lately the rock chips on my hood have really started to build up. Im gona call a few places to get an estimate on getting the entire hood resprayed. Any ideas on what a reasonable price is for something like this?

 

Depends where you are located....I Would recommend to locate a shop that works with MB Glasurit Paints and NANO ..They will blend the hood into the fenders..as all Mercedes have clear coat
Some dealers have decent body shops...(IF) in house...Then they WILL stand behind the paint work..if any problems ..like shrinkage...
I Would say $300.00 to $500.00 to respray the hood

After the hood is resprayed..You might want to look into Clear bra 3M Film for the front of the car...It Will pay for the product...They even offer a $1,000.00 warranty against breakage..Headlite/fog lights!

 

thanks for the tips. How much is the clearbra and should I talk to the dealer about getting one?

 

Unfortunately, I have had a little recent experience in repainting and from what I have seen, I bet it will cost more than $500. I could be wrong and for your sake, I hope I am but for a very tiny scrape on my car, maybe a square inch, the bids were from $450 to $1000.

 

Check www.clearbra.com

there are several other companies that sell the 3m film...
make sure that you see some work done by the shop...The Install is VERY Important! If Not done perfect you will see wrinkles in the film

 

Personally I'd live with the rock chips and keep the "factory" paint rather than a re-spray.... Your also going to loose your "nano" paint to boot...

 

Ive got an 03 and thers no nano...one of the main reason theres so many chips in the first place. I got an estimate from a really reputable shop here that works on high end cars. They quoted me $700. Is there any other reason not to get it repainted besids the nano thing? i checked out this shop and they had a benz, a porchse, couple of lexuses...so I figure they konw thier stuff.

 

I have the "nano" on my ride and plenty of paints chips on my hood too. The Nano paint does nothing for chips, but rather swirl marks and scratches....
Repainting the hood will certainly make the chips go away (for now), but will certainly return. The more times the hood is re-sprayed the worse the chips will get. The thicker the paint the bigger the chips... I say go to your dealer and buy some touch up paint and save your hard earned $$$...
Just my .02

 

I see where youre coming from. But the thing is, i bougth the car used and it already had a ton of chips to beging with. I would estimate 20-30 small nicks through the front area of the hood. I tried the touch up route..but my car is pewter and its impossible to get the touch up to match right..I was told its difficult with silver metallic paints since the metal flakes never align properly. The spots I treid to touch up ended up coming out darker than the original color. My plan was to get it painted once and then install the clear bra. What do you think?

 

There are many threads about the "clear bra" and other simular products, so do a search. I have no personal experience with them so I can't give you any advise.... but hear good things about the "newer" versions as the older clear bras tend to yellow over time.... Sounds like you've got a plan so go for it and good luck.

B.T.W.... Make sure you tell your painter you want a perfect match with your paint color... As you said yourself, Metalic's are hard to get right.

 

Go with the paint and clear bra..... My Lotus Elise has the "Starshield" 3M film. Other owners I have met that do not have it regret it deeply. Check out elisetalk.com for many discussions on various aftermarket brands.

However, I am assuming most of your chips are on the very front of the hood? The film typically covers the front fascia and the first 6-8 inches of the hood. If you are getting chips in the middle of your hood, this probably won't help.

Good luck.

 

I love this thread about rock chips:
https://mbworld.org/forums/showthrea...&highlight=bra

 

yaeh i saw that one. id rather have my entire hood chipped away little by little than get that thing installed lol

 

Clear bra is great for the front end, but my hood, on a 6 month old car already has about 4 separate (albiet small) chips on it upwind of the bra. It's one of those sad realities of a aging car.. whether it's the fading of the luster, or the wear on the interior.. rock chips, on the hood, windshield, headlights, and grill are all inevitable and will increase more and more over time..

