# G220 vs Merc CLK 350 AMG Cabrio.....



## Baker21 (Aug 7, 2007)

Hello all.........:wave:

Have been meaning to post this up for some time but have been really busy helping Jules out in her new job at the moment, figured I owe her a few favours............

So the car in question this time is one that was organised by Jules in fact, this is her bosses motor and I didn't know too much about it, only a quick look over it one afternoon and then agreed a date to detail the car............:detailer:

Now this was going to be a tough day from the outset, with Jules working and it looking like it was going to be a wet day I knew it was also going to be a long day, anyway, here is the car upon arrival:

















































































































































As you can see it was looking pretty overcast so with the gazebo up and a grubby looking Merc parked nicely underneath it was time to get on with the detail.........

*The Detail Process*

First job of the day was to attend to the wheels so each wheel was washed with Megs Wheel Brightner, Detailer Brush, Wheel Schmitt and some Zaino Z7 in a wash bucket:



















Rinsing first:










Megs Wheel Brightner applied:










Aggitated with the Wheel Schmitt:










Rinsed again:










More Wheel Brightner applied:










Back of the spokes and smaller areas aggitated with a Detailer Brush:










Then onto the front of the wheel with some more Megs Wheel Brightner:










Aggiated with a Detailer Brush:










This as then rinsed and dried with a Waffle Weave Drying Towel:










I then applied some CG Jetseal 109 via and Applicator Pad:










While the wheel was off I attended to the wheel arch with some Megs APC and a Large Brush. Driver's side Rear Arch - Before:










After:










Driver's Side Front - Before:










After:










Passenger Side Rear - Before:










After:










Passenger Side Front - Before:










After:










I then decided to move away from the normal process and move on to the engine bay, this was rinsed first with the engine ticking over:










Megs APC was then applied:










This was aggitated with a Detailer Brush:










This was then rinsed to leave the following:










I then turned my attention to the roof of the car, so this was rinsed first:










I then applied some AG Fabric Hood Cleaner:



















This was then worked in with the AG Sponge:










This was then rinsed out to leave the following:










The car was washed using Karcher Pressure Washer, Snow Foam with HD Elite Lance, 2BM consisting of Zaino Z7, Megs Buckets and Gritguards and Lambswool Wash Mitts:










Rinsing first:










I then foamed the car trying to not get any on the roof:



















While the foam dwelled I then attacked the Petrol Cap, Boot Shut and Door Shuts with some Megs APC and a Detailer Brush:









































































I then rinsed the car and then re-foamed the car before moving onto washing the car using the two bucket method - Wash Bucket first:










Washed a few panels:










And then into the Rinse Bucket:










The car then looked as follows:










The car was then rinsed and I then decided to clay the car so out with the Megs Last Touch and some Sonus Green Clay, you will notice here that I had to get the waterproof's on as the heaven's had started to open...........

Megs Last Touch first:










Clayed the area:










There was a fair amount of contaminents:










On the lower panels I used some AS Tardis to break down lot's of tar:










After another rinse the car looked as follows:










Megs Last Touch was then applied all over the car:










This was then dried with a Waffle Weave Drying Towel:










It was at this point I was really against the elements and time was against me, I decided that I would have to hit the paintwork once only so worked over the car using the Megs Burgundy Pad and some Menz IP as there were a lot of RDS marks and heavy siwrling, I am afraid that as it was so dark now and the rain was coming down so hard, getting the work lamps into a position and not having them open to the rain was impossible, brinkmann wasn't picking out the defects well so no pictures.............

With the rain still beating down I rinsed the car again and re-dried it and moved onto the exhausts. These were in a pretty grubby state:










I then hit one side with some Autosol, wirewool and a microfibre:










And finally:










I then vacced all the inside of the car and emptied every cubby hole of rubbish and money...............

I then went over all the leather interior with the Gliptone Leather Cleaner followed by some Gliptone Leather Conditioner via Applicator Pads:










Going back to an old product for me that I haven't used for a while and as I hadn't refined the machining finish I applied some Dodo Lime Prime by hand via an Applicator Pad:










This was then covered with two layers of Collinite 476s via an Applicator Pad:










Next up I cleaned all the windows with some Megs Glass Cleaner and some Glass Cleaning Cloths:










This was followed by an application of some Halfords Rain Repellent via an Applicator Pad:










Jules then turned up from work and being a so called 'exhaust cleaning pro', she wasn't happy with the work I had done on the exhaust so took over and had another go:



















While she was there she applied some Megs Endurance Tyre Gel via and Applicator Pad:



















Next up Jules applied some Aerospace 303 Protectant via an Applicator Pad over the engine bay:



















While she was doing that I applied some AG Roof Protector to the roof:










Then I completed a Z8 Wipedown:










Finally some CG Apple Scent for the interior and boot:










As always the rain moves on and the sun broke through for the final shots.......

