[Todd@Autopia]

Mercedes Benz is famous for their hard clear coat and the finish on this paint was in okay condition. There were some deeper marks and a lot of surface swirling. I wanted to push the limits of BLACKFIRE SRC Finishing Polish. SRC stands for Scratch Resistant Clear, which the PPG Cerami-Clear certainly qualifes as. Not only does this paint correction finishing polish create a mirror finish but it is has really strong polishing ability when paired to the right pad. The hard finish on this Mercedes was certainly going to test that.

I armed a Flex XC 3401 Dual Action Orbital Polisher with a 6.5 inch Lake Country Foamed Wool (Purple) pad. The BLACKFIRE SRC Finishing Polish proved powerful enough to cut through 85-90 percent of the deep defects while restoring a level shine to the paint. There was only a hint of micro-marring (from the wool fiber) on the deep black finish. Speed 6 with moderate pressure was used, and I worked in smooth overlapping passes until the polish began to clear. I cleaned the pad after each section, and switched to a fresh pad after each 1/4 of the car, using 4 pads in total.




Then I switched to an 6.5 inch orange CCS 'Light Cutting' pad for the final polishing step. I misted the fresh pad with BLACKFIRE Advanced Pad Conditioner and added 3 small dots of SRC Finishing Polish to the foam. Again I worked on speed 6, using firm pressure and smooth overlapping passes until the polish became clear, then wiped away with a Cobra Supreme 530 Microfiber Towel.




The day was overcast and cool, although in most cases polishing should be done out of direct sunlight, and to a cool surface; BLACKFIRE SRC Finishing Polish performed flawlessly and left a jaw dropping finish. We where well on our way to whiplash.

I was able to capture a before and after of the trunk before the sun peaked away.






And a before and after of the hood.






In total it took 6 hours to correct the paint, and with the day fading fast (short winter days) I got to work cleaning the paint and getting it ready for the sealing.

BLACKFIRE All N One APC is excellent at removing wax, polish, and sealant residues from rubber and textured trim. This Mercedes, likely because of previous detailing efforts had a lot of staining on the trim, in body seams, and in the crevices around the head lights, taillights, and under the door handles.




First mist BLACKFIRE APC onto a nylon brush or microfiber towel.




Then brush or wipe until the residue is removed.






With the details cleaned I gave the S550 a bath to remove any dusting and oil/polish residue. BLACKFIRE's new Wet Diamond Rinseless Wash was the logical choice as it blankets the paint with Wet Diamond Polymers which ensure the final sealant will work with zero interference.

2 ounces per 4 gallons is perfect (official dilution is 1.5 ounces per 3 gallons). Each cap full is about 1/4 of an ounce, so eight cap fulls and I am ready to go.




After polishing I really like using a microfiber towel to wash the automobile. The only things one the surface are light polishing dust and oil residue (from the polish) so a microfiber towels gives me the scrubbing action needed to remove the polish residue with out any harm of damaging the freshly polished surface.

I let a Cobra Gold Plush Jr. Microfiber Towel soak in the BLACKFIRE Rinseless Wash solution for 5 minutes, then got to work, washing a section at a time.




I dried the Mercedes using a Cobra Guzzler to soak up the wash solution, then blew out all of the seems, jambs, cracks and crevices using the blow function on my Metro Vac. You can see the considerable gloss added to the paint from the Wet Diamond Rinseless Wash.




Next it was time to add BLACKFIRE Wet Diamond All Finish Paint Protection to the paint. I applied 3 drops to a Red Finishing Pad.




I applied the sealant using a Porter Cable 7424.




While I let Wet Diamond All Finish Paint Protection cure on the paint for 30 minutes I tended to other details. The door shuts (jambs) and wheels were treated with BLACKFIRE Crystal Mist. Crystal Mist features the same BLACKFIRE Wet Diamond polymers but in an easy-to-use, wipe-on and walk-away application. Simply mist on to a microfiber applicator, wipe an even coat over the surface and walk away. Best of all it will not stain trim (in fact it makes trim look great!).






To finish up the exterior details I dressed the tires. BLACKFIRE's new Total Eclipse Tire Shine Spray is amazing. Very little goes a long way and it lays down a semi-gloss, black finish with surprising uniformity. A Cobra Tire Applicator was used to mask these tires in a cloak of darkness.




Wet Diamond All Finish Paint Protection had cured to a light haze at this point. A plush Cobra Deluxe Jr. 600 Microfiber Towel was used to remove the haze (with typical BLACKFIRE ease).




Finally the paint was wiped down with BLACKFIRE Wet Diamond Polymer Spray to add even more pop to the liquid black Mercedes and increase the whiplash factor even more.



Some final pictures before the sun went away, I packed up my bags, and returned the keys to the ecstatic owner.