bf109

It's been my observation that the hood sheet metal on the new (W204) cars might be a bit thin. Walking through a nearby MB pre-owned lot, I noted that 4 of 10 W204s had some form of 'palm-denting' on the leading edge of the hood. During a recent hailstorm, on a different MB new and pre-owned lot, the only vehicles that showed significant hail damage were the new W204s and GLKs. Adjacent W203 cars appeared undamaged in my view.

Try checking your hood in oblique light with plenty of reflection, easiest to see in black, hardest in white. Anyone else have or observe this issue?

RLE

If the hood is closed by dropping it from a foot or so, there can be no dents. Trying to baby it closed can result in incomplete latching.

ShaiMalka

I HAVE THAT! ill post pics...its so annoying i wonder how hard i closed my hood.. I barely even open it

eminnet

I think is because the hood like many other body parts of W204 are made of aluminum as I learned on this forum.

envyxc350

Whenever i close my hood, I have to slam it hard or else it will not close all the way. No dents at all.

absolutleo

i have a dent that was caused by the dealer when shutting the hood but they will not man up to it stating that it was caused by road debris....
... road debris that would hit the hood that hard would most definitely result in a pretty big paint chip and not just a dent.... *sigh..

bf109

Hood on all but C 63 are thinner gauge steel. C 63 hood is aluminum, which does not dent as easily.

2nice4me

after 24 months ....No dents, anywhere. very happy with the finish too

AkaSigFreak

You just jinxed yourself. Better knock on wood

RLE

The only aluminum panels are the front fenders. The rest of the exterior body panels (including the hood) are steel. What a C63 may have is unknown to me.

Sportstick

After the prose, read the specs.....did something change since launch? This type of info is usually just a reprint of MB issued press materials, as they reference in the first paragraph.

http://www.autoblog.com/2007/04/02/n...class-for-u-s/

RLE

I don't care what it says and I wasted a bit of time reading it.

Assuming you must own a magnet of some sort, take a walk around the car and touch it to each panel.

And that blog is from 2007 which is when I first read it.

BerBer63

My hood is dented from palm pushes and I have 2 "dents" or divots in my left rear bumper close to where the crease is with the rear upper body panel next to the brake light. I want to push it out from underneath, but not really possible.

Sportstick

The magnet test proves you are correct. So, either the report was wrong from the start, or the hood material was changed after that info was first issued, both of which have happened in the past to other manufacturers. Sorry you feel your time was wasted.

TB5...

when im cleaning my car and i wipe the hood... i notice its pretty weak...

no dent though.

jctevere

I agree with TB5... I don't have any dents on the front hood or rear trunk like others have suggested. I have a 2009 c300 north american version. But like TB5, when I do my intense cleaning or wax/wash, I notice some "give" where it sounds like I dent it if I push hard enough on the top right area of the hood if your looking at the car (right beneath the driver side windshield wiper) but it never actually does dent. That and the rear side skirts behind the wheel well are the only two areas of the car that I notice some 'give'

BerBer63

^^^ yea those are the two places I have soft spots/depressions when you look at an angle with light.

jctevere

Really? I never actually scrutinized mine. Maybe I do have a dent or two there, I just haven't noticed. If so I will be pretty P-O'ed. I also have a small dent on my wheel well lip caused by a tennis ball on the front lawn... It wasn't even thrown hard at all, I was so pissed that it dented that easily. Also, now that I am thinking, I have a small dent on my trunk from a friggin Acorn...

phil17

Same issue with the GLK. Had a dent on the hood on delivery day that could only be seen at an angle. Good thing I was pretty careful checking it out and noticed cause i'm sure they would say it was me that caused it after leaving the dealership. Car's been in the shop for the last 3 days to replace a "lifter" and its only got 3000km's on it....

mercC350

Hi all,

I bought a 2010 C350 a few days ago and just noticed a dent on the hood. It's long (6-8") but only visible at an angle in the light. It's the same area some of you have mentioned being weak (a few inches in front of the driver side windshield wiper). It corresponds to the part of the undersurface that is reinforced w/ extra metal around the edge.

Phil17, you said that you also noticed a dent on delivery day -- what did the dealer do for your hood?

I showed it to my dealer yesterday. He suggested I just live w/ it. He's having an autobody and 'dentless paint' professional look at it next week. He suggested it might be a paint flaw, but I don't understand how that would catch the light at an angle. The most likely option sounds like a patch and paint job, which I'm not pleased about.

If they replaced the hood w/ another C class on the lot, would you all think the color match would be acceptable?

Thanks for your advice!

bf109

Gents: It's really about the sheet metal being too thin. If W203s in the same hailstorm or who have their hoods shut by hand and don't dent and ours do, I'm thinking we might be shortchanged here.....

phil17

Hey Merc350, my dealer end up doing paintless dent removal for me a couple days after I picked up the car. I noticed it upon pickup so they couldn't say I caused it but it's much difficult for them to do anything after the fact. I am concerned because I'm sure it was dented during PDI by someone simply pushing down on the hood to close it. Seems like it could occure everytime your car is in for service. I would push the dealer to fix it for you. I will need to check over my car carefully when i pick it up after the lifter change (been in since last tuesday). Never owned a car that needed more than routine service until this Benz...

lithium332

i think i just dented mine tonight when installing my blacked out grill... damn... is it covered by warranty? i just picked up the car 2 days ago!

ShaiMalka

I had a local dent remover guy come by today and i removed my dents for 75$ my cars also a lease so it was a must to fix.. but its no biggy

vic viper

Are you serious, you want to claim warranty for denting the car yourself?

Cant believe how common this is, in my over 10 years at Daimler, at least 70-80% of all customers Ive seen close their own hoods use hand force to press the lids down.

For gods sake just drop the hood from a height of ~50cm and it will close, without dents!