Minor Correction on a Black Mercedes E-Class W212

[fishbonezken]

When the car arrived, I was expecting to see ton of swirls, being a black car and all. To my surprise, the owner washes it really well and there was very little car wash abrasions! Look at the photos below, granted this was before washing and there is a layer of protection on the paint that may mask those scratches, but it looks swirl free, with just the odd scratch here and there.

With the inspection done, I recommended the owner to just do some 'light' polishing to clean up the paint, and remove the holograms which I later found out was quite evident on the bonnet and boot. No heavy compounding will be necessary, so 1 day is allocated to complete the job.

I started with the wheels as usual;
Tires - Meguiar's Super Degreaser diluted 4:1
Wheel arches - Osren Degreaser FX diluted 3:1
Wheels - Bilberry Wheel Cleaner diluted 3:1

The pitted brake dust had to be removed with Osren StainX, which is a strong acid based cleaner normally used to remove watermarks from glass.

Car body is then washed with Osren Bubble and Wax shampoo with a splash of Osren Degreaser FX to help strip off the existing coat of protection. Clayed with Soft99 Clay for Black Cars with Optimum No-Rinse Wash diluted at QD (Quick Detailer) ratio.

Now let's have a better look at the clean paint.

Wow that looks pretty good, no swirls! I could escape with using an AIO and job's a good'un. But wait...

Can you see it?

Ah-hah! Holograms that were not revealed by the halogen. Halogens are good for swirl spotting and showing defects over a wider area. But when it comes to finer scratches such as holograms/buffer marks, halogen lighting does not show them very well. The light source here is from a 255 lumens LED flashlight, Eagletac T10L.

So I began by doing a test spot.
Started with Meguiar's #105 Ultra-Cut Compound with Lake Country White Polishing Pad via Dodo Juice Das6 Dual-Action Polisher. I then inspect after wiping down 3 times with Isopropyl Alcohol diluted 1:1 to remove the polishing oils that may mask the holograms.

 

[fishbonezken]

Success! But wait, the after shot looks a little bit 'hazy'. A 100% crop of the previous photo will reveal that DA micro-marring has been instilled to the paint.

A 2nd refining step is needed. Menzerna 106FF Finishing Polish with Lake Country White Polishing via Dodo Juice Das6 Dual Action Polisher is used to follow up. Note: this was meant to be a minor correction only, odd scratches/RIDS will not be removed.

Watch the short video for a before and after. *720P HD is available*
Hologram Removal on a Black Mercedes E Class W212 - YouTube

The rear boot however had to be compounded with a wool pad as there were deep watermark etchings.

Paint transfer removal, but couldn't save the area where the paint has been scraped off.

After about 6 hours of polishing, the car is rinsed down to remove polishing dust. Panel gaps, cracks an crevices where blown dry with my wet/dry vac.

Paint looked good without wax.

It got dark quickly and time was running up, not much photos from here on. After wiping the edges to remove polish residue, the paint is sealed with Duragloss #601 Polish Bonding Agent followed by Duragloss #105 Total Performance Polish. interior and glass were wiped down, and the front leather seats were cleaned and protected with Gtechniq L1 Leather Guard. Finally, tires dressed with ValetPro Traditional Tire Dressing.

That's it! Thanks for looking as always, all comments are appreciated! Have a great weekend!

 

[msk]

Wow... great job as always..

 

[ryanmcg1]

Nice work and I really enjoy your post.