Detailer's Domain: Brings this one back to life - 05 Mercedes SL55

Subject: 2005 Mercedes SL55 (was a NYC car)
Requirements - get it back to NEW like condition

Exterior

- Wheels were prepped with Sonax Wheel Cleaner and cleaned up with various brushes
- Tires were spritzed down with Adam’s All Purpose Cleaner and washed down
- Wheel wells were cleaned up
- Washed with 1Z einszett W99
- Wolf's Decon Gel
- Wash down and rinsed
- Door jambs were cleaned up
- Nano Scrub AutoScrub
- Dried
- Tires dressed
- Masking
- Paint Measurement
- Meg's M105 with Surbuf and Griots Orbital
- Sonax 5/5 Fine Abrasive Paste - Microfiber DA Cut Pad - Griots Orbital
- Sonax 3/6 Nano Polish - Uber Green Pad - Griots Orbital
- Aquartz
- Inspection with Fenix, 3m Sun Gun, Infratech, and natural sunlight
- Wheel wells were cleaned and dressed
- Rubber and Plastics Treated
- Exterior windows and mirrors cleaned and sealed
- Exhaust tips cleaned
- Windows were autoscrubed, cleaned, and sealed

Products used

Links to products used -

1Z einszett W99
Wolf's Decon Gel
Sonax Full Effect Wheel Cleaner
NanoSkin AutoScrub System
Meg's M105
Sonax Compound 5/5 - Coming Soon
Sonax Nano Polish 3/6 - Coming Soon
Aquartz
Adam's Super VRT
Optimum Metal Polish

Interior
1Z Cockpit
1Z Plastic Deep Cleaner
1Z Leathercare
Sonax Upholstery and Carpet Cleaner
Griot's 3 inch Random Orbital Polisher

Tools used
Uber Wool Wash Mitt
Uber No Name MF Towels
Griot's 6 inch Random Orbital Polisher
Griot's 3 inch Random Orbital Polisher
Uber Buffing Pads
Defelsko Paint Meter
Fenix TK35
Brinkmann
Kranzle Pressure Washer
Cam Spray Foam Canon
2 Grit Guard Buckets with Caddies
Uber Firehose Nozzle
Metro Air Force Blaster

Interior
Before








Cleaning up the mats with the Griots 3 inch and brush attachment


Vac



50/50 shot of the leather - we cleaned them up with 1Z einszett Plastic Deep Cleaner - take a look at all the dirt and oils removed.. returning the leather to a "like NEW' look and feel




Afters





Exterior

Wash/Decon/Autoscrub/Wheels/Tires/Engine










Engine
Before






After


Nanoskin Autoscrub
Lubricant prior to the Autoscrub



Here is what we had in front of us







Paint Correction
The 50/50 shots will show it all







After compounding and polishing we ended up with this



Pulled the wheels off to do a thorough cleaning - wheel wells cleaned and dressed, brake calipers cleaned and protected, wheel cleaned up and protected


Calipers before






After caliper and wheel wells were taken care of




BBS LM's were pretty dirty on the inside



Sonax Full Effect going to work



Wheel Woolies for easy cleaning



Cleaned up and dried - ready for the final touches and sealant


Testing Sonax Polymer Netshield on the BBS LM's


Ready to mount them back on



Exhaust tips (Optimum Metal Polish and Steel Wool #0000)
Before



After


Exterior
Afters

 

Great job, love that you pulled the wheels to do a killer job on the wells and barrels. How many man hours do you think you have in a job like this?

Do you have a brush attachment that fits the 6" GG or a PC?

Thanks,

Jeff

 

wow....the wheel pictures where crazy....i have to order some more sonax

 

Damn nice work as always!!!!

 

Hey phil, just a question, when you have rotors that have rust like that, can you knock it off using Wolfs/Sonax/Iron Cut? Or what would you do to make the rotors look better as well?

Thanks.

 

Great save! I'd like to hear more about the Sonax Netshield.

 

thanks guys, how many hours I'm going to say about 21 hours.

the brush should be in stock next week.

 

not much once you drive out of the bay we tap the brakes a few times to clear out the rust.

 

should be coming in soon.

 

An SL55 with LMs? That's just pure CLASS. Compare that to those horrible Ed Hardy ADV.1s you see on some luxury cars and it's clear who's got taste and who doesn't!

Excellent work Phil!

 

Nicely done Phil!

-Kody-

 

Does the carpet brush fit both the 3" GG DA and the 6" GG DA and PC?

 

awesome job. looks great

 

thanks guys! yup the 3 inch brush will fit all the above DA's.

 

Sweet setup and cleanup guys!

 

I would hate to have to clean those wheels when MOUNTED on the vehicle

Lol

Great job on the leather and paint, guys!

 

looks good.

 

Great job. The brake dust drives me crazy on my wife's Mercedes. The turn around on those wheels was nothing short of a miracle. If I had four thumbs, you would get a big four thumbs up. Write-ups like this keeps me striving to get better at my detailing hobby.

 

Nice work Phil!

 

thank you appreciate the feedback.