My dealership gives unlimited car washes and so I decided to get one after a week of buying the 2012 E350. This free car wash resulted in swirl marks/scratches all over the car since they go through a drive-thru car wash. I told them and they gave me a free buffer to remove the swirl scratches. I've decided to wash my own car from now on. I wanted to know how you guys wash your cars. Do you guys use a waffle weave microfiber towel, squeegee for fast drying, mitts for washing? I need some good tips and advices to keep my car looking nice. Thanks in advance.

 

Try browsing the Detailing and Automotive Care forum. There's really nothing unique about maintaining the E. You'll get lots of great ideas there.

Regards,
Don

 

Find a good hand car wash in your area... Yelp one.

Never understood spending the 2+ hours it takes washing your car plus all the cash on the wash products unless your really into washing your own car.

I spend 25 a month on a hand car wash and another 200 a year for the annual detail clay bar, polish, and wax.

 

Do not let the dealership wash your car. Bad juju.

 

What general area do you live in and what (or what vicinity) Dealer is this.... So we can know to avoid washes there.

 

I first experienced the "Mercedes Benz Dealership Car Wash" when I returned from Germany (USAF) in 1985. I brought with me an '84 280SE Gray Market car. The first time they serviced it, they washed it. I had a FIT! They told me it was part of their customer service. They basically trashed the car, according to my specs. As a result, they added a notation in their service computer on my page, "Never Wash Customer's Vehicle." It is still their today. They asked if it were still applicable when I bought the E350. I said absolutely!

 

yeah, I know what you mean, you can see the swirls on my black car from 20 feet!!
it sux!

good luck!

 

My gosh people, it's a piece of metal.

I take mine through the auto wash thingy, $25 for five washes. It's cleaner on the way out than it is on the way in, and that's all that matters to me.

 

Yes, it is a piece of metal (and plastic in a lot of places, mind you!) but darker colored cars show everything. It was only until very recently did I start washing my own cars. Before a year ago, I washed my own cars occasionally, but took it down to the car wash about once every three weeks to a month. My cars got random isolated deep scratches, the people did a sh*tty job, and I don't trust them to keep my car clean. They had ten cars ahead and in back of me...why would they decide to spend time on mine? They didn't clean under the rear bumper, they didn't dry the door jams completely, and there were hard water spots on the bumpers since they didn't dry the car completely, which normally takes me 1-2 hours alone.

SO...Every weekend, I wash either the S, E, or GL. I wash the E more frequently because it's black and I like to keep it new (Very few swirls and only 5.5K miles!). The GL is covered in swirls from commercial car washes (but it's silver, so it hides them well during the day), and I did a 60-70% paint correction on my S550 the other weekend.

Every time I wash the car, I put approximately 5 hours of time aside (7 for the GL, 6 for the S550; this doesn't include interior cleaning). I spend half an hour for loosening dirt with just a hose and a foam gun, two hours of careful car washing with a merino wool wash mitt (I start with top, then hood, then top of doors where the sun hits the paint, then the top of the trunk, then the rest of the doors, the front fender, the rear bumper, the front bumper, and then the rest of the glass), two hours to dry/wax as I dry, and then half an hour to do any finishing touches (exhaust tips, cleaning up water from crevices, compressed air).

This is nothing in comparison to the 17 hour detail I did on my S 2 weeks ago, which was split between me and my brother (that's a total of 34 frickin' hours).

Don't do extensive details. Just wash your car yourself, don't let it get trashed by commercial people that don't know how to take care of paint, and you should be fine.

Here are some tips specifically for the E:
- Make sure you don't forget about cleaning underneath the rear bumper (behind the rear wheels)
- Make sure you don't forget about the exhaust tips. Mine may be scratched from towels, but at least they don't have rust on them like my neighbor's. They are a little hard to clean completely
- A lot of water seeps from the side mirrors after washing so use compressed air, or drive the car around until the water falls from the mirrors. Wipe up the excess
- If you have a black car, blot the car dry to avoid swirls
- Don't forget to clean the side sills! I forgot yesterday when I washed the car and had to use a LOT of quick detailer to loosen the dirt and wipe it away.
- Personally, I don't even use a wash bucket. I'm too afraid of lodged particulates scratching the paint, so I rinse my mitt after every panel and keep it wet by hosing it down. I put the car wash soap directly on the mitt or panel. Yes, this means one bottle of car wash soap only lasts me 2-3 car washes, but boy is it effective at keeping swirls away and cleanup a little easier.
- I use Zaino towels (100% cotton Supina hydroloop towels made in America) - these don't scratch; at least the yellow ones don't (the white ones do after a lot of machine washing; Only available online)
- I use a Merino wool wash mitt (Heavy, holds a lot of suds, real wool, really awesome mitt! Only available online)
- I use Turtle Ice Car wash and every time I dry the car, I wax it using Meguiar's Ultimate Quik Wax. This is of course, after I already have a layer of thick wax or a sealant underneath, from Zaino, Klasse, Blackfire or Menzerna.
- NOTE: The glossy black pillars between the front and rear seat windows scratch VERY easily. Be extra careful

