Mercedes CLS550- smoke odor removal+Wax

GenesisCoupe

GenesisCoupe

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Well this was officially the most physical job i have ever done detailing wise, too much scrubbing and spraying!

This is a 2007 Mercedes CLS550, 31k miles. The owner contacted me because the car had a bad cigarette smell. The car was owned by the smoker since 2007. He also stated that before getting the car shipped from Florida to Chicago he had it detailed to remove the smell. Not even two weeks later and i get a call to help him. I knew i was in for a treat!

Fast forward to picking the car up from the owner, WOW the smell inside gave me such a headache, even when the A/C was on it felt as it dry ashes were thrown at you!

The detail took me just a little over 15 hours in a span of two days. 8.5 hours out of those 15 was spent on the interior itself.

I called a good friend of mine who is known on AG as "A G Thang". He helped me with the wheels and gave some good recommendation on removing the smell. Thanks again Raf !!

A lot of before/after pictures so enjoy and feedback please!

As it arrived..


You call that "detailed"??


Uhh.seriously?


Passenger front


Driver front


At this point i started to think, who "detailed" this?






I sprayed some water to see how easy it would be to remove the stains, look at the color of the drops!!!! :eek:


I also found some cocaine which comes handy when detailing..just kidding, the owner had baking soda in to assist in odor removal :xyxthumbs:


Let's get started!!!






Horse hair brush did a great job for the upholstery






These products did a GREAT job in the interior :)




You could no longer see the blue grit guard in that dirty water!


This was a good addition to helping with the smoke removal


Fellow AutoGeek member A G Thang came by to help out with the wheels! They were cleaned using ONR and Sonax Full Effect, followed by Poorboy's sealant and Poorboy's Bold and Bright Tire Shine


Letting the Sealant to dry to a haze




There was also a metallic-material sticker which the owner needed removed..


Done


In day 2 was time for the Dakota Bomb, doing its thing inside the car..




After washing the car with ONR, Meguire's White Wax was applied using PC7424XP and a Blue finishing pad



Drying to a haze


I love the edge less towels


After Wax results!







Car looks great doesn't it? The interior was still curing from the Smoke Bomb but in the end the smell was almost non-existant :dblthumb2:

But I wasn't done yet! This car came from Florida and it had window tint in the front which the new owner did not like at all, neither did I as there appeared to be 3 layers of tint.





Ammonia was sprayed on both sides of the windshield and covered with a black garbage bag, 30 minutes later, i started taking off the tint.




As i said earlier, 4 layers of tint!



All done!






This Thursday I'm doing a full correction on the customer's M6 v10, thanks for looking! Feed back please
 
Looks good, interior work takes just as long as paint correction or longer when done correctly. When you get the chance invest in a ozone machine it will take care of all types of smells. Great results you achieved.
 
Awesome! I have a ML350 in diamond white and was wondering how the Megs White wax worked. Looks like it is worth a try.
 
Shortspark said:
Awesome! I have a ML350 in diamond white and was wondering how the Megs White wax worked. Looks like it is worth a try.
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I was very surprised at the results, it really was an easy on/off, the product smells great, and the paint is so smooth. Little goes a long way, especially when using a machine.
 
Italian Guy said:
Looks good, interior work takes just as long as paint correction or longer when done correctly. When you get the chance invest in a ozone machine it will take care of all types of smells. Great results you achieved.
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Thanks, i did look into one, however this was my 2nd smoke odor detail in 3 years. I plan on sticking to this routine until more "smoke jobs" arrive. :xyxthumbs:
 
Nice job. Did the tint leave any residue after you removed it that needed to be cleaned up?
 
The Guz said:
Nice job. Did the tint leave any residue after you removed it that needed to be cleaned up?
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Thank You.

Yes it did, especially towards the bottom where it meets the dashboard, which is why it took me almost 2 hours for the entire process. GooGone and Ammonia help a lot, along with the razor blade holder.
 
Nice job on that interior man!

Just curious, Have you ever tried CarPro's SO2Pure?


