[fk7]

Dear Friends,

Since last few weeks i wanted to share with you all about an amazing car interior restoration service we came across, it was something never heard or seen before. I felt it is very much worth sharing with all you.

It started 7 months back when we (me & my brother) came across a salvaged E280 offered at a surprisingly low price, we always fascinated about owing a Mercedes. The first look at the vehicle in the salvage yard was frightening, it appeared to be left ignored & open there for more 2 years, that too with a broken w/s glass. However a detailed inspection done along with my friend who is a collision repair expert revealed that the damages sustained are very much within the scope of repairs.

The major damaged items were, Front Bumper, Both Head Lights, Front Grill, Bonnet, Rad Panel, A/C Condenser, Both front air bags, Seat Belts, Front W/S Glass & Dashboard. We were sure of sourcing all the spare parts from Dubai, except the Dashboard & Airbags, so we confidently went ahead with the deal.

The repair process was a lot easier than expected, especially after we got a full front fascia of an AMG E Class as nose cut from Dubai. The dash board and airbag was locally sourced by the garage, the whole repairs along with full body repainting was completed in 5 months time.

The car was mechanically in a great condition and drove as good as new, but the real issue started then...

The interiors of the car were in a pathetic condition, it was completely overlooked by all us during all these time, we were under the impression a good interior shampoo wash will sort it out. But the exposure to all the atmospheric conditions had badly affected the leather, it was full of stains and mildews which was impossible to be removed even after several interior shampooing sessions.




This is how the leather was after the interior shampooing, the stains and mildews were impossible to be removed ...

[fk7]

We had several options in mind -

1. To replace the whole leather trims with aftermarket options, but then the interiors are not original Mercedes interiors any more.

2. We looked for a full set of seats and door trims from Dubai to replace the entire current one, however even after 2 months of searching also we weren't able to source the whole set in same color.

The issue remained as a puzzle, and it is then we heard about Color Glo in Ernakulam, a little bit of googling gave us some impressing details about Color Glo, we got to know they have branch in Dubai and we visited them to know more before leaving our vehicle with the EKM guys, and what we saw in Dubai was amazing - without replacing anything they were capable of restoring the leather interiors back to brand new with all the original characteristics and properties of leather.

Finally the car was sent to Color Glo Kerala, I must also mention about the guys there Mr. Anish & Mr. Jojo, they were so corteous and very much customer oriented, they explained us in very details how the restoration will be carried out, and pointed out a few other issues such as cracks and holes found on the seats, and the leather has lost all its original wearability and durabality due to the oxidation as explained by them, they sounded very professional not any different from their international team.

Contact Details:

Address: Melethu Road, Maradu, Ernakulam 682304
Email: colorglo.kl@gmail.com
Phone: 09446046002

[fk7]

They took 7 days for restoration and we were called to see the final results, it was unbeliveble, the car interiors were restored back almost close to its showroom condition. The seats were as good as brand new, leather trims felt like brand new with all its original glory, strenght and wearability.

I will let the pictures to speak further - I had put together the before and after pictures. The final results when compared to its original condition is truly amazing.






Finaly our E 280 is back on track with all its glory and AMG Front Fascia.

[275BHP]

Wow, looks very impressive to say the least. I've heard about this place, in fact received a mail from them too. They did seem to be very good (I think they use some kind of eco friendly product too right?), however they were a bit more expensive than the other options we have here in EKM. How much did it cost you totally? One more thing I noticed was the steering wheel, which was black before is now completely golden. Is it supposed to be that way?

Also the exteriors too look spanking new! Could you please share details about where you got it polished?
Thanks in advance.

[thebfg]

Woah! Man that is awesome! The leather looks like its new! Its gone from creamish-brown to creamish-white . That is one heck of a job by Colour Glo. The interior looks spanking new! Could you please share the amount of money it cost you if its all right.

[arjuunz]

Congratulations on your new ride and I was amazed to see the pictures! They surely did a great job!
Did they actually do it without changing even a single part? The steering and all looks new! :thumbup:

[Steeroid]

Heard a lot about these guys and their work, especially in the restoration of really messed up interiors.

Your car's interior looks like it just came out of the factory, so they must be as good as they are alleged to be.

[Arun Venugopal]

That looks like a really nice job. Never imagined that such a transformation is even possible. Hats off to the guys at Color Glo, an amazing job. Also admire your courage in going for a car in a condition you described and restoring it.

