How to care for a new S63 AMG?
- Thread starter AustinGuy
- Start date
JohnKleven
New member
AustinGuy said:
I'm positive. Mercedes has great paint, and it polishes very nicely, but you will not find ANY German car with a clearcoat on black or red. It's against their EPA regulations. I deal with Mercedes cars every day, as my shop details for the local dealership, and 040 black is a tough one to care for, but nothing looks better.
John
Accumulator
Well-known member
JohnKleven said:
Well, I wouldn't go quite that far...plenty of black/red Audis out there with b/c paint.
AustinGuy said:
Hard to say..but I'd expect it could use both. Note that they do different things in different ways and one isn't really a substitute for the other. There are some good explanations for this, no time to retype one from scratch at present.
I'd just wax it with Collinite, but if you want to use a sealant you put it on after all the paint prep (claying/cleaning/whatever) and before the wax. That's *if* you want to use both a sealant and a wax.
I still think you oughta wash it, clay with the Sonus green UltraFine clay, polish/clean with the 1Z Metallic Polish with Wax (which I'm certain you'd like better than the P21S GEPC), and then wax with Collinite. But if you want to use one of the innumerable other approaches, OK, just do *something* so the paint is protected.
Then concentrate on washing it without marring the paint (much easier said than done). IMO this is the single hardest, and most important, thing when it comes to keeping a black car looking good.
David Fermani
Forza Auto Salon
JohnKleven said:
John, I'm sorry, but I'm quite sure you're incorrect. I'm also around German vehicles almost daily and they're clearcoated.
JohnKleven
New member
The dealership keeps telling me that the 040 is not clearcoated, but the Obsidian black IS clearcoated. I'm 90% sure they're correct on this one. 040 is so ultra soft, it does not leave color on the pad, but I've been told that it's a very high quality single stage paint job??
John
John
JohnKleven
New member
I have a black 996TT and the paint feels the same, it polishes out beautifully, but I'm 90% sure it also does not have a clear coat.
John
John
blk45
It's all in the prep!
JohnKleven said:
Sorry, but you are incorrect. My car < is German and black and most definitely has a cc. Also, my best fiend's black E500 has a cc. Not to mention all of the other German black cars that I have seen which all had cc.
blk45
It's all in the prep!
JohnKleven said:
No cc equals color on your pad. I think someone is giving you incorrect information. There are very few current cars that don't have a cc. There are some, but very few.
Bigpoppa3346
New member
EVERY German black or red car I've detailed that was made in the last 8 years has been clearcoated. I don't understand how a car can be SS and not leave color on your pad...??
JohnKleven, you have been givin misinformation.
JohnKleven, you have been givin misinformation.
Accumulator
Well-known member
blk45 said:
Yeah.. :xyxthumbs
Let's step back for a minute, start with the basics of what's going on, and think about it (leaving aside what so-and-so says about a particular paintcode): If you polish out imperfections you're removing paint (either clear or pigmented). Some of that removed paint will be on the pad. If a white pad stays white after doing a black car, that black car was clearcoated, otherwise there'd be black paint on the pad. There's *some* kind of paint on the pad no matter what, but the clear paint from a clearcoat doesn't show up the way black paint from a black single stage would.
blk45
It's all in the prep!
Accumulator said:
Great explanation as usual Accumulator.
David Fermani
Forza Auto Salon
I bet tinted clears will be throwing people for a loop after buffing. :think:
Accumulator
Well-known member
David Fermani said:
Heh heh, yeah...and I for one hope it makes folks nervous enough to err on the side of caution and start thinking twice about doing a lot of correction
I bet they'll make paint matching tougher too...I'm generally not too keen on the tint-coat paints myself, though some of 'em do look nice.
I detailed for a client with 2 new MBs this weekend; one in navy, one in 040 Jet Black, and BOTH with a "C" in the jam before the paint code.
He had a couple nicks on either so he purchased the touch-up from MB. The Navy car had base paint and clear coat touch-up viles, while the 040 had just 1 vile for both tasks.
I haven't buffed out his 040 vehicle, but the last one I worked on did not have any transfer.
He had a couple nicks on either so he purchased the touch-up from MB. The Navy car had base paint and clear coat touch-up viles, while the 040 had just 1 vile for both tasks.
I haven't buffed out his 040 vehicle, but the last one I worked on did not have any transfer.
David Fermani
Forza Auto Salon
Interesting info G35stilez. C denotes a vehicle having Ceramic Clear Coat (as we already know). There is no such thing(yet, AFAIK) as Ceramic single stage or Ceramic base coat. I'm wondering why they package their touch up kit with clear? Most don't right? Many vehicles actually have 1 paint code(some have multiple), but several different formulations for each kind of part (exterior/underhood/cladding/bumper) getting refinished. Some parts (like bumpers, trim and mirrors) could be and are single stage while the actual body is or could be bc/cc (and be ceramic). Funny thing is that most painters end up refinishing everything bc/cc anyways.
Accumulator
Well-known member
David Fermani said:
FWIW, Audi's touchup kits come with both basecoat and clear.
David Fermani
Forza Auto Salon
Here's the Vin tag with paint code C040 off of a 2004 SL500. Notice the C denoting it's a Ceramic clear.
Congrats on your S63. That def is a sick car. I just got the s550 in exactly the same color, solid black with black int, p3 and amg package. Not as close in performance as yours but good enough for me. Black though is very tough color to work with honestly.
Spent total of 8 hours cleaning up the car. It DOES have a clearcoat btw. Started with clay bar from Zaino to clean up the contaminants. It is admittedly a big car. Cleaned up with menz SIP with white pad on PC and then followed by menz 106ff (for CERAMICCLEAR) on white pad. On with swissvax cleaner fluid and topped off with 2 layers of swissvax concorso. In between the layers, touch up with pinnacle souveran spray wax. The result is a huge improvement over dealer prepped which leaves a lot of fine scratches.
Dont even bother doing anything if you havent got them prepped. Nasty scracthes will be very apparent from the angle across the sun. Better to have them professionally cleaned from the beginning before u add on layers of wax. They will stick better that way.
Sorry I havent got a chance to post the pics.
Spent total of 8 hours cleaning up the car. It DOES have a clearcoat btw. Started with clay bar from Zaino to clean up the contaminants. It is admittedly a big car. Cleaned up with menz SIP with white pad on PC and then followed by menz 106ff (for CERAMICCLEAR) on white pad. On with swissvax cleaner fluid and topped off with 2 layers of swissvax concorso. In between the layers, touch up with pinnacle souveran spray wax. The result is a huge improvement over dealer prepped which leaves a lot of fine scratches.
Dont even bother doing anything if you havent got them prepped. Nasty scracthes will be very apparent from the angle across the sun. Better to have them professionally cleaned from the beginning before u add on layers of wax. They will stick better that way.
Sorry I havent got a chance to post the pics.
PS: I know it is clear because there is no black residue on either white pads after SIP and PO106. I dont know if those 2 were necessary steps for a brand new car but the combo did get most of the more obvious scractes from delaership wwash out. The clay smoothes out the left over sticker gum.
JohnKleven
New member
I stand corrected. That's good information to know.
Thank you,
John
Thank you,
John