 

I was also considering repainting my hood because of two big chips on my hood that were caused by the same rock that chipped my windshield. I wouldn't take my car anywhere else but an MB dealer so that they could use the same nano paint technology, but my only concern is whether or not my fenders would have to be repainted as well to get a perfect color match. Do you guys think it's possible to just have my hood painted and still have the color match with the fenders perfectly? I tried using touch up paint and its still noticeable. BTW, my paint is still in immaculate condition, waxed 4 times a year, and always garaged.

 

Check into it, but my dealer told me that once your nano is scratched, it's "Impossible" to repaint it in nano process, as it requires a baking on process not available to US body shops.

The only option I could see is having one shipped, pre-painted from Germany, which surely would cost an arm and a leg.

 

It will never be a perfect match.... Ever.
I'd live with the chips and the touched up areas before I gave up on my factory paint.

 

Touch up. Or order a whole new factory-painted hood. Those are your best two options IMHO....
Sorry....
Gonna 3M Film now?

 

My opinion is that metallic paint can never be matched exactly by anyone, including the factory. There are just too many variables.

Talk to a body shop on how they do this. They "blend". What is blending? After getting the repair done, the areas around the repair are painted. Then a "blender" is added to the paint and a larger area around the initial paint is sprayed, essentially putting a thinner coat of color to a wider area. This continues until the final paint put on is contributing little to the overall color. The object is to get the paint gradually changing in color until as the eye scans across it, the color change is so gradual that you cannot tell the color of the repair is different than the rest of the car.

It takes time to learn this technique and some people are better than others at doing it. The amount of "blending" area that will be repainted also depends on the person doing it. So be sure to see examples of work from the painter that will be doing your car and it would help if it were a repair in the same color as your car.

I knew all this before I had my little dent fixed and I really dreaded having it repainted but in my case, it was either leave it alone or fix it. By luck, I got a very, very good painter and I think it is almost a perfect job. I still worry about different fade rates for the repair and the rest of the paint but most good body shops now give a "lifetime" warranty on repairs including color.

There are some people who claim they can fix chips with an air brush but I have never seen one that was done that way. Also, there are techniques that put the paint in the chip but allow the paint on the surrounding area to be removed leaving on the paint in the chip itself. Again, never seen it done.

 

The nano clear can be purchased and resprayed on the car.

 

I have had the 3m on the car since I purchased it, I had the entire front-end done along with the side view mirrors. I have no chips on the hood or mirrors but certainly have my share on the frame around the windsheild.

The problem with all these bra's is that wax and dirt build up around the edges and you need to get a q-tip with alcohol out once ever six months to clean it, also they will change color, I don't care who's product it is, washes, waxes, sun, rain, winter, blah blah blah it eventually will change from a clear color to a very light tint of yellow.

Now with that said, I drive all 80 miles roundtrip each day on the highways so it does in fact keep the chips away from the hood. As for the painting, I agree with HOH they will never match up the paint, I had my rocker panels done and have regretted it ever since when wax time comes, touch-up is also a B*** and sometimes the end result is worse.

 

the shop I found is supposed to be very good and is widely recommended by owners of high end cars. They mentioned the blending technique and how they will ahve to blend it into the fenders. Even if they do a very good job, is it still noticeable that the panels were repainted? If it is, then I think Ill pass on the whole thing...Id hate to have this bite me in the *** when ti comes time to selling the car.

 

Mine looks great--much to my amazement. I was very happy with their job. I am probably more particular than most any person I know so I sympathize with your plight. I doubt if there is a perfect solution. I got 6 or 7 quotes and ended up going to the low bidder, not because of the low bid, but because the owner had his personal Corvette in front of his shop that had been completely redone and it had some of the best paint work I have seen.

I do not think many non-professionals could tell either. However, some dealers have paint thickness meters that can detect repairs. Also, there are tell-tale signs that people in the business can tell like masking tape residues and other insignificant things to ordinary people.

I could send you before and after photos but they probably have more color differences than the car does. But if want them, I will be glad to send them.

 

i sent you a pm

 

link?

I'm interested in this.