Paint Quality
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Junior Member
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 38
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From: Calgary, Canada
2025 GLC300 4Matic
Paint Quality
Is it me? I love my 2010 C300 4matic but noticed that after 1.5 my paint on the hood looks pretty bad. All the small scratches are visible, but is the number of those scratches, never seen anything like this. It seems like this car is prone to scratch, mind you it is obsidian black, but still I would expect better quality paint job. I had it waxed hoping to eliminate some of the surface scratches but not much improvement. Does anyone have similar experience?
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Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 1,304
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From: New York, NY
C63 AMG
Correct, Black Paint is notorious for showing scratches the most, Iridium Silver on the other is the best one when it comes to scratchs and other paint defects as it does not show scratches as much as other paint colors.
The paint will still get scratched of course however it will be harder to see on the silver paint.
The paint will still get scratched of course however it will be harder to see on the silver paint.
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 38
Likes: 4
From: Calgary, Canada
2025 GLC300 4Matic
yeah, lessons learned stay away from black colored cars, but still issue of quality persist. I have heard that MB has moved to water based paints and it resulted in finish hardness and quality. I have seen dinky Hyundai car same age and similar color and it looked much better. So, yes I expected to see more dirt on it but not so many scratches, paint seems to be very soft.
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From: NNJ
'11 C350 '13 F150 lariat
say it again Hotel LOL.....Everything I own is white, my work trucks, my bobcat, my last car, and I went and got a black benz this time, haha never again. Looks sweet for a few hours after a wash and shine, then its downhill. I got 4k and 2 scratches already, barely drive the thing. I had white last and washed it whenever, as long as the wheels were clean and fresh it looked good. U saw almost no scratches unless u looked. I miss my white car..........
80 lbs of paint, yeah right. my boy owns a shop and I worked there and still help out and mod there. 80 lbs of paint is like 3 cars, I can beleive 30-40 lbs tops, u gotta mix any paint with thinner to get it to spray and spies hecker which I beleive MB uses and he does to is 1:1 usually on mix and tops a half gallon of clear. Maybe 40lbs total at best if u add clear and im uncluding undercoating all the panels and interior panels and all
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From: San Francisco, CA
2017 E300
I own three black cars, two of which is metallic black ( I got obsidian too) and it feel it hides the scratches better than just plain black. I will never buy a plain black car.
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Joined: Feb 2004
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From: SEATTLE WASHINGTON USA
'08 C300 Lux Barolo Red Beige Leather P2 MM 18" wheels '84 944
Is it me? I love my 2010 C300 4matic but noticed that after 1.5 my paint on the hood looks pretty bad. All the small scratches are visible, but is the number of those scratches, never seen anything like this. It seems like this car is prone to scratch, mind you it is obsidian black, but still I would expect better quality paint job. I had it waxed hoping to eliminate some of the surface scratches but not much improvement. Does anyone have similar experience?
Since every color is clear coated, what you are seeing is marks in the clear coat. Who is washing your car and what is being used? Mercedes started using nano-particle clear coat about 2006 and the paint is harder than hell and the most swirl resistant paint they have ever used. Eventually surface swirls will show up but the use of a random orbital buffer and the correct polish will remove them completely. Just last week I finished polishing my 2008 Barolo Red C300 (dark metallic red) for the annual MB car show here and it is scratch free and shinier than ever. But it takes some effort.
If you take your car to a car wash and let the schlubs dry it with dirty towels, there is no hope.
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Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 225
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From: London, U.K.
MB C220 Sport W204, 18" AMGs, Grey lthr, xenons, p'ktronic, HKardon, Comand nav.
Paint quality
I agree with RLE. The marks you get are in a clearcoat finish (which is a 2 component iso-acrylic product with a nano structure of ceramic particles to give it scratch resistance). In Germany home car washing is discouraged and so many more cars are reguarly machine washed and thus get scratched from the brushes. The scratch resistance improvement is thus worthwhile. BMW and others use this too.
It can't stop it entirely though as as RLE says, the way in which the car is cared for is vital. My 2.7 year old C is in a dark grey colour and doesn't have a scratch on it as I know how to avoid them. Just don't trust others to know or care what they are doing. Check out the detailing forums for advice. My 2 cents: Don't apply polish in circular motion but in long strokes. get the scratches removed by an approved bodyshop and then stay on top of it. One other thing.
The story on waterbased paint being worse is pure hokey. Most vehicle manufacturers use water thinnable paint these days, including MB. Its to reduce solvent emissions. Once the water thinnable basecoat is applied and dry it is virtually identical to the older solvent based basecoats of some years ago. And of course, the basecoat is then protected with a 40-50 micron thick clearcoat.
