I haven’t posted here for a long time, but I still have and drive my 2001 AP 1 in NFR with 37K on the odometer now. I am the former moderator of the detailing forum of the Mercedes Benz Club of America forum. When I was the moderator there, I always searched for way to maintain appearances without spending one weekend per car. Over the last couple of decades, I have come up with many recommendations as products and procedures have evolved. I always hated car washes with brushes that sprayed on some sort of wax. The brushes left scratches and the wax left a gummy finish that seemed to attract dust and dirt. I recently discovered a car wash in my town (Durango CO) that used rotating strips of artificial chamois (not brushes) and sprays on Rain X graphene instead of gooey wax. I first tried it out with one of our Mercedes and it came out looking as if I had spent the weekend on it! I called the place and asked if it was compatible with soft top convertibles and was told it was. So in went my S2K, and out came great results. The cost for each car was $18. Perhaps the results weren’t all I’d want if I were going to enter a car show, but can be made so with some detailing spray and microfiber in a few minutes. The advantages of this over a DYI wash and wax are that there are no swirls and the graphene leaves a finish that things like dust, dirt, and tree sap don’t adhere to. Important here in Colorado. Now, I’m not recommending all automatic car washes. To the contrary, I wouldn’t take my snow blower through most! But an automatic car wash that uses rotating chamois strips (not brushes) and treats the finish with graphene at the finish is one I do recommend. If there is one like this in your area, I recommend a try out..

 

Thanks for the hot tip! No shortage of auto car washes in the city of Fort Walton Beach, FL. I’d never considered taking my S through any of them, used to run my VW through and you needed to spend just as much time hitting all the areas it missed.

what’s the name of the wash in Durango? Maybe they are not all equal.

 

I am sure you put out a "guide" of sorts for detailing MDs. Can you share it?

 

For those of you who wouldn’t put your car through an automatic car wash, I was one of you until I discovered that this one doesn’t use those harsh brushes. It has rollers with artificial chamois attached, and they are the only thing that touches the car. The name of the place is Cascade, but I think it is local here. But the concept may not be local, so others can check in their area for one with this cleaning system that offer graphene application.