When I had my business, I had a private, 3-car garage where I parked. Every Friday, my detail guy came and washed my car. Since my cars rarely got really dirty, he would use a technique, where he would sponge off a panel with plain water, dry it and move to the next panel. He would do the same with the wheels, but I believe he used a cleaning solution to get all the brake dust off. My cars always looked great and there was no need for a blower to remove excess water. Unfortunately, when I sold my business in 2007, I was not able to keep using this fellow, so I started having my cars washed at a higher end “hand” car wash near my home.

I took my new SL to the car wash three or four times, before I put the new wheels & ceramic brakes on, but cannot bring myself to go there now, as I don’t want anyone spraying them with cleaners and poking brushes in there. So, after decades of letting someone else wash my cars, I’ve decided that I will keep my SL up on my own, using the “one panel at a time” method. I just finished it and I’m happy I did it. No hose, no bucket full of sudsy water, no huge river running down the alley. I filled a regular size bucket up about a third of the way with cool water and dumped it out and refilled it four times during the process. I have a little pump sprayer that I filled with water from our purified drinking water tap in the house and I misted the wheels, one at a time and dried them. I cannot tell you how happy I am with the ceramic brakes and the ZERO DUST factor. Cleaning the wheels is a snap without that horrid dust.

Anyway, that’s my car wash story. What do you guys feel is the best tire dressing, that won’t make the tires too shiny? Anyone have a good technique for cleaning dust out of the A/C registers? Thinking of stealing one of my wife’s “squirrel” makeup brushes.

 

If any of my vehicles are not filthy, rather just dusty, I don’t even use any water. I lightly spray on a “detailer” and gently wipe off with a soft microfiber cloth. Cleans the surface and leaves a shine. Have been doing it for years with great results and leaves no scratches. AC registers = QTips. I also stay away from the cheap, thin microfiber clothes that are the size of a face cloth. I buy the larger fluffy ones linked here.

Unlike the trend on this site I consider the wheels and tires “utility” items. I use a bucket of soapy water and a soft brush. Give them the once over and I am ready to go......

 

Utopia - beautiful!

 

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That really looks RED in this photo, very nice! Looks like what we used to call "Candy Apple Red."

 

The Cardinal Red on my ‘19 is definitely a different hue than the Cardinal Red that was on my ‘17. If it would not cause a divorce after 38 years of marriage I would really go crazy and have the ‘19 painted my favorite color either Brandywine or Brandywine Black......

 

Stream, The badge on the rear of your SL stands for? Maybe “Multi Millionaire”? I am clueless.

 

I tell everyone “it was a special order.”

 

Mighty Mouse!

 

I always liked the Ferrari 275MM nomenclature. On that car, it stood for “Mille Miglia.” So, thinking that I wanted something different, I dropped the “0” and added the “MM.” Only a few people here know the true meaning.

 

'Model Mix-up' may be more appropriate now!...

 

Down in farm country that used to stand for Minneapolis Moline!

 

I knew what the MM meant immediately, but dropping the "0" strikes me as somehow non-Streamliner-ish......

 

Seems odd, but if you believe Stream, his 231 rear badge now reads 'SL45MM'....


So a badge for designating engine size, could be seens as SL45 millimeters.....




**** Note: A millimeter = 0.039 of an inch ---- 45mm = 1.77165 inches...



Dropping the 'zero' off of SL450 makes sense, but adding 'MM' makes it 'odd'....


SL45 would have been 'the most logical choice' given Streamliner's modifications. However, even if Stream would consider changing his rear badge again, one wonders if the 'MM' can be removed without any damage to the paint!....

 

I can’t wait until Stream takes the SL in for regular maintenance and the service department tells him they can’t find parts for a SL45MM !

 

Yeah, it’s odd, like SL63 or SL65 are odd. It’s just for fun. The car is probably the only SL450 in the world with the Carbon Ceramic Brakes, so I thought that a slightly modified moniker was in order. 99.999% of the folks out there won’t even notice it, but I have seen one or two AMG GT owners do a double-take when they see the car, especially if their car doesn’t have the CCB option. I still marvel at the amazing performance of the V6 whenever I take the car out and I like the thought that someone, at some dealer, might be asking what an “SL45MM” is.

 

I follow washing my SL with a rinse of using a SPOTLESS demineralizing system (similar to a reverse osmosis system) that removes minerals from the water and hence water spots. I follow that by drying with my backpack leave blower. I have yet to find any micro fiber clothes that do not leave small scratches.

 

I've been trying the Turtle wax hybrid sealant and am quite impresses. I'm now waiting for their Hybrid Ceramic - due for release next month - if it is as good as the one I'm using it will become my goto. I do have a little bit of a problem testing products....The photos below are about 2 years old and I've added several items to what you see. Probably need to start giving away half full bottles......

 

I know the problem. There are so many auto related washes, waxes, conditioners, towels, buffers scrubbers etc out there and tons of reviews it can make your head spin! I can match your collection and add a 8hp blower/dryer I use on my autos......no more hand drying! In a attempt to battle all the calcium/ magnesium in my well water which leaves spots I tried the blower and it works great. No more spots!!!!

 

I use a leaf blower to remove the bulk of the water after I have used one of these......the car then goes into the garage and is left to air dry and the products go on the next day when it is dry.......We also have hard water where I live - there are some nice filters available there (USA) and worth the investment if you regularly wash your car yourself - I never dry my car and never have spots after using the filter. As long as you keep the car wet while washing, you'd only need to use the filter for your very last rinse.

 

My neighbor has a filtration tank twice the size of yours and he is constantly changing out the media though he only uses it for the final rinse. Our water source is very poor here and as the metro Houston, Texas area grows, about 8 million folks now, it will get even worse.....

 

I took all my badging off with no damage to the paint.

I'd say it's odd like an SL55 would be odd. When I debadged my CLK550, I didn't consider leaving CLK55 on, as that would seem to be posing as an AMG.

 

Streamliners removal of the 0 is a bit odd. I would have just added the MM at the end or the other side.

The number 45 is taken for the AMG four bangers a la A45. Not the right message

Of course none of this actually matters. His car is quite a nice unicorn.