JWS3

Well, here I am 4 months into ownership of an E500 and ALREADY I see several chips and nicks on the bumper and hood, which are expecially visible on a black car. The bumper I can understand, but middle of the hood??? What did they paint with, watercolors?
I'll likely get the clear bra in the near future, but that only covers the bumper and at most a very, very tiny portion of the upper hood. Annoying and unsightly at the least. One would think that in this day we'd have paint more durable than wet tissue paper. Guess not.

Rant over- any suggestions??

SAguirre

If you bought your car used there is a small chance that the car was repainted. The reason I am saying this is that the OEM paint is actually very very strong and can actually resist a lot of stuff. I personally have a clear bra but not on my bumper. I already had to replace my windshield! Yet my bumper is still perfect (not clear bra covered).

Once you repaint a car the paint (even when the best of jobs are done) tends to chip very easily! Could this be the case?

Steve

Dvinn

Suggestions. Buy a stick of touch up paint from dealer, it will come in handy. I've had about half a dozen or so rock chips in the front hood and bumper area and I rarely drive on freeways. I also noticed a rock chip on my driver side door which I touched up but it is pretty odd I would get a rock chip there.

JWS3

sand/gravel all over the place and construction that never seems to do anything pretty much everywhere.

mbbodytech

My thoughts exactly. What do you think is going to happen when rocks are hitting your car at 70 mph?

YeeHaw

lets RoShamBo for it...1, 2, 3








rock scratches paint, rock wins

JWS3

then most American cars? Every BMW I've had & now this MB gets way more nicks & dings than the Japanese cars and even the Jeeps my wife has had.

TPAbnz

Wow, sorry to hear about that. The nanno on the bumper seems to be INCREDABLY strong. Just MHO.

HELL ONA HARLEY

Although the "nano" paint is great for swirl marks and a great shine (even if your car is dirty), It does nothing for rock chips... I've been getting them from day one...... The water based paints being used today are not as durable as the old lacquer paints from yester year.

khaug

Second that! I just finished a clay-bar and Zymol job on our black CDI at 1 year/12K miles and was VERY impressed with how little paint damage I found. By contrast, our 4Runner looks like someone fired a shotgun at the front of it.

The vast majority of my miles are done at 60 mph or above and a couple hundred were at autobahn speeds of 90-125 mph. I'm now a big fan of nano paint.

slvrstar

if you are thinking about getting a clear bra, you would want to do that before you car gets too many paint chips, otherwise, it defeats the purpose.

cte430

Agree 100%. I had a "pre-NAV" '03 E500 and then the replacement car, both with the "regular paint". The E500's were my daily drivers and had way less chips than my nano'd E55 which I do not use as a daily ride.

Premier

Road conditions / speed plays a huge role in how chipped up a front nose gets. It is inevitable if there's gravel and the vehicle travels at 70+mph. Traveling at that speed is similar to shooting a bb from a pellet gun on the bumper...it will chip up eventually.

SAguirre

Well well, I am certain that Colorado has just as many rocks and grave as any other area. If I get to it I will scan a picture of the front of my 1986 Audi 4000 Q after 220,000 miles (mostly here in Colorado). There was not more paint left on the front of the car and I had about 6 windshields.

So this is my observation:

Since I have a 4-Matic I DO NOT have nano-paint. Maybe it is holding up much better than I expected it to because I don't have it after all. My paint code is simply 960, it has no C in it.

Food for thought,

Steve

CE750

I have a 3M clear bra on mine which saves the paint on the front of the car, but alas I've been thru one windshield already in the 3 months since I bough it new, and now already have a few small chips on the new WS... AZ is a great place for roads, best I've seen (especially since I just returned from a trip to LA).. but there are A LOT of truck owners with big wheels that kick up rocks on your car, and a lot of construction/commercial vehicles on the roads.. I keep a lot of distance, but that's not always enough.

X72

My car is desert silver, so the chips are not as visible. The only good thing I can say is that the aluminum hood means I don't get dark rust spots. Most of my chips have occurred when driving in the Western states. Here in Florida, the chipping issue is not that bad.

My windshield has quite a few pits but luckily hasn't cracked (yet). Has anyone done anything to protect the windshield from cracking? I saw this website online but I would love to know if anyone has tried something like this? http://www.edgeguardusa.com/

I agree with Hell on a Harley. The "environmentally friendly" paints that are in use today are no where near as durable as the paint of Mercedes of old.

I accept the paint chips. But then again, my car isn't black which really does make the chips stand out.
William
2003 E320

glojo

The new 'nano' paint technology was developed to compensate for the poor protection against 'chipped' paintwork. The older 211's had the very poor water based paint without the clear nano coat protectio. If your pre nav car had better paint then you were exceedingly lucky. Stones and other small chippings must have somehow took evasive action and somehow avoided coming into contact with your car.

European car manufacturers are no longer allowed to use oil based paints.

Regards,
John

BWL

I also have the 3M clear bra on my car and find it to be a reasonably good solution to prevent rock chips. If you get a top notch installer of the 3M product it can be pretty inconspicuous looking. I have had the product for 2 years now and have been very pleased with the protection it offers.

Getting rock chips in other locations is of course inevitable, but I don't think MB paint quality is any worse than that of japanese manufacturers (which I have owned).

wily

Paint is softer now a days because it is water based. They no longer use lead in today's paint due to environmental reasons. Even with our nano paint technology, it's still not enough to prevent the chips. The best solution is to find good reputable installer and get the clear bra done.

rickyfanmdr

I agree with Wily's answer. The paint is different because of environmental reasons. My detailer says that paint practically falls off of cars by itself because of the formulation. It isn't just Mercedes but ALL cars.

vinceC

The new paints are harder, not softer. The water borne technology has nothing to do with it, plus, the clear coat is solvent borne, not water borne. Paint manufacturers are trying to make the paint harder to protect against scratches and automatic car washes. That is the reason behind nano paint. The older paints were somewhat softer and might have been able to absorb a small stone as a nick rather than chipping.

All that said, I have found this a problem for the 30+ years I have owned these cars. The old 114 and 108 cars looked like they had been sandblasted after 100K miles. And I do believe the increased traffic, construction and huge vehicles that leave a huge hole in the air are making matters worse.

CE750

I too read this... traditionally German paint was softer, but now, especially with the new nano on the MB's it's harder... which means it's more resistant swirls, but less to chipping... can't win!

GLOCK36

I too have the 3M product installed on the front-end along with the side view mirrors. Very well protected, good product with no chips to speak of or change in color, however it doesn't do squat for the hood, I have a number of rock chips on the hood of the car and of course the windshield. Driving the freeway everyday doesn't help. I also have to say that I find the paint seems to scratch easier than that of say my wife's infiniti. I treat my car as I would a newborn and my wife treats hers like it's a truck, go figure hers looks better. She also uses the car wash versus I wash by hand.

While on the topic, my car is actually going in the shop in 3 weeks to get the rear bumper guard replaced under warranty due to the paint bubbling and peeling off, service said it was categorized as a flaw.

I actually watched a show on the science channel that talked about nano paint and they showed how they bent the sheet of metal in half and the paint stayed intacted, they also took steel wool to it and no cracks or scratches. They claim it is the future of the paint to come, perhaps on the 2007 MB's

HELL ONA HARLEY

News flash...... MB has been using this paint for a number of years already.

GLOCK36

Yes I should have clarified the statement, I guess what I was trying to say is that I was surprised to see these guys beating the living crap our of this painted sheet of metal with no ill effects on the paint. I was guessing it was the 2nd or 3rd generation of nano paint technology to be rolled out in the future cars....