Has anyone had any problems with the quality of non-metallic (or metallic, for that matter) paint on their c? I am asking this because of the amount of scratches, chips and scuffs my car seems to aquiring lately.

While I am griping, can anyone recommend a good product to clean the area of the scratch (tar?) and get it buffed out? When I tried to clean a small area around the scratch, I seemed to make it worse, and the paint appeared to thin a bit. So, I thought I stop and ask for some advice, etc.

 

although i can't help you in advising of a method to fix any scratches or knicks, i can give you my .02 on the paint quality on my car. i have non-metallic black paint on my car. it looks good, i love the way it shines and reflects when washed, but i do have gripes about it.

i do seem to acquire paint chips, probably from driving on the highway (behind *******g trucks that kick up rocks). although i don't have tons, i am noticing more now, for only 13,700 miles (i am pretty **** about my car though). i'll be fixing those soon like you, so any advice you get, i'll pay attention too as well.

also, i'm not exactly sure if they're swirl marks, but for some reason, when looking directly at the paint, there seems to be some swirl-like appearance when light is directly focused on the area i'm looking at (like the sun or a lamp at night). it's been like this since i drove the car home with 14 miles on it. the circular swirl, or whatever it is, moves with the light if you move while looking at the car. weird. (i use a sheep skin shammy (sp?) to dry my car btw).

overall, i'd give it a 7 on a scale of 1-10. not amazing, like i'm sure the new nano-paint is, but not horrible by any standard. still pretty damn good after 13,700 miles and who knows how many washes.

 

No problems with my car

the paint is excellent, when I had scratches in my old car (Volvo 850), just the slighest scratch and it was damn obvious

 

For the swirls, check out the Detailing & Automotive Car forum here.

My Black '03 had the same swirls. After polishing it out last month, I can honestly say that the finish is perfect - except for the numerous stone chips. With a little knowledge and handiwork, an amazing paint finish is certainly possible with the paint used by MB on our cars.

The swirls that you observe are actually fine scratches, introduced into the paint by dragging something abrasive across it. The abrasive can be as fine as a small piece of dirt caught in your wash mitt during washing. These scratches occur in all colors, but black shows them the worst - thus it's important to wash the car properly (again see Detailing Forum - read the 'stickies').

Once you get the swirls out, they'll slowly return (it's inevitable), but if you're careful you can probably keep the car looking good enough to polish only once per year or so.

I've got a large number of stone chips on my hood, but I also do a lot of highway driving (33k miles in 16 months), so I suppose that I've got more opportunity for chips. Regardless, this car has more chips than the '87 300TD that I traded in (230k miles on the clock of that one), so I have to say that the durability of the paint is not up to the same standard as on the '87.

 

I got non-metallic black and it is terrible. Chips like crazy from highway driving. I have a Grand Cherokee, Navy metallic, and the paint is perfect...both are driven the same routes on regular basis, and have about the same mileage on them. I hope the nano paint makes a difference because the paint now sucks.

 

dmatre, thanks for the advice, i'll be sure to try and polish those marks out. i'm also going to take it to the dealer to see if they can evaluate it and confirm that they are indeed swirl marks.

tuscanraider, i know what you mean. these paint chips are becoming more and more evident, it sucks. i will never again get non-metallic paint...too bad it's all the dealer had on the lot. it's not the end of the world, the car still looks damn good, but i notice all of those little imperfections

 

MB's paint is known to be sort of Soft. It chips and scratches very easily. But there was apparantly a reason for this, I believe it is so the finish looks better. Not sure though, all I know is the paint is soft.

 

Yes.. My car for the 2nd time at the workshop because of rust under the 4 doors and rear left...

They replace it with C180 untill the job finish...

 

just a question ?? with the new paint I am getting the albaster White. It is not metalic. Do you for see any problems. Will the nonmetalic color be worse off than the metalic paint. In white they do not have any other but the nonmetalic albaster white. Does anyone have the white in th 05 modle. How do you like it?

