2012 C350 with OG

richy · Sep 10, 2012

I was really looking forward to doing this car. It made me really think twice about getting a white car next time. Boy, when white's done well, it has a glow to it. That was my goal for this one: get a glow on, hehehe.

Here is the car as it arrived with only 8,000 km on it (5,000 miles):

I really like the look of this car! I truly enjoyed working on it. First up was the wheels/tires,etc.

For the wheel barrels, they were treated with Tarminator and allowed to dwell and then were sprayed down with Zep Citrus and agitated with a Daytona brush. I used the smaller Daytona brush to get behind the spokes. The wheel was then power washed off and the face and barrel were then done with ZC as well as the wells. The tires were done with Zep Purple.

Next up was a foam wash with a strong mix of Dawn and Megs Hyper wash. Emblems, etc were done while the foam dwelled.

That was followed with a regular wash with Dawn and DG 901. I then sprayed the car with Wolf's and put some CarPro IX gel on a grout sponge and had at it. I honestly expected to see a lot more contamination there at this point. There was some on the hood as you can see:

richy · Sep 10, 2012

Paint Correction:

It was a one step on this car which I used my Flex, yellow B/S and Optimum Hyper polish. Love it! I followed that up with DG squeaky clean by hand with a foam pad. The paint was just given a quick wipe down the next morning with a mf dampened with ONR. The glass all got DG chemical cleaner applied to it. The glass was treated to the Optimum glass coating. I did not use too much of it last time and this time I got to use more. THIS IS WITHOUT A DOUBT THE QUICKEST CURING COATING I HAVE USED.....I LOVE IT!!!!! Chris, if you're reading this, man, oh, man does this stuff rock. I used a suede mf with the block, applied it back and forth and then perpendicularly and once more the original direction fairly quickly. It flashes so fast. I just gave it a quick, light wipe and the glass was perfect! All the glass, including the roof got treated with it.
The wheels, paint, headlights and tail lights all got sealed with OG. The tires were sprayed with DP gel via spray gun and then wiped down with a foam applicator. The rear trim was treated with UTTG. The pipes were done with Colli Metal wax.
A final wipe down with FK425 was done. Smooth and lovely.
The sun was playing silly bugger as I was trying to get shots and they were arriving any minute so I ended up taking quite a few to try to get as many sun shots as I could. I was very happy with the outcome and could see myself driving this car. I love the AMG wheels too. Check it out:

Sorry for all the pics, I kinda got carried away. Comments welcomed.

This was a 10 hour job only on the exterior.

snellvilleauto · Sep 10, 2012

Well done as always sir!
What's Optimum glass coating? where can i buy this stuff? Thanks

richy · Sep 10, 2012

snellvilleauto said:
Well done as always sir!
What's Optimum glass coating? where can i buy this stuff? Thanks

They are working on several new products. It'll be out soon. At the present, they don't recommend using OC or OG on glass, although they did at the beginning and I still do. Having said that, this is a better product for glass and is supposed to be more resistant to the abrasion of wipers, etc.
And, thank you!

jackychai · Sep 11, 2012

the reflection on even the white panel is awesome!!

davey g-force · Sep 11, 2012

Yeah, who said white can't reflect?

Well done :xyxthumbs:

Shortspark · Sep 11, 2012

Great car and a terrific job! I know you are a Duragloss fan and I have a somewhat similar car (2012 ML350) in their "Diamond White". It is a beautiful white and I'm trying to determine the best process using Duragloss products. When I picked it up a few months ago the first thing I did was wash and clay and wash again. I then went to my Duragloss 601/105 (two coats) followed the next day with AquaWax. It looked really good but not as good as your pictures and some other whites I've seen posted here. I did it by hand and thought maybe I would do better with a machine. So, I bought the 6" Griot polisher. I have not used it because my protection is still like the day I put it on, plus it is a garage queen and has still to see a drop of rain even!!

I purchased PoorBoys White Diamond glaze which I heard would be great on this paint but as I learned more about it I concluded that I don't need a glaze at all as there is no correction to be done on this paint. When I do this again I plan on using the polisher and this time replace the 105 with the Duragloss 111, which I understand is even better on white. What other tips might you have for a Mercedes white using Duragloss?

vet · Sep 11, 2012

Well done, as always Richie!

richy · Sep 11, 2012

jackychai said:
the reflection on even the white panel is awesome!!

Thank you. I was trying to capture the cloud pattern. It looked very cool in the reflection.

davey g-force said:
Yeah, who said white can't reflect?

Well done :xyxthumbs:

Thanks Davey. I'm becoming a bigger and bigger fan of white.

Shortspark said:
Great car and a terrific job! I know you are a Duragloss fan and I have a somewhat similar car (2012 ML350) in their "Diamond White". It is a beautiful white and I'm trying to determine the best process using Duragloss products. When I picked it up a few months ago the first thing I did was wash and clay and wash again. I then went to my Duragloss 601/105 (two coats) followed the next day with AquaWax. It looked really good but not as good as your pictures and some other whites I've seen posted here. I did it by hand and thought maybe I would do better with a machine. So, I bought the 6" Griot polisher. I have not used it because my protection is still like the day I put it on, plus it is a garage queen and has still to see a drop of rain even!!

I purchased PoorBoys White Diamond glaze which I heard would be great on this paint but as I learned more about it I concluded that I don't need a glaze at all as there is no correction to be done on this paint. When I do this again I plan on using the polisher and this time replace the 105 with the Duragloss 111, which I understand is even better on white. What other tips might you have for a Mercedes white using Duragloss?

