IstvanC

Hi guys,

I have from almost day 1 noticed that the paint on my left rear door looks a lot different from the rest of the car. Its like horizontal "waves" that you can see really clearly IRL.

First I thought I was just to picky, but now after a couple of months I have grown to hate it, I get upset every time i see it. Cause its not like the normal orange peel I have all over the car, these are like horizontal wavey-peel.

I will post some pictures. I have sent these to my MB-shop. But I do get a bit angry, cause I don't want them to re-paint my new car, cause thats also a thing that doesn't come out like from factory.

I have measured the paint, and the thickness is the same as the rest of the car, so it hasn't been repainted. Have you guys had similar problems?

And also the fit of some parts, like my rear-lights, looks like ****, and the dealer tells me that if they adjust the trunk, so the rear light is good. The trunks fitment won't be good. I thought MB was a brand with quality.. I was wrong.

And hey, another thing. Found out from MB that my the reason why my door handle is black metallic, not black solid like the rest of my car. Is cause most of the customers won't notice, and its cheaper for them too keep it in stock like this.. WTF?! I've paid a lot of money for the car, can't the paint the freaking handle the same colour for a couple of bucks?

Allright, just had to get this out of me.. I'll attach some pictures..

IstvanC

Some more pictures.. As I said, its hard to get pictures of it, but you'll see it easily IRL.

ManiacGT

I see what you mean. I wouldn't be happy with that either tbh. Persist with the dealer, no respray, replace the car.

joshg1001

The wavy paint texture is what we call "Orange peel" since it looks like the skin of an orange. I will tell you now that MB is what of the worst offenders of orange peel and every car they make has a considerable amount of it, from the cheaper CLA to the most expensive S65. Now, this all started because of environmental regulations on paint, and when manufacturers changed their paint formula to adhere to the regulations, this is what happened.

To me, it would not me a problem if it is on the entire vehicle, since it is uniform. If it is only on the rear door, that is a different story. Looking at your pictures, it looks like its the entire side of the car. Having a black car certainly makes it more noticeable. You may just have to live with it.

ManiacGT

Look at his pictures again! The orange peel on the door is way worse than surrounding panels.

IstvanC

Josh, I just wrote that it's not any normal orange peel if you've read it. I have orange peel all over the car. But this is very different. I'm a huge detailing nerd, owned my own car dealership ( just sold it) and I've owned over 30 cars myself. Not that it means anything amongst people, but I've also worked at detail shop. And I know what's normal and not

And yes, i know why and when they changed to water-based paint

And also both my dealership and a paint shop has confirmed that there is something strange there. They are gonna send the pictures to Germany. That's why I took the pictures.

Edit: just wanted to hear if anyone else has experienced the same problem?

bensales

I wouldn't worry about that alignment as it's hardly noticeable (yes, I know you do, I'm the same with every mark on my car).

But that paint job is shocking. My German-made S205 has no orange peal at all. In fairness, given I hate the car, the paint job is excellent. Completely flat and perfectly applied.

nauticalx

wet sand and buff, may resolve the issue.

Al Rivera

It looks like your car may have been damaged prior to sale and this was the cheap fix to move it off of their sale lot quickly.

TEAShea

Since the door panels are on the car when it is painted at the factory, there should be no difference in the paint. Clearly, that door is different. It was repainted. If it was repainted and sold to you without disclosure, that would constitute fraud. You would be entitled to damages, compensation for fraud and attorneys fees. Quit messing around and retain an attorney. In litigation your attorney will be able to get the truth through the discovery process (depositions, document discovery and interrogatories.

StanNH

On a repainted panel, the problem is usually that the paint is too smooth rather than too rough. A good shop actually has to add texture to match the orange peel of the factory paint. Excessive orange peel, which is the problem here, is not necessarily a sign of a repainted panel.

Your recourse is through MB customer service and your dealer since you obviously have, for whatever reason, a poorly painted panel. They can wet sand it or repaint it, but they should be able to resolve your complaint.

IstvanC

Thanks for the respons guys! "Problem" is that it isn't repainted. First of all I had it checked by a Mercedes tech before I bought it so there wasn't anything like this done to it. And there is nothing in the cars history on their computer.

And to double check I have also measured the thickness of the paint. And it is the same on the door as all over the car. Pretty thin imo.

So but what's happened now is that they've sent the picture to Germany. They said that we can re-paint the whole side of the car. But since then I've found more panels with poor quality. And to be honest, I bought a new car. Not a car I want to repaint cause I got a bad sample. And I also know that I won't be happy with the re-paint cause they have to low standards at the paint shops regarding dust in the paint and etc. and I know it will just bring me more headaches.

So I really don't know what to do. The shop in town are not exactly service-minded all the time, and they have a lame excuse for everything. Now the latest is I have had some vibrations in my car. Probably from my tiers. And one of the front tiers are more worn in the middle then the others. I know my wheel-alignment is good after the lowering. But they are blaming everything on the lowering springs. But according to them no shop is serious (except them selves) and they're cheating when their doing the alignments and so on. But I've been going to the same guy for 12 years, he's done probably 20 cars of mine, And some of them very modified for the tracks, and he also at some point was the only guy in the whole south-west of Sweden who was a certified wheel alignment tech for Porsche retailers.