*The Results*






































































































































































































































































And that's it.............

Tough day to be honest, nightmare weather and another silver colour to try and show some depth...............

Thanks to Jules for helping me out and showing me how to clean and exhuast properly.............

Comment's good or bad welcome as always..........

PS. For those of you who are on the ball you will notice that the Radio / Sat Nav screen looks a mess, I have no idea what had been used to clean this but all the products I had in the garage couldn't make it look any better, almost like someone had applied an oil to it................:doublesho


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## twoscoops (Mar 26, 2010)

Superb job fella especially considering the elements! How did you find the lime prime application by hand? Were you not tempted to put it on with the DA?

Also liking the photo angles, car looks great.

Cheers

Tim


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## Planet Man (Apr 12, 2008)

Excellent work mate. Great finish on a sliver car:thumb:

Did notice the screen, is it touch sensitive? If not Xerapol would be good for it.

Jules will ruin her nails cleaning exaust pipes mate Like the Yeti coat though, makes a change from a Jedi Knight


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## remonrace (Jan 13, 2009)

Nice results!


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## coach potato69 (Apr 13, 2010)

Nice job there fella, car looks sweet. Not a fan of silver cars but that does shine well, bet it looks 10 times better in the flesh.


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## JMAPUK (Feb 13, 2010)

Yeah top job my man


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## Tazza (Apr 1, 2010)

Nice job! :thumb:


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## gmcd (Feb 6, 2010)

Great job.:thumb:


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## GIZTO29 (May 8, 2009)

Class mate!


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## gb270 (Aug 22, 2008)

Great work mate


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## b3n76 (May 16, 2009)

Great work simon.Could make fair few wash mitts out of jules coat :thumb:


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## deano_uk (Apr 29, 2007)

As always classy work.


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## sicko (Jun 20, 2009)

Got to love your write ups  fantastic work ! why my GF is not so excited about detailing as your is :lol::thumb:


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## rds1985 (Mar 7, 2009)

really enjoyable read shame the whether was against you fella would like to have read more/and in more detail about the machining


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## isctony (Sep 24, 2008)

Great work, loving that coat! Jules is a top class lass for helping you out!


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## Warwickshire Detailer (Oct 11, 2009)

Nice work Si :thumb:

How long did you spend on it? Liking your little set up with the gazebo etc.


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## p1tse (Feb 4, 2007)

another great write up

LV key pouch ;-)


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## HC1001 (May 27, 2007)

Great work Si.................:thumb::thumb:

Just a thought...................If you and Jules got busy on the bonnet with that coat she's wearing it would buff up the paint lovely...........:lol::lol::lol: (only joking fella )


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## Summit Detailing (Oct 9, 2006)

Grand job fella, is Jules wearing a sheep?


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## mdk1 (Jun 19, 2006)

Looks very nice.


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## -tom- (Jan 27, 2009)

Si fantastic work, love Jules sense off dress to detail in :lol: what does she do for a living?


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## Baker21 (Aug 7, 2007)

Apologies for the delay in replying guys, it's been a busy weekend and been out having one too many shandies in the better weather.........:thumb:



twoscoops said:


> Superb job fella especially considering the elements! How did you find the lime prime application by hand? Were you not tempted to put it on with the DA?
> 
> Also liking the photo angles, car looks great.
> 
> ...


