Mercedes E-Class - Dodo Juice Enhancement & Protection.
I last visited this car August last year. Since, it’s had nothing other than the weekly wash, so, more than ready for the complete strip-back and cleanse session!
Before:
After:
…that should see it through the Summer months!
Inspection:
Bodywork flat and covered in contaminants. Britework dull and tarnished. Wheels ready for a good scrub inside and out.. Still, at least the interiors nice and fresh.
Having two days for this one, and, starting slightly later than usual on the first day, I opted to start with the interior (incase the heavens decided to open on the second day ruling out any interior work)
Possessions gathered and bagged. Mats removed. Hoovered. Plastics and dash wiped down with G101. Leather cleaned and protected with the LTT combo.
LTT Auto Ultra Foam:
Dirt that was lifted from the seats:
Once the interior was sorted, and, leather had been protected, I moved on to the engine bay.
Using AutoSmart G101 to clean and various brushes to agitate. Rinsed on a medium pressure by the Kranzle. (to be dressed later on)
Back into my usual routine now.. Wheels and shuts.
I covered the front end in G101 pre-foam stages to help soften the squashed bugs.
Foamed and worked the ‘little areas’ with a few brushes. (petrol filler housing, window jams, badges etc)
After the wash was complete lots of heavily soiled dirt and tar spotted on the lower halves:
A timely process, but, all deposits were removed with AutoSmart Tardis.
Random clay-bar shot mid way round the car,
Towel dried and awaiting further work from the “Black Baron Vehicle Dryer”.
Once used, the Black Baron cleared all the standing water from window jams, badges, panel gaps, mirror housings etc... A priceless bit of kit in my opinion.
Mercedes now bone-dry and ready to polish.
Although garaged, conditions weren’t great. For now (until the clouds blow over) I’ll work down the one side and move out and adjust as/when necessary.
Dodo Juice Lime Prime on a 3M Yellow Polishing Pad.
Bonnet before:
Bonnet after:
50/50:
Roof before under strip-lights..
And cleaned up nicely.
Although the correction achieved looks well, don’t be fooled. There were lots of deeper marks still in the paint. I’d guestimate a mere 60% correction throughout; on the tough German paint Lime Prime was going to struggle anyway.. A more aggressive approach would be the answer to tackle the remaining swirls.
With blues skies above, I managed to move out the garage for the remaining time on day 1.
Before:
After:
With the aid of some strong direct sunlight, I managed to snap these defect shots down the N/S:
After a pass with the enhancement set up, we were left with:
Much better.
Finishing off on the first day I: dressed the engine bay. Dressed the tyres. Sealed the alloys.
Garaged. Locked up. Packed up. Home time (complete with headache)
Returning on the morning of the second day, I finished off the large pad work (lower door sills) and then moved onto the small pad areas; bumpers, B-pillars etc.. A nice day for it, too!
B-Pillars in a bad way:
Initial 106FA tests made very little difference – Strange.. Usually, this is all that is needed and does the trick! Stepped up to 203s and cranked up the speeds to achieve this:
Again, a heavier more ‘aggressive’ approach would be needed here to improve things further.
The suns still out and things are starting to come together quite nicely:
Lime Prime was a little ‘wet’ throughout the polishing stages and caused all manner of ‘splatter’ and mess on the surrounding body panels. In an attempt to clean up the mess, and, another ‘new product' for me to try, I opted for Dodo’s Lime Prime Lite (abrasive free glaze/pre-wax cleanser)
Large flat areas I applied by DA and a finishing pad. Vertical panels I applied using a microfibre applicator pad. “On and off” very easily indeed - did the trick!
With that and the wax out of the way (Collinite 476s used here for max durability), I looked at the britework.
I remember last time the front end had accumulated a fair amount of ‘grub’ and looked very dull and tarnished.
Similar story this time round.
Before/after:
Stubborn spot in the middle just would not shift..
Grille completed, too:
The Dodo threesome:
A final wipeover with Red Mist and we’re there.. ~10 hours in total.
