material needed to get MB paint flawless?

[Vikas]

This is a 2004 S430; the paint looks great from 6 feet at the used car dealer showroom but go near and whole bunch of RIDS appear. The salesman tells me that unless wet sanded, this is the best that they can do. The guy is their service manager and seemed to be intelligent enough.

I would like to hear from some of the talented and experienced guys here if right chemical and GG 6" RO can fix this.

 

[Olas]

It's hard to say without pics but patience with the RO And one of these two products would be my best guess

http://www.poorboysworld.co.uk/cgi-bin/pbw.cgi?Command=ShowEPage&db_epid=64

Or

http://www.poorboysworld.co.uk/cgi-bin/pbw.cgi?Command=ShowEPage&db_epid=28

Good luck

 

[Noey]

Oh, the more I hear about this car, the more convinced I am that you should just run away.....

Do NOT wet sand this car! The guy who suggested this is a moron.

At best, you want to clay it...WalMart has 'Clay kits" follow the directions. However, depending on what a 'RID' is and the actual cause of the surface imperfections, there's just so much you can do with an old car with 100k miles on it.

Really...run away.

 

[JC1]

Originally Posted By: Vikas
This is a 2004 S430; the paint looks great from 6 feet at the used car dealer showroom but go near and whole bunch of RIDS appear. The salesman tells me that unless wet sanded, this is the best that they can do. The guy is their service manager and seemed to be intelligent enough.

I would like to hear from some of the talented and experienced guys here if right chemical and GG 6" RO can fix this.


Vikas, sounds like you need "The Critic's" input. On this site he's posted some amazing pictures of the work he does.

Send him a PM.

 

[EdwardC]

Had to google what a RIDS is, "Random Isolated Deeper Scratches":

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/hot-...ehind-term.html

This post discusses the ways to minimize the appearance, but apparently you have to be very careful and risk removing too much paint: http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/wet-...e-phillips.html

 

[Vikas]

Wet sanding is NOT even an option! My question is more or less specific to Mercedes Benz as what I have heard is that they are extremely difficult to correct because the paint is very hard. I am waiting for the TheCritic and Rick etc to log in and provide their input. They have first hand experience.

 

[RTexasF]

First off paint that is 11 years old will not be flawless short of painting the entire car. Depending on the severity of the RIDS it may require a rotary polisher to remove them. Can it be made very very nice with the GG6? Sure it can. If they (RIDS) are truly severe then some wet sanding may be required. Is it single stage or clear coat paint? Has it been repainted?

You will need to experiment with what products and pads you have and evaluate the outcome. Menzerna polishes & compounds are my first choice but there are at least 100 more that will do the job.
Just spitting out a magical pad/chemical combo that will renew paint I can't even see is asking a bit much.

The Mercedes' that I have done in the past were indeed hard paint. One was clear coat, others were single stage. I was able to complete them using a Cyclo buffer and multiple stages of Menzerna.
I had to experiment to find out the right combos just as you will need to do. For one that was in very rough shape I had to borrow a Flex forced rotation DA buffer. It made the work a whole lot easier and faster. Plan on using lots of pads.

I would pick out the worst spot on the car (hood? top?) and dial in the winning combination there.

 

[Mud]

I think RTF hit it on the head. When I bought my MB, the paint looked good yet had that scratchy feel. I also read up on the ceramic-based clearcoat before deciding what to do. The Menzerna products mentioned seem to be the most highly recommended.

I used Griot's claybar lubed with Optimum No-Rinse, washed again with ONR then waxed with Collinite 845. Interior got Aerospace 303. Finish turned out like glass. I also use Wet Paint Glaze after washing between waxes. But this was for a generally good paint surface that cleaned up within a few easy swipes with the bar. You may find that on yours you may need to live with the deeper RIDS but are able to service the overall surfaces using the recommendations of more knowledgeable folks.

 

[Chris B.]

Kind of off topic but I have been around cars that range from $200,000 to over 1 million and I have never seen a factory paint job on any of these very high end cars that were flawless and all had some degree of orange peel.

 

[JHZR2]

Id lean towards the answer of to walk away. There are w126 cars with flawless paint if you find them.

Does that S have the ceramic clear coat? that would make it tougher.

I get it that youre buying a very high end car, so what youre spending your money on is the high end car, not necessarily the paint job, but paint and subsequent repaint does scare me and Id want to keep looking for a better example if there are flaws.

 

[sds911]

Meguiars 105 and 205 or Menzerna si 1500 and sf 4500 or similar. See autogeek.net for the menzerna chart.

 

[Joel_MD]

Not sure why some say that wet sanding is not an option, other than ignorance. Sanding may be a viable option for your RIDS. A lot of professional detailers use wet sanding. Body shop guys do it too. I've done it before on a white 2006 BMW that my ex-wife drove, and I'm no pro. Professionals will usually measure the thickness of the clearcoat before sanding or heavy polishing, to ensure they don't cut through it. When I sanded my ex's BMW I think I used 3M 800 grit silicon carbide paper wrapped around a kitchen sponge, then finished with a Micro Mesh 1,500 Soft Touch pad. Very gentle pressure is the key, and plenty of water. After sanding, do an initial polish with something like Meg's 105 or Menzerna Super Intensive, and then "jewel" it with Meg's 205 or one of the Menzerna finishing polishes.