My basis for saying this - just involved with the auto paint industry for many years, including MB, VW, Audi, Porsche and many others
Good luck!
It can't stop it entirely though as as RLE says, the way in which the car is cared for is vital. My 2.7 year old C is in a dark grey colour and doesn't have a scratch on it as I know how to avoid them. Just don't trust others to know or care what they are doing. Check out the detailing forums for advice. My 2 cents: Don't apply polish in circular motion but in long strokes. get the scratches removed by an approved bodyshop and then stay on top of it. One other thing.
The story on waterbased paint being worse is pure hokey. Most vehicle manufacturers use water thinnable paint these days, including MB. Its to reduce solvent emissions. Once the water thinnable basecoat is applied and dry it is virtually identical to the older solvent based basecoats of some years ago. And of course, the basecoat is then protected with a 40-50 micron thick clearcoat.
My basis for saying this - just involved with the auto paint industry for many years, including MB, VW, Audi, Porsche and many others
Good luck!
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From: North Carolina
2012 C350 Sport - Iridium Silver w/Ash
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Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 534
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From: NJ
2008 C350 Sport
I agree with NewtoMB and RLE also - if you take care of black properly it stays beautiful like any other color - these pics are just before I sold this BMW with 120K miles on it - No paint work, just properly cared for over the years...And I still own this CTS, this pic is not real recent but if i had to guess the it was less than 2 years ago with about 60K on it... I always owned black cars prior to this Steel Gray (which I really do love this color) and again, spend the time and effort to take care of it, follow the direction of the above 2 posts, and you should be fine...
Last edited by Scat01; Jan 10, 2012 at 02:14 PM.
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Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 171
Likes: 1
2008 C350
+1 to RLE and everybody else.
I, too have black. You have to wash it properly. And even then, you will get swirls and marring.
Pay $300 to a detailer to have some minor paint correction done. He'll use a gentle abbrasive to either smooth the edges of the scratches (so they don't reflect light as harshly) or eliminate them entirely. Be sure to ask him if he intends to use a glaze or anything to fill the scratches and insist that you see the car before he applies it (or that he not use it at all). Otherwise the car will look wonderful and in a couple weeks when the glaze has all been washed away the scratches will return.
MB has fantastically hard paint. So it's resistant to scratches but more likely in some cases to get chipped.
I, too have black. You have to wash it properly. And even then, you will get swirls and marring.
Pay $300 to a detailer to have some minor paint correction done. He'll use a gentle abbrasive to either smooth the edges of the scratches (so they don't reflect light as harshly) or eliminate them entirely. Be sure to ask him if he intends to use a glaze or anything to fill the scratches and insist that you see the car before he applies it (or that he not use it at all). Otherwise the car will look wonderful and in a couple weeks when the glaze has all been washed away the scratches will return.
MB has fantastically hard paint. So it's resistant to scratches but more likely in some cases to get chipped.
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Joined: Jul 2006
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From: coastal nc
09 c63 10 c300 Nissan truck
It is you, in fact.
Since every color is clear coated, what you are seeing is marks in the clear coat. Who is washing your car and what is being used? Mercedes started using nano-particle clear coat about 2006 and the paint is harder than hell and the most swirl resistant paint they have ever used. Eventually surface swirls will show up but the use of a random orbital buffer and the correct polish will remove them completely. Just last week I finished polishing my 2008 Barolo Red C300 (dark metallic red) for the annual MB car show here and it is scratch free and shinier than ever. But it takes some effort.
If you take your car to a car wash and let the schlubs dry it with dirty towels, there is no hope.
Since every color is clear coated, what you are seeing is marks in the clear coat. Who is washing your car and what is being used? Mercedes started using nano-particle clear coat about 2006 and the paint is harder than hell and the most swirl resistant paint they have ever used. Eventually surface swirls will show up but the use of a random orbital buffer and the correct polish will remove them completely. Just last week I finished polishing my 2008 Barolo Red C300 (dark metallic red) for the annual MB car show here and it is scratch free and shinier than ever. But it takes some effort.
If you take your car to a car wash and let the schlubs dry it with dirty towels, there is no hope.
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Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 3,986
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From: SEATTLE WASHINGTON USA
'08 C300 Lux Barolo Red Beige Leather P2 MM 18" wheels '84 944
I use a Porter-Cable 7424 (orange pad) with Menzerna PO1 06 Nano-polish. That's after using paint cleaning clay and plenty of Griot's Speed Shine. After the polish is removed I'm now using Menzerna paint sealer instead of wax.
