CLK 320

Does anyone have any thoughts regarding repainting a major panel? I have very little experience with such matters and, unfortunately I am faced with a dilemma as to whether to live with some scars or repaint my hood. Last week I had my until recently flawless CLK in for service. My dealer is great in every respect, and because they wanted to keep my car safe they brought it inside of their drive through. A gust of wind came along and took down a picture which promptly came down about ten feet, eventually resting on my hood. There were quite a few minor scratches about twelve inches in length that mostly polished out. However,a small area about the size of a quarter went down to bare metal. They put a little paint on, sanded and polished, and it sort of looks like an acid rain spot. In the vicinity, the sanding took the paint down where I can just begin to see the primer coming through. They will, of course, repaint it at their expense, however, I'm not sure what to do. My thought is that it will never be as good as a factory paint job and will probably have a negative impact on resale value. However, as someone who loves to detail my car, I'm not so happy with the scars either. Suprisingly, there were no dents at all. AlBoston, I would especially appreciate your input. Thanks everyone.

MercManiac

Take a look at my posts......LX470 vs S600 In Wreck and in detailing section see S600 Full Detail after my car had been repaired.

Very simple.....find top Sikken paint specailist in town...this is Mercedes OEM paint. Have hood taken down to primer, then prime then paint....insist on hand wet sanding between steps...then when they put final rotary buffing on hood make sure they rotary buff the entire car so gloss is even.

CLK 320

MercManiac, thanks for your input. Your advice is good. However, I'm going back on forth on what to do given my particular scenario. In my case a repaint is not absolutlely necessary, and I'm concerned about replicating the factory finish (orange peel and all) as well as the resale value. Clearly there are body shops and great body shops. Finding a great one may be a bit of a challenge, if I decide to go that route. At the moment I'm trying to ascertain if I have any other options. (See my post regarding Chipsaway) If anyone has any experience with options taken instead of a repaint I would be most grateful to hear from you. Thanks.

Kar don

wow, I am really sorry to hear about what happened. I have never had good luck with any touch up kits however i have not tried that many. If you want it back like it was before I would go for a respray of the panel. I know it sucks that it will stay on the car's record but unfortunately that will be the only way, unless you find a 2001 CLK (black) in a junk yard with a perfect hood, that would be awesome!

JunoJim

"Orange peel & all" - that's very interesting - I was going to ask this forum if the '97 SL 320 I just bought had a bad paint job - but the gentle orange peel look is "normal" ???

While I'm at it - it looks like there's a clear coat also (small bubble) - is that original ???

CLK 320

In my experience, orange peel is one of the easiest ways to spot MB factory paint. I've heard people say that, in some cases, a Mercedes panel without orange peel has likely been repainted. I can attest to the fact that when my car arrived at the dealer in 2/01, it still had the plastic wrapping on the hood, roof and trunk, meaning it was not sprayed at the VPC and the paint was factory original. Said panels have orange peel.

ElDiabloJoe

I have never noticed the orange peel finish on any MB, either newer or more vintage.

If someone has an easily posted pic, would you mind terribly?

Thanks,

EDJ

CLK 320

I don't think it would show up well in a picture. It seems to stand out most on a black car, and looks like very subtle ripples on water. In short, you should not be looking at a flat mirror, but a very slightly distorted image reflected back at you. The way it has been explained to me is that orange peel is a natural part of the painting process. However, most body shops who are not familiar with Mercedes tend to polish it out. If you look closely at a car that has a panel repainted, and then "over polished" it will look different.

Kar don

here is a great pic of orange peel. It is not an MB though. All cars have orange peel because the manufacturer does not wet sand the clearcoat enough.

Kar don

wow thats interesting! If there is no plastic on the hood and trunk when it comes off the truck it means it was repainted?

CLK 320

No, but in my experience one can spot the original plastic wrapping. Particularly if there is a group of cars and the method is identical with bumper pads, etc. The hood's wrapping will have a date sticker, indicating when the wrapping must be removed before the paint would be damaged, and often the word "hot" in magic marker appears, meaning that the car is spoken for and a customer is waiting. (As opposed to no marking, often meaning the car is simply going to sit in the dealer's lot until sold.)