Need HELP with Mercedes paint

OP -

I did read your posts and did read some of the others but not in full length. As you can see there are a lot of different suggestions. Its normal for a DA beginner to immediately look at the Porter Cable due to price (and yes it can do almost anything, albeit longer time and more of a hassle). Forget it on a Merc it would take you a month.

MIKE wrote what I would write save a few items. If you bought a 2014 Merc you can afford the Flex 3401 and the LC set of 3 backing plates. Get them no question.

Pads - yes you can get the 6.5 pads but honestly being new a smaller pad will work for you better. The 5" Lake Country Hybrids are the best there is for the Flex. I have tried everything, on Mercs, and they seem to be the best. Mike told me to go with the 4" plate and the pads and I was immensely surprised. Very easy to work with and good for all panels except tight bumper areas. Orange, White, and a black pad of the Hybrids are all you need. One poster said 4-5 pads of each color. He is right, for the cutting orange pad get 5. The White get 4-5 and black get 2. That will work for your two vehicles. However use all of them doing one car. :)


Cerami-Clear is tough to work with. Hard to cut but great to polish. Setting of 5 on the Flex with orange using Menzerna FG400 will take care of your issues. Might have to do a section twice but will do it with ease. Setting of 3-4 using the white pad with Menzerna SF4000 or 4500 will take care of your next part.

Sealant - Personal preference for this. Blackfire is good, Wolfgang, Pinnacle Fusion (highly recommended) etc..... I always glass coat mine so don't use these on my cars.

Wolfgang Twins you can use if you wanted, I just feel the M FG400 cuts better, but has more dust. the WG polish is virtually the same as M SF4500.

Here is a link to one of my write ups for a my Merc. Its black so you know how hard it is to make perfect. All information you need is written in this article.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/show-n-shine/88465-2008-mercedes-e63-amg-black-paint-correction-long-write-up-heavy-pics.html
 
Atlcircuit said:
To my surprise there were several other brand new Mercedes ranging in prices that had the same "spider web" problem. I quickly went to ask the salesman about this and also the detail manager. They gave me some lame excuse about that's the way Mercedes paints look, especially metallics. I think its the dealers car wash on the lot, but didn't say anything to them because they clearly are idiots!
Click to expand...

The dealership staff may, in fact, be clueless about how to care for modern automotive paint systems. Although you should see what happens at the port before the dealer even receives the car...

I'm not familiar with what MB's arrangement is with the vehicle processing companies at the port. Many vehicles are unloaded from the ships, unwrapped, driven through a car wash, inspected for damage that would require body work, then re-wrapped for transport to the dealers.

Bottom line. Most vehicle's are going to be trashed even before they hit the lot. Then further destroyed when the lot attended at the dealer "washes" each car with a 3 year old mitt. It's so sad.
 
I know this is an old post... but I wanted to add two notes for the OP....

1. Mercedes paints don't come pre-swirled from the factory as your dealer suggested. I have a 2013 in Lunar Blue Metallic... if she has a swirl, I can't find it.

2. Mercedes doesn't use Ceramiclear any more. They do use a very hard clear coat, but not ceramiclear. Paint codes starting with a "C" are ceramiclear. Easy enough to check.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/ask-expert-featuring-mike-phillips/76229-ceramiclear-paint-code-location-mercedes-benz.html
 
John,

Thanks so much for replying to the post. I've been traveling so much for work, that I haven't been back in the forums recently. I was also waiting for the weather to get better until i started the project on my wife's car. That time has come, so it is great that someone read through this old thread.

You have the exact same color as i do (P890), so i am hoping that you can lend some advice. I've given up on considering someone else to complete this task, so i plan to tackle it myself. I am planning to purchase all new products, so if you have any suggestions please share. I have attached a few more pics, but they were taken at night. Sorry the car wasn't clean when i took the pics. I will try and get some new ones in the daylight this weekend.

Thanks
 
Unfortunately (err... fortunately), I don't have experience with correction on this paint. So, all I can do is talk theory, and there are better folks than me on this board for that.

I can tell you that I'm using Merzerna SF 4500. The marketing says it was designed for cerma-clear (which we don't have). However we DO have hard clear coats. I don't know if its the best solution, or if it will even make an impact for you. But I think the results on my car are strong. It is a very fine polish, perhaps too fine for your application.

Here's a look at what my paint looks like close up - this is from the front edge of my hood.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top