 

So far for me over 3 months just been doing my own handwash, 2 buckets, mitt, microfiber drying towel, chamois for the door sills etc. I do notice you need to wash inside the doors and trunk carefully. Its white so will be forigivng in a wash but trying to avoid it. That said my wife's black ML has had machine washes pretty often for the past 30 months and while some swirling you need to look for it to really see them. Maybe where she takes it is much better than MB dealer?

 

Has anyone ever gotten the resist all coating from the MB dealer? I was told that it could help protect against the swirls.

 

No, not only did I think it was expensive, but I would never trust the dealership to touch my paint. EVER... The first time I went into the service area and saw the tools and chemicals and rags to dry cars, I almost puked. The coating would have probably been wax or something like that. I didn't see any Teflon like coatings (no labels or boxes) down there...

 

An expensive piece of metal that many people view as an art form and has about everything to do with how well kept it looks.

I have my own ways of cleaning my car. Admittedly, it being white, I'm much more lenient than others regarding being completely OCD in preventing swirls and such (but I am ALWAYS OCD, just maybe not as much as some who especially have darker colors).

My car looks pristine and very popping, but of course I know of the various small imperfections that you can only see in hi-res, and much of them did come from the Dealer, before I got the car.

I told myself that if I ever decided to buy the car out fully, after the Lease, I'll get a full on paint correction, to take out the small stuff that I can only see from really up close.

..... Unfortunately, windshield pitting is another story.... I have one too many of those. However, with that, I've trained myself to get not too upset over it. It'll happen, and it's really hard to notice. Even if they're there, even the smallest amount of dirt and dust on the car can look the same.... so it's almost like they're not even there.

 

This is very entertaining thread.
I have to admit - you guys are crazy ).
I think I don't even wash my own body as perfectly as you wash your cars.

 

how do you guys clean the inside of all windows? well, the best and easiest way would help .

 

Yea? And your house is just a bunch of wood and plaster....same concept. You take care of your house, you take care of your car.

 

I don't use any cleaners. Just a Microfiber that is very lightly damp on one edge. I'm an advocate of using "no products unless you need them", and never touch my interiors with an abrasive/detergent. However, I upkeep my interior well, and don't use it in a sense where it gets worn out or dirty fast. If something happened where only a detergent/abrasive would solve it, then obviously I'd use it, but otherwise, just good rags and some water, and some protectant over the wood and materials if needed from time to time.

 

I have a good person who knows how to make cars showroom condition .

www.innovativedetailing.com

He recently detailed W212 E350 too . If you're interested I can give you link for it but I need to dig it up 1st

 

I agree, but not to spend 4-6 hours of my weekend on washing that ...
I wash my car by myself, but it takes about 30 minutes ..may be 40 if I'm too lazy. This is good exercise and brings me pleasure, but no longer than 1 hour.
But...I'm not saying you guys wrong. You're just different

 

To some, it's also therapeutic.

With me, I know that when my car's dirty, and I'm driving around, I just don't feel as "fresh". When my car is clean, driving around on a nice day, it makes me feel good, and makes my car look like a diamond in the rough. No matter how nice a car is, if it's dirty and especially worn out looking (not well maintained), it loses a lot of its sharpness and edge, and just doesn't look great.

I've seen cars like Honda Accords on the streets that look immaculate, well lightly modded, which give them a sharp edge, look more enticing than the dirty, scratched up S-Class next to it, who's appearance gives it an impression of tired, dull, etc.

 

haha on a lazy day, a quick wash and dry will take me about an hour as well But you are right, it is great exercise and my car looks great after. I just can't trust any of those hand wash guys because when I see the rags they use....it kinda scares me =/

 

in addition to rags that are hard and abrasive, my local car wash also used acid based wheel cleaners, which rusted all my lug bolts on my GL.

 

I also wonder what kind of soap all these washes and stuff use. Is it carwash based, quality stuff meant to be minor-ly abrasive? One can only guess.

 

If they're tinted, make sure you don't use anything with amonia in it (i.e. Windex).

Regards,
Don

 

well whatever it is, I don't trust it OR them (ppl washing my car). Another thing that I see often: businesses with 100% HAND wash signs all over the place but when you look inside they force all the cars to go through the track thing and then hand DRY it. Whats the point of advertising 100% hand wash if you're gonna dry it only using the hard and abrasive rags that look nothing close to microfiber?