Getting white to look good is a combination of 3 things in my opinion:
1) Completely decontaminating the paint
2) Preparing/Polishing to get a smooth a surface as possible
3) Doing a chemical clean on the paint

The decon can be accomplished so much better now with products like IronX and Wolfs. That should not be skipped, even if it doesn't appear like there's lots of contamination on the surface..it will help.
Next is the clay. Again, lots of cool alternatives from regular clay to the foam block to the mf clay pads. The smoother the surface, the better the shine.
I guess there is one more crucial step too and that is the final paint cleaning. After you polish, and yes, you should, you need a paint cleaner of some type. I would suggest polishing with a one step type product (not an AIO with sealant) but a true polish like Optimum Hyper Polish (what I used on this one), D300 with mf or foam or even M205. You will improve the paint. Doesn't matter that it's new; you will improve it. Now you see the paint's better and you think "that's it". Nope. Almost there. You need some kind of chemical cleaner. DG 501 is a great cleaner IMO if you're not going the coating route. We are beta testing a DG chemical cleaner with no sealant (kinda like 501 but without sealant) for use preceding a coating application. The testing has been fantastic. I just received a 2nd modified batch that I'm going to be sending out for comparison. Sorry, I digress.
So these are the steps you should follow IMHO if you want your Diamond white to shimmer and glow like it never has. You'll follow these steps with DG 111 or 105 and top it with Colli 845 for the winter. (As far as which one..111 or 105...you decide. Do a few panels with one and a few with the other and see what you like better. It's a personal preference anyway). Your car will clean up easily, and look amazing for a long time.
Hope that helps.

vet said:
Well done, as always Richie!

Vet, thank you sir.

Chris Thomas · Sep 11, 2012

Great job! The owner HAD to be blown away. This is one of those cars where they would have never known the potential had they not chosen a quality Detailer. I'm glad you like the Opti-Glass...it bonds to glass so well the wipers should not remove it and has perfect clarity so no safety concerns. Opti-Lens is coming too. It will offer the protection of OG tuned for polycarbonate with higher volume of UV inhibitors to prevent yellowing of the lenses.

TroyScherer · Sep 11, 2012

Richy, That car is absolutely striking now. I would love to come up and learn from you some day.

Chris@Optimum said:
I'm glad you like the Opti-Glass...it bonds to glass so well the wipers should not remove it and has perfect clarity so no safety concerns. Opti-Lens is coming too. It will offer the protection of OG tuned for polycarbonate with higher volume of UV inhibitors to prevent yellowing of the lenses.

Chris, I there any where I can go to find some info on these new product?

richy · Sep 11, 2012

Chris@Optimum said:
Great job! The owner HAD to be blown away. This is one of those cars where they would have never known the potential had they not chosen a quality Detailer. I'm glad you like the Opti-Glass...it bonds to glass so well the wipers should not remove it and has perfect clarity so no safety concerns. Opti-Lens is coming too. It will offer the protection of OG tuned for polycarbonate with higher volume of UV inhibitors to prevent yellowing of the lenses.

Thanks Chris. The more I use Optimum products, the more I like them. You just need to invent a coating for leather that will not wear off and the industry will be set! (Hint. hint, cough...cough....)

TroyScherer said:
Richy, That car is absolutely striking now. I would love to come up and learn from you some day.

Chris, I there any where I can go to find some info on these new product?

Troy, thank you and you'd be welcome any time. In fact, I just booked this gorgeous jet black Rousch Mustang that is going to be a wheels-off, 3 step paint process with OG to lock it in. The car sounds mean as Hell and is gorgeous. I've got it booked the weekend of October 6 which is also Canadian Thanksgiving. I will be working on it on the Saturday for the compounding and polishing. You'd be welcome that day. Let me know via PM if you want to.

Pats300zx · Sep 11, 2012

Beautiful work Richy. I am really interested in hearing more about this Optimum Glass Coating !!!

Johnnyboy · Sep 11, 2012

Wow! I love how White looks so elegant when properly handled! Great job!

richy · Sep 11, 2012

Pats300zx said:
Beautiful work Richy. I am really interested in hearing more about this Optimum Glass Coating !!!

Thanks Pat! I don't have much more info really. Chris can let you know when it's planning on being released. There is a headlight version too for plastic lenses. The glass one I have played with more, and it's the cat's pyjamas!

Johnnyboy said:
Wow! I love how White looks so elegant when properly handled! Great job!

Thank you Johnny! By the looks of your avatar, you know that by experience!

604_Snooze · Sep 11, 2012

Very nice job Richy, do you know when the DG squeaky clean is going to be out and the price range?

Mazda.Mark · Sep 11, 2012

Can this ZC be purchased at Lowe's and is it safe to use weekly on powder coated wheels?

Circa40 · Sep 11, 2012

Lovely car. Great job

richy · Sep 11, 2012

604_Snooze said:
Very nice job Richy, do you know when the DG squeaky clean is going to be out and the price range?

Thanks a bunch! I was just sent a new batch to try out with longer working time. We'll see how the reaction to this one goes and go from there. It won't be in the immediate future, I can tell you that. No idea on price, but DG is always very reasonably priced; this will be no different.

Mazda.Mark said:
Can this ZC be purchased at Lowe's and is it safe to use weekly on powder coated wheels?

Yes it can Mark. Cut it 4:1. Obviously you're not going to let it dry on the surface and keep it on there like 1/2 hour or anything like that. I have been using it for a few years no with absolutely no issues whatsoever. BTW, the label says don't use on paint. You can ignore that. I asked the same question years ago when I looked at it in the store. It's the Zep Citrus Degreaser.

Circa40 said:
Lovely car. Great job

Thank you very much!

Vegas Transplant · Sep 11, 2012

:bowdown::bowdown::bowdown::bowdown::bowdown:

2012 C350 with OG

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