alqamzi

I want to detail my car from the inside and the outside. But am not familiar with detailing product. If u guys can tell me what is the best products it will be appreciated.

BarakallahC63W

Well you have 2 options:

1. Go to your regular store and buy all the Meguiars products
2. Go to the stealership and buy the mercedes detailing products.

I'd go with the first one, cause it's cheaper and always always for god sake always please use micro fiber even when you're working on the rims. I've seen people screw up their wheels just for that.

alqamzi

mercedes detailing is bad. Thanks for the advice i will use micro fiber.

sjhugh

I’m **** about my cars and was very happy with the way my dealer presented the car.

As far as detailing goes, it depends on how far you wish to go.

First off, apart from a good PH neutral wash solution you’ll need a clay bar and good lube to get the surface smooth.

Meguiars is average and you get what you pay for. If it needs a polish go for something like ‘Menzerna’, it offers a great shine. If the swirls are bad, a machine may be needed. If the swirls are light, something like ‘Dodo Juice Lime Prime’ will also give great results.

After polishing, applying a paint sealer is a good idea. There are a number of good ones on the market. I use ‘Optimum Opti-Seal’ as it’s quick and easy to apply (no buffing required), it’s optically perfect and can be layered if you wish additional protection.

A wax to finish off is optional. It will provide added protection and depending on what you use, can add depth and gloss to the shine. I use ‘Dodo Juice Supernatural’, it’s high in Carnauba wax, gives a fantastic finish and can be layered.

For the exterior and interior plastic trims and rubber, I prefer ‘303 Products Aerospace Protectant’. It’s easy to use, is non greasy and enhances the colour without adding shine. It also works well on your tyres if you’re looking for that new black look.

For the leather, I use ‘Zaino Z9 Leather Cleaner Spray’ and if necessay, ‘Zaino Z10 Leather Conditioner’.

For the rims, I use ‘Sonax Xtreme Wheel Cleaner’. The best thing on the market in my opinion. I also use a sealer on the rims to help with cleaning and in particular the removal of brake dust. To keep it simple, I use ‘Optimum Optic-Seal’ which lasts for over 6 months and is just a wipe on. Though at the moment I’m experimenting with ‘Nanolex Alloy Rim Sealant Kit’ and it seems to be doing a good job but not so easy to apply.

For the Glass, well I’m still looking. I’ve tried many brands and never been truly happy with the results. There are glass cleaners, polishes and sealants available, I’ve just purchased ‘Nanolex Glass Sealant Kit Urban’ but as yet I haven’t used it. If it works well, I’ll come back later and add my thoughts to the thread.

Hints:

Never use sponges or chamois on your paintwork, always use mircofibre and good quality ones at that. There are a lot of cheapies available that are very ordinary.

Don’t rub at marks as this may remove them but will leave a rub mark. Find something that will lift it without damaging the clearcoat. If necessary, leave the mark as is and seek some advice on what to do.

Always remove grit from the car with a high pressure jet of water before washing. If need be, go around the vehicle and check for anything that may mark the paintwork if you start to push it around during the washing procedure.

Quick detailers are good to fantastic for enhancing the shine on an already clean car but no so good in the long-term for cleaning dust and grit. Take care if you are using them as a substitute for traditional washing.

These are just my opinions and preferences, everybody has their own ideas of what works well for them.

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alqamzi

Thank very much for the info . Your hints will help me not ruining th paint .

black-clk500

just depends on how much of a freak you are.
I've got well over a $1000 worth of detailing product, all purchased from online speciality stores (not sure if I can name them here) One of them is having a 15% sale for Mem. Day code is MEMDAY15.
MF towels, big blue drying towels (I got four) and about 30 MF cloths for polishing cloths, glass cloths, etc. etc. and wash mits, applicators--much much more.
Polisher is a newer addition and all the pads, etc that go with it.
Before a polisher I did it by hand and that's good enough for 95% of people, but I slowly wanted better results and the polisher is the only way to get rid of swirls and have a "perfect" looking paint.

I have always had a garage queen for a car and my dd is a company vehicle that goes through a touchless wash most often and will get a hand wash now and then.
The garage queen gets the spa treatment (never seen a carwash and never will--as long as I own it, especially the DEALERSHIP wash ) and I enjoy doing it like a hobby.

As the previous poster mentioned: Zaino (been in the cabinet for over 7 years) works great, nice product line and smells nice (the detailing sprays), DoDo juice new for me--I'm using their shampoos for now because I'm more of a sealant guy as apposed to carnuba wax (whole debate you don't need to get into here) Menzerna my #1 choice since I got my CLK 5 years ago, it's what they use at the MB factory for polish, wash, etc.
Another good brand is PS210--nice rim cleaner and prewash spray.

Anyway, I could fill the whole page, my advice check out some of the detailing forums on here, BMW forums, etc. Some knowledgable stuff--good luck and enjoy, otherwise find a good detailer and don't bother with any of it.

