# 2007 Merc CLS - RGK Detailing / Caledonia



## Rgk Detailing (Dec 6, 2006)

*2007 Merc CLS - RGK Detailing - Polish Angel Cosmic!*

*​Professional Car Detailing, and Paintwork correction in Scotland, 07500903249, 
​Cquartz approved detailer​
This was a joint detail carried out with Gordon Muir(Caledonia)

I was contacted by the owner of this lovely Mercedes CLS, to remove the numerous swirl marks and random deeper marks present in the finish, to breathe new life into the bodywork as he was planning on keeping the car a few more years,

The car was treated to a thorough wash and de contamination process, the wheel arches, and lower areas of the car were treated to a degreaser to break down any dirt and grime build up, followed by a thorough rinse, the car is then snow foamed left to dwell a few mins, then rinsed again, washed using a plush wash mitt and two bucket method, paying attention to all window/ door rubbers, and shut lines, to ensure any dirt build up is fully removed before polishing, after this tar spots and iron deposits are removed using Tardis, and Iron x, wheels thoroughly cleaned with Smart wheels, various brushes, then treated to Iron x, The car was then brought inside the unit, clayed, and dried off ready to inspect the defects which we would be removing.

As with every car which is detailed, paint depth readings are taken throughout the process, with the polish and pad combination being carefully selected, to ensure that any paint defects are safely removed, whilst minimizing the amount of clear coat removed, this way of working does take longer to achieve the results, however this is necessary to maintain the integrity of the clear coat to prevent it failing in the cars future.

Defects on the bonnet...














































These nasty looking scratches were present over the entire front half of the bonnet, stopping abruptly half way up in line with each other, as though the front end of the car had been parked up against a bush.










Lets take a closer look,



















Luckily it was possible to almost fully remove these marks, rounding off the deeper ones, whilst removing a small amount of clear coat...



















up close, bonnet corrected and refined...



























































































Gordon continued down the offside, whilst I worked away down the nearside of the car,

Nearside front wing before...










After...










Before...










After...



















Before...



















After...




























Offside front wing before...




























50 /50










After, there were a couple deep marks on this panel, which owing to paint levels, could only be substantially rounded off rather than fully removed...




























Before...










After...










Deep scratch before...










Rounded off...










Nearside door before...



















Nearside door after...



















Nearside before...



















After...




























Nearside Quarter panel before, evidence of buffer trails here amongst the swirl marks, a sign that the paintwork was not refined properly when it was detailed over three years ago...










After...










Before...



















After...



















50/50



















Offside front door before...




























few random deep surface scratches on this door...










Buffer trails again on this door...



















After correction...














































Offside rear door before...



















After...



















Offside rear Quarter...



















After...










Metal halides highlighting the crispness of the finish achieved on a 5 year old car...










Bootlid before...










After...








Following on from correction of the paintwork, all polishing dust, was removed with compressed air, including all panel gaps, the car was then given a full IPA wipedown to remove all polishing oils in readiness for the lsp...




























Before applying the sealant, the tyres were dressed with Epsuma RD50...










Plastic and rubber trim with Maxolen W4...










Wheels sealed with FK1000...










Wheel arches dressed with 3D Ultra, and all glass cleaned inside and out.










Tailpipes polished with Megs metal polish, and sealed with FK1000...



















The lsp if choice was Polish Angel Cosmic, although the paintwork will look its sharpest after being properly polished, Cosmic seems to add a real depth and wetness to the finish, especially noticeable on darker finishes...



















Gordon applying the coating...



















After the coating has been removed it is important to allow it to cure indoors for 24 hours before being exposed to any water,

Finished shots...





























































































































































































































































































*
*The total time spent on this detail between the two of us was 50 hours.

Richard

07500903249

www.rgkdetailing.com*​


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## DWills (Jun 12, 2012)

Absolutely outstanding, thats got to be a shock to the system when you see your car with that kind of transformation!!!!!! :thumb:


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## Black Magic Detail (Aug 17, 2010)

very nice guys ,great work


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## The Cueball (Feb 8, 2007)

great looking work, some very nice reflection shots....

:thumb:


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## colarado red (Jun 5, 2008)

Stunning work


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## TopSport+ (Jul 22, 2012)

Looks very good
:thumb:


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## caledonia (Sep 13, 2008)

Thanks for taking the time to write this one up Richard. Pleasure to work with you on this car and the transformation considering some of the levels present, where remarkable.

Few videos taken during the detail.

Correction. Still to be refined.






Walk around video of the completed car.






Gordon.


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## JBirchy (Oct 9, 2010)

Fantastic effort folks, really looks transformed for the age of it! Nice work!


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## SwordfishCoupe (Oct 18, 2010)

Fantastic work there chaps, I bet the owner was over the moon with it.


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## Silky-cookie (Nov 19, 2012)

That's a fantastic job guys, bet is was rewarding to get it to that standard and I bet the owner was chuft.


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## gibbo555 (May 3, 2011)

Great job there, car looks great now :thumb:


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## Demetrios72 (Jun 27, 2011)

Really nice works chaps

Great turnaround :thumb:


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## Alan W (May 11, 2006)

Love the CLS and that looks superb now! :thumb:

Great tag work guys! :buffer:

Alan W


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## tonyy (Jul 26, 2008)

Amazing job:thumb:


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## Obsessed Merc (Apr 10, 2011)

That's 1 VERY shiny CLS !

I like the twin chrome pipes on this model. I have the newer 350 model and the twin pipes are now hidden 

I bet the owner was OTM (over the moon) when he collected ?