Thank you.
Jim
I last visited this car August last year. Since, it’s had nothing other than the weekly wash, so, more than ready for the complete strip-back and cleanse session!
Before:
After:
…that should see it through the Summer months!
Inspection:
Bodywork flat and covered in contaminants. Britework dull and tarnished. Wheels ready for a good scrub inside and out.. Still, at least the interiors nice and fresh.
Having two days for this one, and, starting slightly later than usual on the first day, I opted to start with the interior (incase the heavens decided to open on the second day ruling out any interior work)
Possessions gathered and bagged. Mats removed. Hoovered. Plastics and dash wiped down with G101. Leather cleaned and protected with the LTT combo.
LTT Auto Ultra Foam:
Dirt that was lifted from the seats:
Once the interior was sorted, and, leather had been protected, I moved on to the engine bay.
Using AutoSmart G101 to clean and various brushes to agitate. Rinsed on a medium pressure by the Kranzle. (to be dressed later on)
Back into my usual routine now.. Wheels and shuts.
I covered the front end in G101 pre-foam stages to help soften the squashed bugs.
Foamed and worked the ‘little areas’ with a few brushes. (petrol filler housing, window jams, badges etc)
After the wash was complete lots of heavily soiled dirt and tar spotted on the lower halves:
A timely process, but, all deposits were removed with AutoSmart Tardis.
Random clay-bar shot mid way round the car,
Towel dried and awaiting further work from the “Black Baron Vehicle Dryer”.
Once used, the Black Baron cleared all the standing water from window jams, badges, panel gaps, mirror housings etc... A priceless bit of kit in my opinion.
Mercedes now bone-dry and ready to polish.
Although garaged, conditions weren’t great. For now (until the clouds blow over) I’ll work down the one side and move out and adjust as/when necessary.
Dodo Juice Lime Prime on a 3M Yellow Polishing Pad.
Bonnet before:
Bonnet after:
50/50:
Roof before under strip-lights..
And cleaned up nicely.
Although the correction achieved looks well, don’t be fooled. There were lots of deeper marks still in the paint. I’d guestimate a mere 60% correction throughout; on the tough German paint Lime Prime was going to struggle anyway.. A more aggressive approach would be the answer to tackle the remaining swirls.
With blues skies above, I managed to move out the garage for the remaining time on day 1.
Before:
After:
With the aid of some strong direct sunlight, I managed to snap these defect shots down the N/S:
After a pass with the enhancement set up, we were left with:
Much better.
Finishing off on the first day I: dressed the engine bay. Dressed the tyres. Sealed the alloys.
Garaged. Locked up. Packed up. Home time (complete with headache)
Returning on the morning of the second day, I finished off the large pad work (lower door sills) and then moved onto the small pad areas; bumpers, B-pillars etc.. A nice day for it, too!
B-Pillars in a bad way:
Initial 106FA tests made very little difference – Strange.. Usually, this is all that is needed and does the trick! Stepped up to 203s and cranked up the speeds to achieve this:
Again, a heavier more ‘aggressive’ approach would be needed here to improve things further.
The suns still out and things are starting to come together quite nicely:
Lime Prime was a little ‘wet’ throughout the polishing stages and caused all manner of ‘splatter’ and mess on the surrounding body panels. In an attempt to clean up the mess, and, another ‘new product' for me to try, I opted for Dodo’s Lime Prime Lite (abrasive free glaze/pre-wax cleanser)
Large flat areas I applied by DA and a finishing pad. Vertical panels I applied using a microfibre applicator pad. “On and off” very easily indeed - did the trick!
With that and the wax out of the way (Collinite 476s used here for max durability), I looked at the britework.
I remember last time the front end had accumulated a fair amount of ‘grub’ and looked very dull and tarnished.
Similar story this time round.
Before/after:
Stubborn spot in the middle just would not shift..
Grille completed, too:
The Dodo threesome:
A final wipeover with Red Mist and we’re there.. ~10 hours in total.
Thank you.
Jim