-Beach
 
Looks awesome! Couple questions:

1) When you say the odor bomb was "curing" what did you mean by that?

2) When cleaning the headliner/visors using CG FC, how do you rinse the soap back out?
 
BeachZone said:
Nice job on that interior man!

Just curious, Have you ever tried CarPro's SO2Pure?

I have not, never even heard of it!


-Beach
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wdmaccord said:
Looks awesome! Couple questions:

1) When you say the odor bomb was "curing" what did you mean by that?

2) When cleaning the headliner/visors using CG FC, how do you rinse the soap back out?
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1. The Odor bomb instructions say that when doing a full release option on the interior, to not disturb the area for 2 hours, then ventilate 30 minutes prior to entry to room/car.

Thanks!
 
Excellent write up Robert, car looks great!!!!
Lmao at the cocaine!!!!
Glad i could help out a bit.
 
WOW very nicely done!!! I may have to put in a order now lol. I also got some white wax the other day now I cant wait to try it.
 
Nice work man. How did you apply the fabric clean by chance?
 
Very nice work. When the owner said the car had been detailed, he probably took it to a hand wash car wash and they did a quick cleaning. You don't know what it looked liked prior to their work so it might have been a lot worse than what you found... although it was still pretty dirty obviously.

I have some questions too:

In one of the pictures you appear to be scrubbing the ceiling with a hard brush. All I read regarding working on the overhead material mentions to be very gentle because it can detach itself and then you have a serious problem. Did you run into any issues?

Regarding the smoke smell removal, after the cleaning, did you notice a major difference or did it take the various products you used specifically for odor removal to put a dent in the smell?

Also, you seems to have about 5 or 6 different products just for that purpose, which one(s) worked best?

Again, great job! I hope the owner was happy. Doing all that work to get those results needs a little love besides the cash ;)
 
Regency said:
Nice work man. How did you apply the fabric clean by chance?
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Thanks for the question! I diluted the fabric clean 3 ounces in a 16oz sprayer due to the amount of stains. I first vacuumed the area i was working with (2x2), i sprayed and let it sit for 20-30 seconds and used various brushes to get the stains/dirt out. I also used the CG Offensive odor eliminator+bacteria killer diluted 2oz- 16oz bottle, let that sit, brushed a little more, then wet vacummed the area.

Calendyr said:
Very nice work. When the owner said the car had been detailed, he probably took it to a hand wash car wash and they did a quick cleaning. You don't know what it looked liked prior to their work so it might have been a lot worse than what you found... although it was still pretty dirty obviously.

I have some questions too:

In one of the pictures you appear to be scrubbing the ceiling with a hard brush. All I read regarding working on the overhead material mentions to be very gentle because it can detach itself and then you have a serious problem. Did you run into any issues?

Thanks for the questions! I used a horse hair brush for the headliner. The horse hair brush is gentle when scrubbing one way as the hairs are on a slight angle. If i was to scrub the opposite way, it would have been a bit rougher.

Regarding the smoke smell removal, after the cleaning, did you notice a major difference or did it take the various products you used specifically for odor removal to put a dent in the smell?

I would say the fabric clean did the most good as it seemed to put a fresh scent into the fabric. The CG Offensive odor eliminator was diluted more than the Fabric Clean, but it's purpose was to help out. The Dakota spray i used (the one in the bigger can, not the bomb) did help out a lot as well because it was a dry spray, so spraying on the headliner, inside the vents was not an issue.

Also, you seems to have about 5 or 6 different products just for that purpose, which one(s) worked best?

Definately the Dakota Bomb, especially because as you are letting it settle, the car is foggy inside and the "fog" settles into all the small areas that i might have missed. However, if i did not use the fabric clean, the Bomb would have done nothing just mask the smell.
Again, great job! I hope the owner was happy. Doing all that work to get those results needs a little love besides the cash ;)
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The owner was very happy and kept saying "WOW", he was even impressed at just how many small imperfections and swirls the White Wax covered and how smooth the paint was afterwards. He was so happy that i'm doing his V10 M6 next! Im the MAN
 
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