Sorry if this has been asked before but I am a new member and couldn't find the answer in the forum, if anyone knows, I would appreciate the link.

I have just bought a 2007 S550 and would like to give the interior a really good detailing but I am not sure what is leather and whats not. I'm not sure what product to buy for the seats, any vinyl and wood and chrome. Any suggestions would be great.

Thanks

 

In the base S550 and S63, the seats and armrest are leather, although only of what I'd call a medium quality. The doors and dash are vinyl. I think the steering wheel may also be wrapped in leather. You can use a good leather cleaner/conditioner on all of those surfaces. Be careful not to rub too hard as it's possible that you can rub some of the dye off. Lighter color leather, such as the light gray and peanut butter colors are ones that you have to be especially careful with. Black is nice because it hides a lot and doesn't take much work to make it look really good. If your car is a Designo edition, then it's possible that the dash and doors are also wrapped in leather....and a much better quality than the base model.

 

Thanks for replying. I think it's a base s550 and I am very happy with it. I want to do a good job detailing the inside and have been watching lots of YouTube videos on it. Do you recomended any particular cleaners?
thanks again

 

For general parts of the interior - including, vinyl and plastic surfaces, I use Nextzett Plastic Deep Cleaner if it is very dirty, and Nextzett Cockpit Premium afterwards to remove streaks. Take care when cleaning the clear plastic covers to the instrument cluster and COMAND display. I usually protect the top of the dash and top of the door trims with Aerospace Protectant 303, but I'm too lazy to coat every plastic surface with this. You can use a wood protection wax or polish on the wood surfaces - BUT since these products are heavy on petroleum, they can severely deteriorate rubber coated plastics even if you get just a little bit on them , and it will not be apparent until several weeks later when the plastic/rubber becomes soft and sticky due to the contamination.

If the car interior is especially dirty, I mix up an as-seen-on-TV product called "Quick n Brite". This works well on door thresholds, and under dash surfaces that might be dirty and is cheaper than using the Nextzett products all the time.

If you have shoe scuffs that need to be removed, gently rubbing with a magic eraser type pad works.

For fabrics and upholstery that are severely stained, I use Folex Carpet Cleaner and Spot Remover - pretreated. This works especially well if you have a light color interior - and even works on the headliner for spot removal. No need for heavy rinsing after use according to the bottle.

I have not found a good leather cleaner, currently I use Chemical Guys leather cleaner and conditioner, but there are some schools of thought that say you can't really condition car leather because it's so well sealed, and that the most you should is keep it clean to prevent particles of dirt from scratching it. Based on trying various products, find one that foams and use with a soft brush on perforated leather surfaces. In any case either brush or vacuum the leather first and take the time to pull the folds and creases in the leather gently apart as this is where scratchy dirt likes to hide.

Hardest thing to clean is the seatbelt webbing - haven't really found much success.

All products mentioned are available on Amazon. Get lots of washable microfiber cloths too... the 16x16" ones from Chemical guys are great. Get like 4-5 of the 12 count packs so that you always have clean towels available. You can of course use them around the house too.... Lastly....since it's your own car, and it sounds like you want to do it right - it wouldn't be uncommon for the whole interior detail to take 6-8 hours with breaks.

 

Wow, thank you so much for the detail response. I will start buying the supplies and hopef6post some before and after pictures.
thanks again

 

I use the following on my surfaces, and have had great luck:

Wood: liquid yellow carnuba wax. covers the swirls and gives it a nice, deep gloss.

Leather (seats, armrest): Lexol rapid restorer or leather conditioner. It has held up well, lasts quite a while and does an excellent job.

Carpets/Mats/headliner: Touch stuff upholstery cleaner, it dries without leaving water rings, and does a great job.

Vinyl/Dashboard: Meguires Mirror Bright Rubber and Vinyl. Looks good, gives a good shine without oily residue, long lasting.

I have a parchment interior and a black interior and all these products have worked excellent. I am pretty picky with how things looks, and wear. These all look good for a while. I am in Houston where the heat can get intense, and really be hard on stuff.

I hope these are helpful and it has good results for you.

 

Great recommendations. I have spent some short times on autogeek.net and found some interesting suggestions. I am going to try griots interior cleaner as you can use it on pretty much everything with professional results and it won't harm anything. I'll keep everyone posted.

 

There are so many products out there, it is hard to really have a clue to know why to purchase other than what you did, and ask for personal experiences. In general, the lower cost products fall in the get-what-you-pay-for category.

I have had great luck with the Lexol Cleaner and Lexol Conditioner product on seats, door panels, steering wheel, console, airbag, and door panels (pretty much everything you can touch on an S600 is wood or leather it seems). I don't have any interior flaws to speak of, but when I vacuum, I go over any spots on the carpet with Simonize Tuff Stuff, which is a foamy-based product. Allow it to penetrate for 30-90 seconds and use a carpet brush aud it will remove almost any stain, or a microfiber to remove simple stains.

I also have the leather conditioner, formerly known as "Hide Food" but have not used it yet.

On the outside,

I have also had good luck with the limited times I have tried Griot's Garage products - their Quick Detailer and tire dressing. I have some "3 in 1 wax" but have not tried it yet. Also, McGuiars NXT Tech Wax 2.0 works well. It really depends on how much paint correction you need to do and it you need to do a multi step process. I have had excellent results with some three steps systems and a Porter Cable 7424 orbital polisher.

I realize you asked specifically about the interior, but just tossed in my personal experience with products. I much prefer the natural look on the inside, so I do not apply anything to the dash other than something to clean it and condition it, and I avoid all plastics with anything other than a microfiber that is lightly moist. If you you have a 2007 and the buttons are original, almost any cleaner at that age will start removing the soft-touch coating on the steering wheel multifunction buttons and the shift paddles on the back of the steering wheel, so gently wipe them off with a microfiber with no cleaners or chemicals on it. I even leave my dry and lightly dust those off, as moisture can make them "sticky" if they have not been cared for over the years.

I know there are many products, which are meant mainly for professionals, are some of the best, and are mail order only. I do like to purchase my products locally if possible, as it seems I always run out at the wrong time!