wheels using Armorall Wheel protectant to keep the wheels from getting dirty so quickly. this stuff is awesome! I use it on my own wheels on all of my cars.

And more of the deep wetness!

 

[Tru_Shine]

Thanks for viewing, have a blessed day!

 

[bmw5541]

Beautiful work once again Eric.
I am surprised to see you using the AA Wheel Protectant. I have tried it and hated it. It left a white residue on my wheels and offered nothing in the way of repelling break dust. I am interested in your thoughts.

 

[Tru_Shine]

Beautiful work once again Eric.
I am surprised to see you using the AA Wheel Protectant. I have tried it and hated it. It left a white residue on my wheels and offered nothing in the way of repelling break dust. I am interested in your thoughts.

Are your wheels polished or chrome?

I LOVE this stuff, I got almost 2 months out of it and loved it!

 

[michakaveli]

Nice job! I'm gonna have to try that PFW w/ M105 on the Flex 3401 on our '99 E300 wearing Obsidian Black. It's just as hammered as that one. X_X

 

[Tru_Shine]

Nice job! I'm gonna have to try that PFW w/ M105 on the Flex 3401 on our '99 E300 wearing Obsidian Black. It's just as hammered as that one. X_X

yeah, it will help a TON! and go for the 5.5in PFW for the FLEX, I like the way it fits better on the BP. or just just one of each 6.5 and 5.5

 

[imported_kakeuter]

Great job Eric, glad to see you stepped it up to the PFW pads to really make it shine.

I finally ordered some PFW pads myself, I couldn't find any 5.5" pads though.

I can't wait to try them out.

 

[bmw5541]

Are your wheels polished or chrome?

I LOVE this stuff, I got almost 2 months out of it and loved it!

My wheels are painted. That stuff just leaves a white haze all over them.

 

[Puckman]

That's beautiful work, Eric.

Every time I see a swirled up late model Mercedes I always think how ineffective their "cermiclear" process is to combat marring. Maybe it's just me but they seem to get as swirled as every other paint job.

Quick question. I also love my PFW pads but do you use the KBM with it or just the standard application amount/process?

 

[PAR Detailing]

Great job!

 

[Tru_Shine]

That's beautiful work, Eric.

Every time I see a swirled up late model Mercedes I always think how ineffective their "cermiclear" process is to combat marring. Maybe it's just me but they seem to get as swirled as every other paint job.

Quick question. I also love my PFW pads but do you use the KBM with it or just the standard application amount/process?

I use the KBM with everything. I just think it is real important to have the whole pad primed and covered with product, that way you get a good uniform cut.