chilledbenz

The white color on the C's looks really flat to me. I wish they would offer the diamond white that the CLS has, I would have chose that in a heart beat! I saw the obisidian black and fell in love, so thats what I went with. As for the swirls, the new nano-particle paint promisses to stop that, but only time will tell.

TchrzBenz

I don't own a 'C' but I do own a black Benz. Like you, I was confused whether I wanted a black or white E350. I wanted the white for all the reasons listed above but I thought the black looked a bit more classy. As you can tell from my signature, I went with the black and I haven't regretted it one bit. So far, I haven't noticed the swirls (and I get it washed once a week). And luckily, I haven't gotten any dings. Back in the day, when I used to own a black truck, I had it for four years and never noticed any fading. I'm assuming that Mercedes paint is of a higher quality. Good luck in your decision. I say go with your instinct...

QQQ

White.

peabers

But you have a silver car, according to your sig. Regrets?

marakbai

I thought only silver get colour matched antenna? I've seen black ones on white cars (without P.Roof)

Krytech

The dealer didn't have an Obsidian black model for me to see, but I know I wanted metallic. They did have some metallic blacks in other colors (E and S Class) and they looked nice, but they'll be different close up. If you can see a regular black, look at the door handles, they're Obsidian.

As for the clear bra, I called Ziebart and got a quote for around $400 (if I recall) for one that covered the nose of the car (lower hood, bumper and half front fenders). They use a different product, not "Clear Bra". I'm sure some place could do the entire hood, but ouch I wouldn't want to pay that bill!

I'll probably shop around a little bit and decide which product to get. But I will be getting something on it right away.

Shake

If you are really clean and wash the car alot, then get black. But if you are really picky about swirls and rock chips then make sure you get a clear bra if you go with black.

If I was you, i'd get white.

I've already had my front end repainted for rock chips, black shows EVERYTHING. but it does look good when really clean and shined up. If I got to choose again I'd go with white or mars red.

Krytech

Where part of the country are you in Shake?

Andr3an

yeah, I know.. it's so confusing.. Can't we make the swirls disappear by ourself (without going into car detailer).. any suggestions for the clear bra? what brand is good?

Andr3an

really? what kind of product is it? What about the A pillar and the rear view mirrors?

Krytech

I don't recall the name of the product they use, but shield something sounds familar, maybe Z-Shield??? The price he quoted me did not include the side mirrors or the pillars. Could probably be done though.

I've seen a smoke tinted shield too. I wonder how that would look on the headlights? Saw a picture of it on a w203 and it looked nice.

Andr3an

yeah, maybe it will look great on the headlights, or maybe the lens of rear view mirror

rb23lb

+1

rb23lb

i made the mistake with black on my last car.... swirls are a *****, trust me... especially if u are picky... no real way to avoid.... look at any black car that is 2 years old and when the light hits it right it looks like crap with all the swirls... white hides this, and has a ton of black in it when u have a pano room and a black interior with tinted windows... my car is actuall about 35% black and 65% white.... so i think i have the best of both worlds...

would i like black if it stayed perfectly showroom looking its whole life and would i choose it over white? in a heartbeat... but that is not reality, so i went with 2 tone white black, which looks classier than black alone, but is not quite as "pimp" as black

my 25 cents

Andr3an

yeah, my sister's '03 accord.. the swirls are really bad.. Can't we clean up the swirls by ourself?
But white paint's gonna turn yellowish after a few years too.. right?

430752

I got black, and while white is easier for dirt and etc., I think it is second only to black in showing dirt and etc. That is, if ease of maintenance is your goal, then silver or blue or gold of various degrees are better than white or black.

With that said, and for what its worth, the new merc supposedly has a nano-particle paint job. Not sure if the nano particles are in the paint, the clearcoat, or both, but the brochure says its there. And it is supposed to reduce/resist swirl marks and other imperfections. I think this is the first Merc is using nano-technology (although other high marquees have previously used this of recent) so only time will tell if it works. But in any event a good buff job now and again will hide swirls.

To me, it is the white that fades more. Sure, the black needs high polish to look good but the white in time will not look as good even with a high polish. Again, my opinon. And I got black.

aowhaus

are you against blacks?!
J/K

Both are classic and very nice colors. It really depends on how **** you are with your car. You're going to wash your car so much more with the black car. But it does look really aggresive and sophisticated in black, however the white looks modern and shows off the lines of the car (especially in the Sport models). If you live in a hot sunny climate, the black will give off a ton of heat.

aansonsit

choose white choose white choose white

User110

black if you wanna be seen, white if you wanna be KNOWN....... think about, and then choose WHITE.


black is normal, and only looks good for the first 30 minutes out of a wash.

WHITE stands out, and looks clean even when its dirtier then black. and it will be worth more resale time, black is tooooooooo common. sorry everyone with a black car, but admit it, truth.



ALi

MBTex

+1. I like the look of the silver cars, and really liked the Palladium Silver. But I'd say roughly 40% of the W203's on the road around here are silver.

When I started looking at MB, my wife's only comments were that I could get anything I wanted in it, but I can't get a silver one.

White it is....

emps

Get yourself a porter cable 7424, swirl remover, and take the swirls out yourself. It's not hard to do. Just like 430752 said, if you want to maintain your car black is not an issue. People get swirls from taking their cars to car washes, wiping the car clean with rags when dust is all over the car.

I had my jet black m3 for 3 years and never had swirls on the car, but that's because I detailed the car myself. If you don't mind taking the time to keep the car clean, then swirls aren't an issue. Both white and black cars look good for their own reason, so get both a black and white car! My MB is black and my MDX is white.

alpinweiss

In reverse order of your questions:

I am not aware of white paint (automotive) turning yellow, but that may depend on where you live. Here in the desert southwest, virtually all colors turn lighter in the intense sun. The advantage of a white car here is, it is the only color that won't change over time (you can't get lighter than white). Even silver will bleach out some after a few years, and darker colors can be really noticeable on upward facing surfaces.

I am not arguing against the appearance of black cars; I think they look really nice. I am just saying white is a very practical color. As stated by another poster, you can add black to your white car; pano roof, black interior, etc.

Paint swirls on the Accord. Remember Mercedes has thicker paint than most of the Japanese cars, so please be really careful with the Accord. I would highly recommend having it polished at a top quality body shop. If you do it yourself with a polisher, you may go through the paint. Then it is repaint time.

ismeto

++++1

PoaMike

+1... thank GOD for the california brush thing. works great and is only 10ish bucks. wipe the whole car down in 30-60seconds and looks great. unless you live in FL where its so humid it jjust looks like smears but imo about color (whitevsblack) go sit in both. dont even really need to drive it. just sit in it and you will fell what you like. i sat in the white one and i felt to "open" i guess. but when i sat in the black... i felt like Mr.T about to jump out of the Ateam van and rid the world of evil duers lol but i still would LOVE to see a white C class with some white rims... (my org. plan for the c class.)

MBfan21

There's something about a black car. It makes you feel more powerful.