_AMG_

I start off with Pinnacle Bodywork Shampoo to wash the car while using a good quality sheepskin wash mit.
Dry it off with Meguiars water magnet drying towel.
You can clay bar your car if you have surface contaminants on your car. you can check by putting your hand through a plastic bag and lightly rub over the surface of your paint. If it feels rough and bumpy i would highly using a good quality clay bar like Meguiars or Mothers.

After you have done all this its time to prep your paint for waxing.
Use pre wax cleaners before putting on the coat of wax. Pre wax cleaners hide minor imperfections in the paint and IS THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP if you want a vibrant, liquid, shimmering looking paint. For this step i use Dodo juice lime prime OR Klasse All in one. Both amazing products.
After putting on a layer of either of these products now its time for waxing.

After using numerous waxes (even waxes that costs upwards of $500) and spending hundereds of dollars. The wax i fell in love with was P21S Concours Carnauba Wax, It goes on easy and comes off extremely easy. It leaves the paint looking flawless and adds a vibrant glow to the paint. But if you want an EXTREMELY durable wax with great shine, i would higly recomend Collinite super doublecoat auto wax #476. But beware its not the easisest wax to work with. It will resist anything, UV rays, salt, acid rain, you name it. Especially if you live in an area where it snows alot.
To maintain the shine of your car occasionally use Meguiars NXT generation speed detailer, Or Mothers spray detailers are great too.

For the leather I use, Lexol leather cleaner and conditioner.
For the interior plastic i use, Lexol premium protectant for rubber & vinyl.

Hope this helps.

ZephyrAMG

Ok, great advice from above...here is a quickie from what I do:

1. Rinse rinse car first, then soap really well , any soap with carnuba wax
2. Rinse off with water really well ( I even use the Mr. Clean Car wash gun with the ionizing soap and water filter, helps remove water spots)
3. Dry with micro fibers ( I don't care what people say about them , they are excellent if clean and dirt free)
4. I use Plexus to clean plastic parts (unbeliebable stuff)
5. Use Blue Magic for chrome
6. I use a air matress pump to blow dust off inside and dash
7. I use Plexus for inside plastic
8. Zymol for leather (let car sit in sun for 20 mins to warm up leather, then let Zymol soak into leather)
9. A quick vaccum and a rinse of mats
10. Armor all the wheels with the rim protectant
11. Meguires for tire shine
12. Rain-X for windows.

And thats it.

Simple, quick, easy.

Have fun and yalla...take her out for a spin.

sjhugh

Just an added thought, I use ‘Waffle Weave Microfibre Drying Towels’ instead of a Chamois. I think that’s what black-clk500 means by big blue drying towel. It will soak up more water and will glide across the paintwork and not cling like a Chamois.

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danielemccabe

Good stuff man, thanks for your insight.

sjhugh

I hope I’ve helped. As I said, these are just my preferences and there are many good products out there and many more cheap and nasty ones. I’ve tried a lot of brands and I’m always trying something new. I do believe in paying a bit more for a higher end product as I find they do give a better finish and more importantly last longer therefore end up representing better value than the cheaper items. My other main criteria is, ease of use. The products I’ve mentioned are easy to use. High end does not mean complicated, hard on and off application, in fact they are often the opposite. Don’t be frightened off just because of its price.

The other thing that is important is to learn the right technics required to do a good job. Care and cleaning a car is as or more important than detailing. Join some detailing forums and learn how to use products. Some forums have detailing classes, attend if your serious about learning. Always allow plenty of time to do the job. If you know you’re rushed for time, leave it until another day. Also there is no rule that says you have to do everything at once. For instance, give yourself a day to do your rims, brakes and tyres. Clean them properly, seal them, clean the inner fenders and remove all road grime. Apply ‘303 Products Areospace Protectant’ to the inner plastic of the fender to bring them back to that new look, you can’t beat a nice clean black inner fender to highlight your rims. Clean your exhaust tips, use a metal polish and wipe them down with it once a week to keep them looking good.

On another day on another weekend do the interior. Wipe the plastics and dashboard down with ‘303 Aerospace Protectant’, clean the leather with a leather cleaner, condition it if you wish, vacuum the carpet, apply a carpet stain inhibitor if you regularly drive it in bad weather. Give it a vacuum as regularly as is sensible for you and wipe down the plastics with ‘303’ every few weeks.

On another day, give yourself a few hours to clean your engine bay. ‘303’ will again work well here, have plenty of old rags on hand for any oily bits, a soft brush will be a saviour in fiddly areas as will a vacuum cleaner. I also apply polish on the painted areas but that may not be everyone’s cup of tea.

