Iceman's C230

Today i noticed my c230's paint is not that great.. After washing the car i was drying it and noticed that my paint job look's like a Orange peel. I don't know how elese to discribe it but looks like a fish skin or like out side of Orange skin.. Is this normal on Obsidian Black cars??

Buellwinkle

It's that water based paint that they use. Actually if you really want a nice smooth show car finish, take it to a body shop and have them color sand the car and buff it out. The color sanding will smooth out the orange peel. I've had it done on a Toyota 4Runner because of the heavy orange peel. It's more noticible on solid color cars. The body shop charged me $200 US about 6 years ago.

Iceman's C230

Thank's for the advice Buellwinkle. Did the Color sanding smooth out the paint Job and fixed the Orange peel? I should find out how much the Shop's charge here for that sanding.

Buellwinkle

Took all the orange peel off. It looked awsome. Find a body shop that is known for custom work. They seem to take care of the car better than a high volume collision shop. I take my cars to hot rod shop for repairs because they are meticulous about their work, unlike dealers that put junior people to work on your car sometimes. Sure, they charge a little more but I only have to bring the car once, unlike MB that I have to bring it in 3 times for every problem.

You can color sand yourself but it's not for beginners. I've done it on classic cars I've restored but it's back braking tedious work.

Lynn

My car is all orange peel. At least it all matches. From what I have read, the orange peel is often, but not always, caused by the clear coat being sprayed before the color coat is dry. The color coat bleeds into the clear coat. If this is the cause, I am not sure that color sanding will help.

Mike T.

I think that if that were the case, the finish (mainly metallic ones) would have a very mottled appearance, especially in the sun. The metallic paint effect requires that the metal particulates all lay at the same angle so the light catches them the same way. If some of the colour coat wells up into the clearcoat, the paint would look absurd.

I would almost always attribute orange peel to an insufficient application of clearcoat (in the case of the C) - if you've ever done any spray painting, you'll know that the "perfect" thickness must be achieved, without getting into drips and runs, and it's hard to do, even for a robot, I guess. The water-based paint may also be to blame, if the solvent (mainly water) evaporates unevenly.

SoCal240/6

I noticed that too on the Hatches that I saw at the dealership. I've never seen orange peel that bad on any new car. Esp. on the panels over the rear wheels.

I would be nervous about getting a color sand, though. Remember what that is: They are SANDING your fricken' car! That takes a good layer of the clearcoat OFF. Period.

Is there enough clearcoat on there so that you will be ok? Maybe? Probably? Feelin' lucky?

You really better have a ton of trust in the fellow who will be sanding, then using aggressive polishing compounds and high speed power buffers on your car. I know of so many cars that have had their clearcoat/paint burned through by color sanding. If that happens, you are screwed.

chuckd94

I was at a BMW dealership a few weeks ago and they had a Z8 with horrible orange peel. I would think that for the $156k they were asking they would have made sure that the paint was decent.