2004 Mercedes Benz ML350 Inspiration Edition

[Concours Detailing]

This car had been largely neglected for just under a decade - the interior and paint were in need of some serious love. It was decided in advance that since the car is not garaged, Opti-Coat would be the right way to go to keep the paint healthy and the car looking good.

WASH & DECONTAMINATION

Adam's Car Wash Shampoo

Optimum No-Rinse

Optimum Power Clean

Auto Finesse Iron Out

Nanoskin AutoScrub w/Nanoskin Glide

PAINT CORRECTION

Rupes LHR15ES

Griot's Garage 3"

Scholl Concepts S3 Gold

Scholl Concepts S40

Uber Green Pads

Uber Black Pads

CarPro Eraser

TRIM & SEALS

1Z Plastic Deep Cleaner

1Z Gummi Pfledge

Auto Finesse Revive

INTERIOR

1Z Cockpit

1Z Leather Care

1Z Plastic Deep Cleaner w/ 3" Griot's polisher & Uber Ultra Interior Brush for seating surfaces

1Z Blitz

CG Fabric Proector

Sonax Car Breeze

GLASS & BRITEWORK

Lusso Glass Polish

Autosol Metal Polish

WHEELS & TIRES

1Z ColourTec Wheel Cleaner

1", 2", & 3" Wheel Woolies

Auto Finesse Satin

Zep 505

Optimum Power Clean

CG Bare Bones

HEADLIGHT RESTORATION

800 Grit

1500 Grit

Scholl Concepts S3 Gold

Scholl Concepts S40

PAINT PROTECTION & LSP

Opti-Coat Pro

Kicked everything off with headlight restorations:

After polishing out sanding marks. Finished product:

Then moved on to some pretty nasty wheels. 10 years of baked on German brake dust ended up being quite a workout...

1Z ColourTec...um...ColourTec-ing:

I prefer 1Z over Sonax Full Effect because it will foam up when agitated and is much less runny. They look to be equals when it comes to cleaning :

Exhaust tip cleaned up with Autosol and 0000 Steel Wool:

Engine bay cleaned up:

On to the interior! I started by removing plastic leftover from a lazy dealer prep:

Door sills cleaned and polished:

Rest of interior:

Spider eggs over easy:

Beehive in fuel filler area:

Last of the pre-wash tasks - cleaning up the trim and tight spots:

Onto the wash:

Mummified frog rinsed from undercarriage:

Auto Finesse Iron Out at work:

Post wash eval - not pretty:

50/50 after one pass with S3:

Continuing correction work around the car:

Final Rinse to remove dust and polishing oils:

Time for Opti-Coating:

Some final shots:

Thanks for looking!