First full detail of my E550
 

The car is about 3 months old and I had wanted to do this much sooner, but I never got around to it. Now that the weather is getting cooler here it was time to get a few coats of wax on it and prep it for winter. Sorry, not a ton of pictures during each process since I was fighting to get it all done before the sun went down. The dirt was hard to capture in pictures for the before shots because of the color of the car.

Some of the arsenal:

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The car was pretty dirty by my standards since we had rain straight for a week. I raised the AIRMATIC in the first picture so I could hose out the wheel wells. I couldn't believe how high up it went! It looks like it's on jacks.

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The car was dirtiest behind the wheels from all the road debris and leaves kicking up during the rain.

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The wheels weren't too dirty, but I used my Sonax Full Effect Wheel Cleaner anyway. Cleaner dwelled for several minutes per wheel and then I cleaned with a Swissvax brush, a wheel tool and a soft sponge at the end with car soap after hosing off the Sonax. I really hate the smell of the Sonax cleaner.

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After:
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New foam gun! Loaded with Mother's California Gold Car Wash and set to D mixing ratio (1-20)

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Pre-soaked the car and then washed with two bucket method. Dried with California Water Blade and a Meg's Water Magnet waffle weave towel for the remaining drops.

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Don't have pictures of the next steps:

• Clayed key areas with Mother's Clay Bar kit.
• RainX spray on front panel of Panorama glass roof and rear windshield. Not sure if I can use RainX on the back panel of the roof because I think it's a composite material of some kind (not glass like the front sliding panel). When I used RainX on my last car, I got some streaking on the side windows and skipping of the wipers on the front, so I didn't use it for all the glass this time.
• Swissvax Cleaner Fluid Regular on hood and trunk of the car. I was quickly running out of daylight, so I decided to end the Cleaner Fluid step since it was taking a lot of time and i found it difficult to wipe off.
• Finished with Autoglym High Definition Wax and after removal, wiped down with distilled water.
• Parked the car in the garage overnight and then resumed in the morning.

A few night shots:

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This morning I applied a second coat of Autoglym HD Wax. Wipe down with distilled water after removal.

Afters:

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Closeup of reflection:
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Interior was carefully vacuumed and wiped down. I plan to clean/ condition the leather this weekend.

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Thanks for viewing!

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That seriously is the most beautiful W212 I have ever seen... I wish I could make my S class look that nice :)))

I love the seats!

Thanks both! I love the interior color, it looks like a designo option to me, but it's a standard leather choice for the E-Class.

Hi pmb600,
Is your color "Steel Gray"? I am about to purchase my E550 and I am undecided about the color, would take "Artic White" by default since I find it very bright and more sporty looking. I liked the "Steel Gray" on the lot but I am wondering is this going to be harder to keep clean (like black) since this is a dark color?
Thanks for any hints.

^
Read the sig! Darker color for W212 is my prefer choice.
Yes, Steel Grey on NB is one the best ones you can get! :y

Is this interior here almond (more white) or beige (more brown)? Considering getting an E550 Luxury w/ Almond/Mocha interior and wood steering, but undecided on exterior color. Leaning toward either Steel Gray or Indium Gray. Not sure if the color combo will look good though.

This interior is called Natural Beige. It is a orangey brown color, kinda of like caramel. Almond Beige is another interior choice which is more of a traditional light beige. I have pictures of an Indium Grey E550 with Almond Beige interior I can share with you. Steel Grey and Indium Grey are two of my favorite colors for the E-Class.

nice clean car, I need to keep studying the art of keeping a black car looking nice....

thanx for sharing, nice pix too

Good luck. My last two were Black. What a difficult color...

Yes it is. But I hope to get a good detail on my car this weekend. I hope I can get mine as clean as yours.