Hey everyone,

This question never seems to get a straight answer from the detailers or the dealership. Does anyone out there know how thick the clear coat/base coat paint should be on a W124 from the 92 model year. Mine is Pearl Black. I figure a few of you experts should know this.

I'm asking because before I start using an abrasive polish I want to make sure I have enough clear so I don't burn through it. Anyone else out there considering buffing or wet sanding their cars should also take not of this to prevent a new paint job!

Any and all help would really be appreciated. Thanks

how abrasive is the polish you want to use? I use 3m imperial polish all the time on my car, but I make sure to follow it with a nice coat of wax so that I don't keep on wearing away at the clearcoat...

I'm not sure how strong the polish is to be honest. I'm planning on buffing out my car to remove all of the surface scratches and before I do I want to measure the depth of the paint. What I'm hoping for is a baseline measurement so that I have something to compare to before I start removing clear coat.

Meguiars will be testing numerous polishes on my car to determine which will work best. I'll purchase that polish but only if I have enough paint to complete the job properly.

Anyone know this?

if your imperial has an abrasive then you'll be going through your clearcoat as well.it won't matter if you wax it 'cause that'll be after the fact

the idea behind the wax is that you polish first, wearing down the clear coat just a tad. Then after that you wax. So that now all the surface scratches and road grime are on the wax. So next time you polish (I wash/polish/wax my car every 2 weeks) you just take off the wax. Now, this of course isn't exact at all, and im definetaly gonna take a little clear coat off each time, but I polish lightly, and add 2 coats of wax each time. The shine is worth it... I hope...

badinfo,

Actually if your only hand polishing the odds are your are barely removing any clear coat. I'm actually going to be using a high speed buffer and something a bit more abrasive to remove clear coat and even the surface of the paint. Once I've completed this task I'll probably use the same procedure you use which is to lightly polish to remove any surface contaminants and scratches.

So does anyone know this measurement, I really need to figure this out. Thanks in advance for your help.