Another Benz picture

[atclew]

All these pictures of Benz's lately, I just had to jump in the action. Nothing like the three pointed star in front of a great detail!!!! I know these are old pics, but I just couldn't resist re-posting them!

[gb387]

Great reflection shots!

[MandarinaRacing]

Re: Another Benz picture

Originally posted by atclew
Another Benz picture....

What Benz pictures?!?!?! All I see are some houses....



Alex

[tumbler]

nice.. what was your process

[Paulvr4]

You must have flipped the first picture upside down. Meaning you took the picture from back of the car....otherwise....there is no reflection....

....meaning....you are GOOD

love the pics!

[atclew]

Those pictures are completely unedited, I assure you. I barely know how to resize pictures using EZ thumbnails!

As I mentioned before these are older pics. They are of the '03 C320 I traded in this past September.

Here is the write-up i posted on MOL and Cardomain:

"I picked up this 2003 C320 4-Matic in Dec of '04. The finish was in stereotypical shape, the previous owner apparently only had it waxed twice a year and never bothered with trying to keep swirl-marks and spiderwebbing off the finish. I've spent quite a few days slowly working the defects out fo the finish that are not through the paint. I'm about 80% done, but I'll eventually end up having the car refinished.

The first day I had off from work, I went and had the car washed and brought it back to the garage. I set up 4 space heaters, (it was 18F outside) and waited about 4 hours for the finish to get close to 45F. I then clayed the entire surface, which took about 2 hours, from all the contamination the previous owner never bothered to take care of. I then used Meguiars #83 Dual Action Cleaner Polish(DACP), with their Porter Cable orbital polisher. The difference was amazing, I wish I had had the foresight to take before and after pics. After the DACP, I applied a pure polish to the car to try and start "feeding" the finish with the lubricants and oils it was probably crying for! (LOL). To finish, I applied a coat of Meguiars NXT liquid wax. I let it set in for about 90 minutes because of the slightly colder than recommended temperature, and then removed it. The results were unbelievable. The whole process took nearly 6 hours because of the time added for the cold, with something that should've taken about 4. The pics you see here, are from the 4th repeat of the process listed above. Not completely done yet, but getting there. Then again, are we ever truly satisfied with our finishes?"

To follow up on that, my process is fairly typical of what some of the other fellas on here use.

Wash
Clay, if needed
#83, if needed (using PC)
Scratch-X, if not using #83 to remove minor imperfections
#81, applied with PC, removed by hand.
Nxt liquid wax, two coats, on successive days.

I use the High Gloss Endurance Gel on the tires, and Nxt Metyl Polish on the chrome and metal trim.