2003 Detailed my 2003 SL 500 (Extremely Large Pictures)
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2023 AMG EQE 53 4MATIC+, Tesla Model Y
Detailed my 2003 SL 500
Well, all, we had a sunny, cold and windy day here in New Orleans, and I got a chance to complete the job on my SL 500. It lives outside, so I try to stay on top of keeping it neat. I've been anxious to get into the wheel wells and finally got a scissor jack that was low enough (under four inches). The plan was to pull each wheel and clean them front and back and in the meantime scrub and dress the wheel wells.
These pictures are huge. You can see the entire gallery on my site. That might be to your advantage, as you can view thumbnails first. http://www.bollar.org/2003sl500.htm
The car's a year old and I've never taken the wheels off, so they looked pretty rough:
But they did clear up pretty easily. Each wheel took about an hour. Each wheel got a Z7 bath, Z18 clay, Z2 w/ZFX. Tires got Z16. Unless otherwise noted, all products are Zaino.
Wheel wells were scrubbed with a tire brush and Z7. I had lots of leftover Eagle One Wet Tire Shine, so they got a huge dose of that:
And putting it all together:
The car itself was pretty clean, but I gave it a quick Z7, Z6 and freshened the leather with Z10.
These pictures are huge. You can see the entire gallery on my site. That might be to your advantage, as you can view thumbnails first. http://www.bollar.org/2003sl500.htm
The car's a year old and I've never taken the wheels off, so they looked pretty rough:
But they did clear up pretty easily. Each wheel took about an hour. Each wheel got a Z7 bath, Z18 clay, Z2 w/ZFX. Tires got Z16. Unless otherwise noted, all products are Zaino.
Wheel wells were scrubbed with a tire brush and Z7. I had lots of leftover Eagle One Wet Tire Shine, so they got a huge dose of that:
And putting it all together:
The car itself was pretty clean, but I gave it a quick Z7, Z6 and freshened the leather with Z10.
Last edited by bollar; Dec 19, 2004 at 09:47 PM.
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2023 AMG EQE 53 4MATIC+, Tesla Model Y
Originally Posted by StephenK
Job Well Done, what did you use on the exhaust tips?
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From: UK
SL55 AMG
Great job, pity though that MB dont make the brake calipers look more interesting than they do, especially when so readily visible throught the AMG 5 spokes...
For my exhaust tips, I use a wet brillo pad (fine wire wool, impregnated with soap) and the golden rule is to do it a little and often to keep on top of it, just like brake dust on the alloys.
For my exhaust tips, I use a wet brillo pad (fine wire wool, impregnated with soap) and the golden rule is to do it a little and often to keep on top of it, just like brake dust on the alloys.
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2023 AMG EQE 53 4MATIC+, Tesla Model Y
Originally Posted by WIldcat465
Why remove the wheels?
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2023 AMG EQE 53 4MATIC+, Tesla Model Y
Originally Posted by Whoompthereitis
Do your neighbors wonder why the crazy man across the street spends so much time cleaning his car like mine do? BTW NICE CAR
Yeah, the neighbors are pretty sure I'm psychotic -- especially when I'm washing it in the rain.
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From: Mission Viejo, California
2008 c350 SG - 2004 c240 Wagon BS
Originally Posted by bollar
Thanks!
Yeah, the neighbors are pretty sure I'm psychotic -- especially when I'm washing it in the rain.
Yeah, the neighbors are pretty sure I'm psychotic -- especially when I'm washing it in the rain.
The worst one is a church fanatic. He always says something he thinks is witty. -- "Don't you get tired of washing that car?"
Well, one of them is a fisherman so I asked him, "Are you going fishing AGAIN? You just did that last week". Another a golfer...
I asked the church fanatic, "Don't you get tired of going to church?".
Well, they don't say anything anymore (to me) but they still look at me funny.
You can eat off the back of my BBS though so screw um'
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2023 AMG EQE 53 4MATIC+, Tesla Model Y
Originally Posted by ano0oj
holy...the car looks really good. So in the end, how long did the whole thing take you?
The initial detail on the car took six hours or so, the wheels and wheel wells another four hours. Upkeep interior and exterior is 90 minutes.
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2023 AMG EQE 53 4MATIC+, Tesla Model Y
Originally Posted by JM19
When you went to remove the wheels, did you use jackstands in addition to the scissor jack for extra support? Or did you simply let the car rest on the scissor jack while you were cleaning?
