I was referred to Keystone Enterprises by my Professor who approximately 15 months ago got his 3 series detailed by Keystone and to this day every time I see the car I can see that the coating is holding up quite well and looks better than a car that is just out of the showroom, thanks to the detailing and the impeccable maintenance it receives.
Ever since I've been hooked on to these threads on detailing and Ceramic coating et all and decided that I'm going to get it done on my cars but never had the time to until now when I had booked my 530d.
There was no better timing than this!
Before I even took delivery of the Car I called up Sagar of M/s Kalpana Muralidhara Enterprises who are the franchisee for Keystone in Northwest Bangalore and fixed up an appointment the day after delivery as I was driving the Car down from my hometown after delivery but had to be postponed due to certain unforeseen circumstances during delivery.
He was very courteous and explained the process in detail and the treatment I should get done on the car being new. He apprised me of their entire product range from shampoos to degreasers and their top of the line Ceramic Ultra Glass coating that they source from top suppliers abroad. They are also the official detailers for Porsche and Exotic Automotive supercar club and also distributors for Menzerna polishing compounds and Flex polishers, the worlds top brands in car detailing.
On the Delivery day to my horror the car already had lot of swirl marks and minute scratches on the clear coat not to mention the scratches that was put in the A.S.S when the car went in to get the running board replaced which was damaged during delivery.
One the D Day, Sagar arrived on time at 9 AM with his boys and all the necessary tools and products along with a Car Duster and quick detailing solution concentrate i requested.
What they were gonna do was wash the car completely with using foaming shampoo , remove the dirt from the wheel wells and decontaminate the panels using clay followed by compounding using Menzerna HCC 400 to remove the imperfections and the minute swirl marks and scratches and then apply their Ceramic Ultra Coating.
The idea behind ceramic coating is discussed in detail in and around the web and various products are available, hence I'm not gonna discuss about that in detail.
However to explain it in layman terms a Ceramic Coating is a hard protective layer that is applied on a panel that bonds with the clear coat providing paint protection,deeper gloss,water beading,repelling dirt and also protecting the paint against minor scratches and swirl marks.
In short its sort of a Hard Clear Coat over the existing clear coat
Now,before I begin to explain the process, I was told the this process will extend upto 6-8 hours depending on the work needed and will differ for old vs new cars.
Here are a few pics before the process started.
To begin with, the car is completely washed down with pressure washer to get rid of all the dirt and grime before they proceed with the process.
After this the interiors of the car was vacuumed and cleaned thoroughly.
Being a new car a basic interior treatment was done as an extensive treatment wasn't required but will slot an appointment soon to get the completely done.
The process begins with the wheels, starting with the tire walls being washed with water and degreaser and then scrubbed with a brush followed by degreasing the alloy and removing the contaminants finally being washed and scrubbed with a tire brush before it is finally washed down with water to produce a clean impeccable alloy finished in beautiful ferric grey.
This process was continued onto the rest.
Then they moved to the engine bay which was washed and treated before moving on to the rest of the body.
It is followed by Claying process with water as lubricant which is used to remove the minute contamination and the roughness in the paint which also helps in bringing the gloss out of the paint.
Claying has to be done carefully and the clay bar has to be repeatedly folded to open a clean surface to prevent damage to the panel as the dirt and contaminants will be stuck in the surface that has been used.
It's done in a circular fashion with light and even pressure applied so that the contaminants do not damage the surface.
Once the entire car is clayed the car is washed with water followed by a foam wash with a wipe down with washing mitt and then sprayed down with normal water and wiped dry before they start compounding.
Compounding is started once the car is completely dry after a wipe down.
As and when the panels are compounded the compounding dust is wiped off and once the entire car is compounded and wiped the coating is applied.
The Coating is applied on the applicator and it is applied in vertical motion over each and every panel followed by a wipe down of the excess.
The Coating was done on the Carbon Fiber Parts as well and the gloss on the CF was phenomenal after that.
The car was completely wiped down to remove any excess and the end result was just mind blowing to say the least.
Really brings out the gloss and the depth of the paint making it more beautiful that I can stare at it all day long.
Here are a few shots that was taken after the Coating was done.
This has completely transformed the looks while making it easier on maintenance as well given the fact the car doesn't need to washed every other day as the coating can hold up dust and water marks quit well.
Pros-
On time
Inexpensive – rates are transparent in a rate card
Attention to detail is Impeccable
Detailed Explanation
Cons-
Time Consuming.
They left no stone unturned, all the cervices,trim,glass every bit and piece of the car including the grills and the air dam was taken care of and detailed to perfection making the car look better than the way it rolled off the factory floor.
Before you opt for it make sure you have a covered well lit parking with easy access to water and power supply though they have an extension cable that came all the way from my apartment in 4th floor. They also have a free pick up and drop facility to their workshop if suitable place is not available.
He'll thoroughly explain on maintenance on how to wash the car et al after it is done.
Cost of Detailing Rs.20K
Contact Info:
Sagar
+91 9480044335
Give him my referral.
Disclaimer: I neither work for, nor am associated with nor have commercial interest in Keystone and / or their businesses. This review is just my opinion as a vanilla detailing enthusiast.