I know a lot of people use Lime Prime by DA and Rotary with some good results but sometimes after all the machine work has been done I much prefer going around the car by hand, done it many times with pretty good results...........:thumb:



Planet Man said:


> Excellent work mate. Great finish on a sliver car:thumb:
> 
> Did notice the screen, is it touch sensitive? If not Xerapol would be good for it.
> 
> Jules will ruin her nails cleaning exaust pipes mate Like the Yeti coat though, makes a change from a Jedi Knight


Don't think it was mate but thanks for your feed back........:thumb:

LOL, you would think so wouldn't you but they are pretty tough nails to be honest and you should see her wardrobes, one of the reasons we had to move as we needed more space.........:doublesho



b3n76 said:


> Great work simon.Could make fair few wash mitts out of jules coat :thumb:


Your not wrong there.........



sicko said:


> Got to love your write ups  fantastic work ! why my GF is not so excited about detailing as your is :lol::thumb:


I think we strike a good balance between detailing and having a laugh, it can be done..........:thumb:



rds1985 said:


> really enjoyable read shame the whether was against you fella would like to have read more/and in more detail about the machining


Yeah apologies, always feel like it's a bit of a let down when I miss something or can't show what I want to show, think I will invest in a new camera at some stage and learn a little more on the photography side..........:thumb:



Warwickshire Detailer said:


> Nice work Si :thumb:
> 
> How long did you spend on it? Liking your little set up with the gazebo etc.


Started at 9am and finished at 5pm so a usual day really, set up works really well and I just have a few more bits and pieces I want to achieve in the garage and I will be sorted........



HC1001 said:


> Great work Si.................:thumb::thumb:
> 
> Just a thought...................If you and Jules got busy on the bonnet with that coat she's wearing it would buff up the paint lovely...........:lol::lol::lol: (only joking fella )


Come on now Howard..........



Chris_VRS said:


> Grand job fella, is Jules wearing a sheep?


How did you guess Chris...........

It's to aid with 'downforce'...........



-tom- said:


> Si fantastic work, love Jules sense off dress to detail in :lol: what does she do for a living?


She is a nutter isn't she?

Having been made redundant at the start of the year she is now 'Bar Manager' at our local pub, perfect for us both and eveyone loves her in the pub so it's all good, feel free to pop over for a pint...........


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## RandomlySet (Jul 10, 2007)

cracking work there mate!


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## fishbonezken (Apr 17, 2010)

Awesome work and write-up as usual!


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## Rashman (Apr 19, 2010)

As an owner of a CLK, I thought I should take a look.

Not bad at all.

In regards to the SatNav screen, yes, they do seem to gather greasey smears on them.

However, I found that good old fashioned breath and a MF cleaned mine quite well.

I was reluctant to use chemicals/ cleaning agents on the screen.

:thumb:


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## Baker21 (Aug 7, 2007)

Rashman said:


> As an owner of a CLK, I thought I should take a look.
> 
> Not bad at all.
> 
> ...


Trust me 'breath' and a microfibre cloth would do nothing for this screen.......:doublesho


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## Rashman (Apr 19, 2010)

Baker21 said:


> Trust me 'breath' and a microfibre cloth would do nothing for this screen.......:doublesho


Hahaa.
Cool.

The driver obviously had greasey fingers... or worse... make-up residue!

Aarrgghh!

:thumb:


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## Baker21 (Aug 7, 2007)

Rashman said:


> Hahaa.
> Cool.
> 
> The driver obviously had greasey fingers... or worse... make-up residue!
> ...


Lets just say this is owned by a female and is a bit of a school wagon........


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## Rashman (Apr 19, 2010)

Baker21 said:


> Lets just say this is owned by a female and is a bit of a school wagon........


Ah.

Enough said.

Nonetheless, You did a good job at reminding the owner what it should look like.
Well done.

Couple of pics of mine, if you're interested.
Never has rear passengers and never feels rain.

I could take some tips from you about my tail pipes though.
They're in good condition, but have some blackening at the bottom edge of each of the four tailpipes.

I'm working on it though.

:thumb:


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## Rashman (Apr 19, 2010)

Here's what I mean.
You should be able to see the dark areas of the tailpipes.

Sorry, no closer shots of the tailpipes to hand.

:thumb:


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## Kano (Nov 28, 2009)

good result mate, good work


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## ahaydock (Jan 4, 2007)

Looking good there mate - how long did it take? :thumb:


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## rankins (Apr 10, 2010)

stunning work mate


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## Baker21 (Aug 7, 2007)

Rashman said:


> Ah.
> 
> Enough said.
> 
> ...





Rashman said:


> Here's what I mean.
> You should be able to see the dark areas of the tailpipes.
> 
> Sorry, no closer shots of the tailpipes to hand.
> ...