[Jeroen]

Great job!

I had these guys restore the seats in my Jaguar in Kansas City. Mind you, my seats were not anywhere as bad as yours. The KC franchise had a mobile workshop. Came to our house and worked on my XJR for about 4-5 hours and presto; interior looked like new.

The one thing I did notice is that it wears off again after some time. After three years it really needs a new treatment. This time I might just go for real leather replacement. You can't really compare, because the recolouring cost a few hundred dollars, putting new leather on all four seats would likely to be several thousands.

So, I thought it was very good value for money.

Enjoy your car, it looks really good!

Jeroen

[deetjohn]

Amazing! There is a world of difference in the 2 sets of pictures. Please put down the other details of Color Glo Kerala so that we can it to the Team-BHP Directory. http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/other-cities/

How did they fix the cracks and holes in leather? Do they put a new piece in there?

Originally Posted by 275BHP

One more thing I noticed was the steering wheel, which was black before is now completely golden. Is it supposed to be that way?

Maybe the new Airbag unit came in beige.

[Akshay1234]

Looks great, I'm very interested in the process. I doubt they've used any new leather, looks to be a colour and foam of some kind they've sprayed on?

[fk7]

Originally Posted by 275BHP

Wow, looks very impressive to say the least. I've heard about this place, in fact received a mail from them too. They did seem to be very good (I think they use some kind of eco friendly product too right?), however they were a bit more expensive than the other options we have here in EKM. How much did it cost you totally? One more thing I noticed was the steering wheel, which was black before is now completely golden. Is it supposed to be that way?

Also the exteriors too look spanking new! Could you please share details about where you got it polished?
Thanks in advance.

Yes you are right, they use their own products imported from USA which are all ecofriendly and water based ones, as explained by them they don’t using any chemical or detergent based products for cleaning which will negatively impact the original characteristics of leather and its overall wear ability.

In fact they are not any expensive than others offering the same service, for a full interior cleaning and leather conditioning of premium sedan cars they charges only Rs – 2300/- including a free interior de-odorising treatment, they use some kind of thermal fogging inside the car which neutralizes all the odor making bacteria’s inside the car, which I found made a big impact in my car, it was smelling like new too.

The Steering Wheel airbag was not available in the same original color, so we had no choice but to buy the black color airbag hoping to get it wrapped in the same color leather, but these guys at Color Glo offered to redeye it in same original color, which amazed me too when I saw the result - it looked like factory finished.

The full leather restoration with color Glo cost me Rs 25000/- which was actually less than 1/4th of what was quoted for the full leather replacement, more over these guys confidently gave me a full guarantee of 1 year against any kind of peeling off & discoloration where as the leather replacement guys were not giving any such definite guarantee, more over I wanted to retain the originality of the car.

The paint was recently done, but they did a quick polish to make it presentable for delivery they are so particular about such things.

How did they fix the cracks and holes in leather? Do they put a new piece in there?

I dont know excatly how, but they have some kind of liquid material to fill the blemishes, holes and crack which when cured will attain the characteristics of real leather

Maybe the new Airbag unit came in beige.

The new Airbag unit came in black, but Color Glo has redyed it back to the original biege color.

Originally Posted by akshay1234

Looks great, I'm very interested in the process. I doubt they've used any new leather, looks to be a colour and foam of some kind they've sprayed on?

They haven't used any new leather, the same old leather trims have been restored back including its original strength and wearability by some kind of redyeing process.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by deetjohn

Please put down the other details of Color Glo Kerala so that we can it to the Team-BHP Directory. http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/other-cities/

Super suggestion! Contact details added & thread moved to the Team-BHP Directory. From the looks of it, Color Glo deserves a place in the Directory.

Thanks for sharing fk7

[Y@SH]

Super Duper Restoration!! Man, they look brand new! Thanks for sharing the details. However I would appreciate if you could share some details of the car too. Why was the in such a bad condition? What had happened & where did you find the E? How much did the parts cost you ( Front Bumper, Both Head Lights etc.) and how you sourced them from Dubai? Do you have any pics of the exteriors to show extent of damage?

[sabsubs]

Wow!! that's what I call restoration. Super clean. Just look at the old photo and the new photo. Sorry to say it, your car's condition was really bad and see the way they have done the detailing. It is awesome.