I told them I'm not stupid, that the vibrations can't come from a lowering, even if my alignments were of. So it ended with me going to a wheel shop. Had all of my wheels of, all four of them were out of balance, one or them even had a "bouncing" tyre, and both rear wheels had something loose inside the tieres making noises and rattling around when we spun the wheels on the machine..

So I'm going to my shop today, let's see what it is. And let's hope they are helpful.

hummerhealey

I used to work at an R&D department of AKZO Nobel coatings, car refinishes. Orange peel used to come from a to high air to paint ratio while spraying. But with the modern waterbased paints it seems to be standard, despied of the ratio.

In your case it seems only on the door and not on the adjacent panel. So it might be a respray due to (transporting) damage or quality problems. In this case the paint seems to be applied to thick or the paint mixture itself might be off. Resulting in gravity pulling it down, hence the waves. Other possibility they waited to long to cure the paint after the respray. They cure it by heating the car to about 70C (160 F).

I wonder if the repair of transportation damage is logged by Mercedes.

jolt8631

Hmm - you are not getting a good experience, generally.

I would be raising your concerns with MB Sweden and ask them to intervene on your behalf.

Ref the lowering springs, I agree that they are not the problem - but all the time you have modded it, and the dealer can see a logical link to the problem you are experiencing, guess what - they'll blame it on your mod, not their issue. Just a fact of life, I am afraid.

IstvanC

Yes thats allt true, but as I said I have measured the paint thickens on that door, and its the same as the rest of the car. about 80-110um, which is very little for a car if it been re-painted

So now to the issue with the vibrations, my stock continental RFT are completly messed up. My dealer-shop took the tiers of the rims today, and found that both of the rear tiers are totally shredded up all around the inside. Its like its been ripped appart, and BOTH of the rear tiers. ALL THE WAY AROUND the tier "wall"! Like it just cracked all around... :www:

It means, in worst case scenario the tiers could have completely just shredded of its own side. Meaning on a highway it might have caused some serious issues. (not like a regular puncture)

The techs at the shop haven't seen anything like this, now a tire -tech from continental is coming to investigate this. So this was the last drop for me. I'we had plenty of ****ty problems, both with the paint, quality issues, and now this??

So I went to the dealer, told him all about this. That I don't want a 50.000 + dollar car that I bought new, to be re-painted, and now this with the tiers, and all the other issues I'we had with the car. I'we started to hate it, cause its just giving me head-ache, the only good thing about it right now is that its so damn good lookin..

So he suggested hed come up with a plan so I can change my car for a new similar, but according to him I have to pay since I'we used my car for about 10000 miles. But he would make a great deal for me. So... this will be continued. He'd come back to my tomorrow. I'm very curious about hes "great deal".

IstvanC

This is how it looked like inside both of the tiers, and all the way around, don't know why I didn't take more photos, this wasn't even the worst bits...

IstvanC

So, just to keep you guys updated, I sorted everything out with my dealer. So for a very good price they took my car back, and for a little extra I now drive (from today) a brand new White S205 C220 D with AMG-package and 4matic. And also with some extra equipment.

So I'm happy, and the dealer sorted this out very nicely
Here is a bad picture from my cellphone.

Steve9

That's great news. Did you hear anything back from Continental on the tyre condition?

IstvanC

No nothing about the tiers yet. The tyre-tech haven't been to the shop yet.

MrGimlet

Glad the dealer sorted this for you.

I would really appreciate lots more pictures of your new car as I'm trying to decide whether to 'night package' the polar white wagon I'm collecting next week and can't find any pics elsewhere!

IstvanC

I will try to take some pictures for you asap. (I am a professional photographer) The weather right now isn't that good though.

But just by my preferences and taste, the black contrasting to the white looks way way better then the chrome / white.

MrGimlet

Yes I think I prefer the black over the chrome too. Is it just the window trim, wing mirrors and the roof rails blacked out?

IstvanC

In the AMG-line it's also the front "lip" and the rear diffuser. Otherwise the front lip is chrome and the rear diffuser normally is in the same color as the car, in this case white. Which to me looks kinda silly, I like it black!

And also the front grill isn't as much chrome in, the rear end of the two "wings" (on each side of the mb badge) is also black instead of chrome. These are the things I can come up with for the moment

MrGimlet

Thanks for the info. Yeah mine's a AMG-line - I imagine the rear diffuser will be tricky to wrap so i might just have to make it an 'evening pack' and leave that out.

Anyway pics would be most helpful and much appreciated, even if just a few smartphone snaps. Let me know if you prefer to send by email and i'll give you my email address. Cheers

IstvanC

I'm not sure why, but i can only upload 2 pictures. But here they are, just some crapy pics from my cellphone today when visiting my parents