The paint work is the big one and the most labour intensive. You need time to wash the car and clay bar and clean down again. A machine is great but don’t be fooled, they are only necessary if you need to do correction work. If using a machine, you’ll need to mask the car, this can take an hour or so. I use ‘Menzerna’ when polishing with a machine. If your paint work isn’t too bad use something like ‘Dodo Juice Lime Prime’ is comes in two strengths, ‘Lime Prime’ and ‘Lime Prime Light’. It will give good results from a hand job when trying to remove minor swirls. There are a number of good polishes available but try to avoid cheap ones as many have fillers which hide the swirls only to have them reappear a few weeks later after repeat washing. After polishing, clean down again and apply a paint sealer. All this can be done in a day. Ideally, give yourself two days and apply more sealer, apply a wax if you wish and then work on the glass and apply ‘303’ to the exterior plastics and rubber like under the mirrors, the rear diffuser, around the window sills, on the grill and so on. Finish off with a good quality detailer spray to enhance the final appearance. All the high end suppliers have them and they are often formulated to work well with their own waxes, sealers and polishes. Always buff with a very plush Microsoft cloth as a final finish to bring out the shine.

A good detail will last and last. On my weekenders I can go for years without doing it again. On my daily drives, about once a year will work. The secret is to care for the car in between. Always remove bird droppings straight away, have a bottle of spray detailer and cloth in the car, remove sap and tar as quickly as reasonable and most importantly, wash the car carefully. It all depends on what you want your car to look like when you are out driving it. Do you want it clean as most do, or do you want it to gleam like I do?

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kickR

Lots of good advice here, but you have to ask yourself if you want to put the work effort into it or if you get bored rather quick of car care.

As some mentioned, if you decide to go the route of DIY, then you will easily spend $300+ over the next couple of month WITHOUT a machine.

The key to caring for you cars clearcoat, and not the paint really, is to start clean and keep it clean.

Maybe you just want to spend about $200 for a local professional detailer to give you a clean sheet to start with and you take car of the rest as in pH neutral product, microfiber towels, proper washing techniques, and applying a sealant or wax by yourself every 6 months.

If you can tell us what route you think is more appealing to you and what kind of budget you have, we could help you much better

black-clk500

that's what I'm talking about--I have four of them now because I add new towels every couple of years or so just to get a fresh one. One will be enough to dry the car, but I use two of the older ones for the lower panels and final wipe along the inside door jambs, etc. and the newer two I use on the majority of the car.

I alluded to it earlier about using a sealant vs. a carnuba wax--I've used both and always find myself going back to a sealant/polymer product because I like that it doesn't leave white residue if you apply a little too much and I can get it on the plastic/rubber parts and it won't hurt them. I just find carnuba waxes to be a little more fussy to apply and they typically will not last as long as a sealnt/polymer product will on the car.

However, many people, including the best detailers around swear by carnuba waxes for their unique finish and quality--and they can cost a fortune for some boutique brands. So I guess the carnuba is best, but personally I find the sealants like Zaino and Menzurna very easy to use and I can't tell the difference in the shine and protection with either (carnuba vs. sealant). Hope this is helpful

alqamzi

Thank you very much guys for the help. I really appreciate it...

superlubricity

If you need more info, there is a dedicated MB World Detailing Sub-forum here -> https://mbworld.org/forums/detailing...otive-care-37/

Unbreakable1

lotsss to read here, wow i thought i was doing an 'ok' job cleaning but i guess not lol

question: most of you here are preferring MF to chamois when drying, but when i was initially asking around in the detailing sub-forum, i was instructed to stay away from MF due to potential scratching

and once again im confused...???

ZephyrAMG

The deal with MF towels is that they are likely to pick up dirt in the form of grains and they get locked into the fibers. Then the operator using it to wipe the car will cause scratches and swirl marks due to the harsh dust particles that will in essence act like sand paper.

You can use them just make sure you dont use one that was used for the undercarriage for the body of the car. Make sure they are clean and not used over and over for 1 wash in the same day.

A clean car soaped down well and rinsed well will ultimately prevent this.

Unbreakable1

thank you sir!

any negatives with using chamois?

black-clk500

I only use the drying towels for drying MY (not my wifes BMW or even my truck)car and I even have dedicated towels (they're lighter blue) for the lower panels and my lower panels seldom give off any dirt, but I don't take any chances.
Also, when drying the car you don't need to push down hard to dry the car, in fact you shouldn't do when you're washing either--I just glide the towels around the car.
No scratching with MF here and I've been using them for 10+ years.
I store my MF towels in sealable tupperware bins and keep them in this after they are washed and dryed. I'm very obsessive about washing and drying the towels and immediately folding them from the dryer and into the bins--they don't go in a laundry basket or on a sofa to be folded later.

I inspect my BLACK car under halogen lights and do paint correction only once a year to remove any fine swirls, so if the the MF was scratching the paint I'd notice it very soon--zippers, women's rings and rivets do much more damage than MF ever will--not to mention parking lots