Awesome motor there mate, would you believe I may well be doing a black version of your CLK 63 shortly as well, looks super mean and are those rims standard or Carlsson ones you have added on?



ahaydock said:


> Looking good there mate - how long did it take? :thumb:


Started at around 9am mate and finished at pretty much 6pm, long day with the interior and weather to be honest..........


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## Rashman (Apr 19, 2010)

Baker21 said:


> Awesome motor there mate, would you believe I may well be doing a black version of your CLK 63 shortly as well, looks super mean and are those rims standard or Carlsson ones you have added on?


Hey buddy.

Thanks for your kinds words.

You're lucky to get work on a Black Series (or "Blackie", as I call it).
Make sure you look after her!
They're badass looking!

Same drivetrain etc as mine, but meaner looking due to the arches and front/rear aprons.

Mine has the "sleeper" thing going on. Looks like it could be just another CLK.
Well, until you get close and see the AMG tell-tell signs. LOL

The wheels in my pictures are replicas of the Carlsson 1/16 rim.
I used to have them on my old CLK. The 63 came on 18" AMG alloys, but it was crying out for bigger rims.

I have since put new rims on the car.
Same size (19"), similar design but wider and with nice dishes on the rears.

:thumb:


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## Rashman (Apr 19, 2010)

Baker21 said:


> Started at around 9am mate and finished at pretty much 6pm, long day with the interior and weather to be honest..........


Good days work, eh.

I can't get everthing done in one day anymore (keep finding new areas to detail!) which is why I'm so glad to have a garage.
That way, I can just head out to the garage the next day and carry on.

And yeah, the interiors can take a while.
Takes me over 2 hours just to do the leathers!

:thumb:


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## Baker21 (Aug 7, 2007)

Rashman said:


> Hey buddy.
> 
> Thanks for your kinds words.
> 
> ...





Rashman said:


> Good days work, eh.
> 
> I can't get everthing done in one day anymore (keep finding new areas to detail!) which is why I'm so glad to have a garage.
> That way, I can just head out to the garage the next day and carry on.
> ...


I sourced some replica Carlsson's for the Superb 9J at the rear and 8J upfront but they just didn't look right on the car, like the sound of the 19's, any pics?

As for the garage space, it's alright for some..........


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## clcollins (Jul 30, 2007)

Nice work as always, looks much better :thumb:

Always puzzels me when I see details on here and the owner hasn't cleared out the car before hand, are they expecting the serfs to do it


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## Dizzle77 (Mar 27, 2010)

both scrubbed up nicely!!!!


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## Baker21 (Aug 7, 2007)

clcollins said:


> Nice work as always, looks much better :thumb:
> 
> Always puzzels me when I see details on here and the owner hasn't cleared out the car before hand, are they expecting the serfs to do it


I guess it's just one of those things that is expected, some make the effort and other just lead a hectic / busy life style I guess...........


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## Rashman (Apr 19, 2010)

Baker21 said:


> I sourced some replica Carlsson's for the Superb 9J at the rear and 8J upfront but they just didn't look right on the car, like the sound of the 19's, any pics?
> 
> As for the garage space, it's alright for some..........


Hey bud.

The replica Carlsson's I have are 19", 8.5" wide (front & rear) with 35 offsets.

But my New Mandrus rims are 19", 8.5" wide at the front and 9.5" wide at the rear.
The rears have a 3.5" dish.
I'm also using 15mm hubcentric spacers to push the rears out a touch more.

Car looks badass.
A much more aggressive stance and looks properly wide from behind.

I have a couple of pics of the new rims, but not many as I haven't had the car out much since winter.

I'll post some up for you later.

As for the garage..
Yeah, I'm very lucky in that respect.
Was built just in time before the winter set in too!

:thumb:


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## Rashman (Apr 19, 2010)

Few pics of my Mandrus rims.

I'll take some better shots when I get a chance.

Car looks like it sits quite high, but that's just the lighting and angle of some of the pics.

The ride height, thankfully, didn't change as much as I thought it would when I up-sized from 18's to 19's.



:thumb:


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## sim L (Jan 3, 2010)

Fantastic work and write up again mate! :thumb:

I really should invest in some Coli at some point as well!


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## Baker21 (Aug 7, 2007)

Rashman said:


> Few pics of my Mandrus rims.
> 
> I'll take some better shots when I get a chance.
> 
> ...


Very, very nice wheels there mate, great choice and look spot on.........:thumb:


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