NitroShredder

I know the MB Car Care products are made by Meguiars, and have used the Meguiars stuff for a few years on my old bimmer. Anyways, I noticed they now use a "3 step" system. I have the wash, polish and wax.. but what is this "Paint Cleaner?" Both the Meguiars setup and the MB setup (also by Meguiars) also have it.

Just wanted to know what you guys thought of this. Is this something I should do (Paint Cleaner.. not the soap/shampoo) EVERYTIME I wash the car...

Also, on the Meguiars Leather Care or the MB Leather care... is this the "hot ticket" for the MB Perforated Seats. I had used Connelley Hyde Food for several years on the bimmer, and it worked incredibly well.... even kept the Montana Leather smelling "new." Many people commented the car still had the "new" smell.. 3+ years after taking delivery.. but the Hyde Food is a pastey deal.. and pretty intense smelling (ie. smells like a cow actually, but restores the leather well.. and keeps it "fresh"). I did notice my new Benz has a nice "leather smell" inside. Is this a product that's applied (the MB Leather care?) or is it the Leather itself. Will it remain?

SOrry for the long post. Getting ready to detail my new E this weekend for the first time

Peter

MBguy_850

That smell is the leather itself, the S500 still has that smell a year and a half after I bought it. If you have the "vented" seats like the S500 does, its best to stay away from the creams... and stick to sprays. Meguiar's Gold Class makes a good leather Conditioner in spray form. It smells nice too.

Now, about your fisrt questions...

The "Cleaner" should be used before polishing, in the "3 step system". Let me briefly explain what all 3 products do, and the alternatives that will lead to a better finish, overall.

Paint Cleaner - First it strips your paint of all old waxes and sealants, it removes surface contaminates like embeded dirt and oils from your finish. It is supposed to give you a very smooth, clean surface to work on. Howver it dosent do that great of a job.

Let me introduce you to detailing clay. You may have heard of it before, but check out www.clay-magic.com . and read about it there.

Clay Magic, and Meguiars... both decent bars are avalible at most Auto Zone's. My favorite is the Mothers Clay Bar, but it is harder to find. If you have an O'reileys Auto Parts around you, they may carry it. Anyway, to sum this all up... Clay is seems to be a much better alternative to the Step 1 Paint Cleaner.

Polishes - Polishing is a very important step. First of all, it will reduce minor imperfections in the paint finish, and hide minor swirls and scratches. It also deepens the shine of the paint and mainly, it will just make the paint look better. I highly reccomend against using Meguiar's polish (in the Burgandy bottle). Most Auto Parts stores carry the Professional line, in the brown bottles. I reccomend buying the #7 "Show Car Glaze". It is a great polish, and is very easy to work with.

Waxes - Waxes and sealants generally provide a means for protection to your prep work. So, if you dont do good prep work with cleaning, and polishing... waxing over that will not help the finish, the wax will seal over the imperfections, and embediments in the paint. If you have a Harley Davidson dealer near you, they carry a product called S100 wax, its around $15 and its about the best wax you will ever buy. If you dont have a Harley Dealer, then check out CMA for detailing supplies. www.properautocare.com

Therefore, to close this terribly long post, there are better products out there for about the same price.

Go to Autopia for the best detailing advice on the net.

http://www.autopia.org

Happy Detailing

MBguy_850

With all that work, you can get results like this:

Kar don

I thought that was an S600 in your pics... anyway, I would not use the paint cleaner to wash or clean your car. It is not meant for that use. Stick with a good car wash soap and water, use the method in the sticky thread posted by JustinTRW.