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## B17BLG (Jun 26, 2012)

very nice work


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## AaronGTi (Nov 2, 2010)

Top class as always mate :thumb:


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## sl7023 (Dec 5, 2012)

Hello,

I’m delighted to say that I’m the owner of the car in this article and, yes, I was absolutely amazed at the transformation that Richard & Gordon were able to bring about. When I collected the car from their studio, it was gleaming in the same way it must have been when it was sitting, brand new, in the Mercedes showroom !

I’ve owned the car for about 3 years now and have to put my hands up to being responsible for the majority of the marks that the guys had to contend with ! I’ve always tried to be careful when washing it, but clearly not careful enough ! I have learned my lesson !

As Richard says, I intend keeping the car for a while yet – for the sole reason that I love the way it looks and drives and to be honest, I’m not sure what I’d replace it with. Those of you who’ve driven the 3 litre V6 Mercedes engine will know how silky smooth and powerful it is – in this case, I had Mercedes fit the Brabus upgrade which increases the power to 276bhp and the torque to 590Nm. It can certainly shift !

To sum up, I’m delighted with how the car now looks and all credit to Richard & Gordon for what they achieved. Well done guys !


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## CarPro.UK (Nov 22, 2011)

One shiny car and one happy customer. Great work both. :thumb:

Andy


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## pxr5 (Feb 13, 2012)

Stunning, simply stunning and a gorgeous car. I love CLSs


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## Titanium Htail (Mar 24, 2012)

A great job and very good presentation.

Thanks, John Tht.


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## Rgk Detailing (Dec 6, 2006)

DWills said:


> Absolutely outstanding, thats got to be a shock to the system when you see your car with that kind of transformation!!!!!! :thumb:





Black Magic Detail said:


> very nice guys ,great work





colarado red said:


> Stunning work





TopSport+ said:


> Looks very good
> :thumb:





JBirchy said:


> Fantastic effort folks, really looks transformed for the age of it! Nice work!





SwordfishCoupe said:


> Fantastic work there chaps, I bet the owner was over the moon with it.





Silky-cookie said:


> That's a fantastic job guys, bet is was rewarding to get it to that standard and I bet the owner was chuft.





gibbo555 said:


> Great job there, car looks great now :thumb:





Demetri said:


> Really nice works chaps
> 
> Great turnaround :thumb:





Alan W said:


> Love the CLS and that looks superb now! :thumb:
> 
> Great tag work guys! :buffer:
> 
> Alan W





tonyy said:


> Amazing job:thumb:





Obsessed Merc said:


> That's 1 VERY shiny CLS !
> 
> I like the twin chrome pipes on this model. I have the newer 350 model and the twin pipes are now hidden
> 
> I bet the owner was OTM (over the moon) when he collected ?





B17BLG said:


> very nice work





AaronGTi said:


> Top class as always mate :thumb:





CarPro.UK said:


> One shiny car and one happy customer. Great work both. :thumb:
> 
> Andy





pxr5 said:


> Stunning, simply stunning and a gorgeous car. I love CLSs





Titanium Htail said:


> A great job and very good presentation.
> 
> Thanks, John Tht.


Thanks everyone for the kind words,

:thumb:



caledonia said:


> Thanks for taking the time to write this one up Richard. Pleasure to work with you on this car and the transformation considering some of the levels present, where remarkable.
> 
> Few videos taken during the detail.
> 
> ...


Thanks Gordon, always a plessure to work with yourself 



sl7023 said:


> Hello,
> 
> I'm delighted to say that I'm the owner of the car in this article and, yes, I was absolutely amazed at the transformation that Richard & Gordon were able to bring about. When I collected the car from their studio, it was gleaming in the same way it must have been when it was sitting, brand new, in the Mercedes showroom !
> 
> ...


Thank you for your kind words Garry, it is a lovely car you have there, and was a pleasure to work on, although don't be too hard on yourself regarding the paint defects, the condition of your car was about average for the its age 

Richard


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## Tink (Jul 29, 2011)

Looking good boys  
fab transformation


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## craigblues (Jul 24, 2011)

Fantastic work aslways Gordon and RGK.


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## Soul Hudson (Jul 5, 2011)

Great work my man. Stunning reflections and nice to see some different products been used.


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## dyegoblb (Sep 16, 2008)

Great job!


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## dave- (Nov 8, 2012)

Not hating or anything but it is quite easy to do. The worst part is weight of the machine gives you sore arms after afew hours.


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## Rgk Detailing (Dec 6, 2006)

Thank you all for your comments  

A few more in depth write ups will be making an appearance in 2013, currently I have a Lotus Evora booked in for a rear bumper scuff repair, which will be detailed early in January 

Richard


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## Dave KG (Feb 23, 2006)

Rgk Detailing said:


> Thank you all for your comments
> 
> A few more in depth write ups will be making an appearance in 2013, currently I have a Lotus Evora booked in for a rear bumper scuff repair, which will be detailed early in January
> 
> Richard


Get your finger out then, the forum needs more professionals to do proper in depth writeups rather than just shiny this, shiny that posts - shows a true craftsman when he shows his work in great depth.

This was a great writeup


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## Rgk Detailing (Dec 6, 2006)

Dave KG said:


> Get your finger out then, the forum needs more professionals to do proper in depth writeups rather than just shiny this, shiny that posts - shows a true craftsman when he shows his work in great depth.
> 
> This was a great writeup


Thank you Dave 

Roll on 2013 and there will be a few more in depth write ups.

Happy New Year to everyone!


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