 

It is possible that a Jeep Cherokee and a C class, driven under the same conditions, will have different rock damage. For example, a Jeep is much higher, many have unpainted bumpers and grills and the hood slope is almost horizontal. This is contrasted to the C, with the low sloping hood, where just about everything kicked up will whack into the hood.

My choice is to protect the front end, from new, with a protective device, like a bra or 3M Invisibra. There is only one factory paint job per vehicle.

 

i have no problems, but do a search i know this has been discussed many times before.

 

Its soft so what? Just wax it.

 

i do!

 

He meant "wax your car", not "wax your *****".
Sorry to disappoint!

 

meanwhile, back on the ranch................

 

All of the German manufacturers had to switch to water-based paints for environmental reasons. The paint on older Mercs was practically bulletproof.

When my car was new it collected rock chips like crazy; however, they don't seem to occur with the same frequency now. Not sure if this is my imagination or if these newer paints simply take a long time to cure.

 

here's what to do. always try to leave a good distance with the car or truck in front . just imagine rock trajectory if your too close you'll catch it on it's way up, too far on the way down, really far it will miss. if youre in optimum distance it will go over your car and hit the car behind. use a colgan bra okay to be hit. but still be cautious because you still have windshield that's exposed.

 

The nice thing about a black car is that with a quick, small dab of touch up paint, the chip is barely even visible. Couldn't say the same for my previous silver car.

And I read on another forum that if your paint code begins with a "C", you're Nano. True?? My 04.5 paint code begins with a "C".

 

And I read on another forum that if your paint code begins with a "C", you're Nano. True?? My 04.5 paint code begins with a "C".
***************
True. The "C" code is located on the driver's door jamb.

 

It is quite likely that those swirl marks you see are from drying your car with whatever type of cloth you're using. Try using a leaf blower to air dry the car. The less you touch your paint, the better off you'll be. And when you wash, don't make circular motions with the mitt. Just lightly go back and forth and make sure to rinse the mitt often.

 

The Alabaster White in the '05 is the Nano technology paint, which makes it superior in strength and durability than the paint of previous model years. I envy you -- I wish I had known about the new paint introduction, because I would have delayed my last purchase until I could get an MB with the Nano paint. A search on Google for "nano paint" or "Mercedes Benz Nano" gives info and statistics about degree of improvement in durability.

The color is then same as previous model years -- Alabaster White is Alabaster White and has not changed as a color.

White paint, metallic or non-metallic, in general will show swirl marks and scratches to a much lesser degree than the darker colors. The swirls and scratches are still there on the white car --- they are just much less visible than on a non-metallic red or black, or other dark/intense color. Paint chips and deep scratches, however, show more on a white car than with the darker paints, metallic or otherwise. (You should be repairing those quickly anyway to avoid rusting).

I have both an Alabaster White and a Metallic colored MB (pre-'05), so I am familiar with the appearance of both. I live in the Mid-Atlantic region so White was a poor color choice in terms of dirt /keeping it clean. I would not get a white car again unless I lived in a different climate like California, Florida, etc. That's a different issue than scratches and chips, though...

If you don't have the time or are not inclined to baby your car, or won't be paying someone to do it for you, AND those swirls and scratches REALLY bother you than you should be getting a Metallic '05 for the Nano paint. (I understand some '04.5 cars were produced with the Nano paint but I'm not certain as to what models).

Sigh...in my dreams 'tis what I have...

 

[QUOTE=trench]...When my car was new it collected rock chips like crazy; however, they don't seem to occur with the same frequency now. Not sure if this is my imagination or if these newer paints simply take a long time to cure./QUOTE]






Not your imagination, it takes 2 to 3 months for the paint to cure to maximum hardness (so I'm told by an MB body/paint shop). I noticed the same reduction in damage to my car over time.

The end result still is inferior to the MB paint jobs of the good ol' days........

 

The newer Nano clearcoated paints will be much more resistant to rock chips.

 

HA! Mine still chips easily, and I hardly even drive on the freeway!

 

Tisha wins the "bring-back-threads-from-the-dead" award !!!

I guess that's a good thing, if newbies are STFF.
But be careful, about answering questions that are 1-2 years old.