Got rearended/need advice
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Member
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 156
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From: Seattle, Wa
2007 E350 Sport
Got rearended/need advice
So my friend rear ended me and and there are several scuffs as well as dents in the polyurethane bumper. I'm fairly certain the scuffs will come out from any detail shop w/ some spirited buffing. The indentations in the bumper are what bothers me. Does anyone know how they fix this? These are not noticeable from afar but I know I still want them fixed. Is there a bondo like filler they can use or do they have to replace the entire bumper? Also, MB paint can only be applied by an MB dealership right? Any help on these Q's would be greatly appreciated guys. Thanks!
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Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 518
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From: Orange County, CA
E350
So my friend rear ended me and and there are several scuffs as well as dents in the polyurethane bumper. I'm fairly certain the scuffs will come out from any detail shop w/ some spirited buffing. The indentations in the bumper are what bothers me. Does anyone know how they fix this? These are not noticeable from afar but I know I still want them fixed. Is there a bondo like filler they can use or do they have to replace the entire bumper? Also, MB paint can only be applied by an MB dealership right? Any help on these Q's would be greatly appreciated guys. Thanks!
My wife got into a similar accident, and we took her car to a dealership to fix since the car was brand new (600 miles on it) and we didn't want a sub-par repair job (especially on the paint). It cost around $1,300 to fix. Insurance paid for 100% of it.
In your case, get your friend to pay for it (especially if your car is brand new). If your car is an older model, and you don't mind bringing it to an independent to fix, then I guess you could do that as well.
And from what I hear, MB paint can only be applied at an MB dealership/collision center (but I didn't verify that).
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All paint fades, even on a fairly new car, so it has to be matched and blended as much as can be. My dealership goes to a third party body shop, so I supposed I could just go there myself for my recent accident. I went with a shop that makes a guarantee with my insurance company. The adjuster said that means I can take it back for poor blending, peeling, or whatever.
If there is such a thing as MB only paint, MB would have to mix it and blend it, anyway.
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From: Louisiana
03 E500 and Corvette
My wife got into a similar accident, and we took her car to a dealership to fix since the car was brand new (600 miles on it) and we didn't want a sub-par repair job (especially on the paint). It cost around $1,300 to fix. Insurance paid for 100% of it.
In your case, get your friend to pay for it (especially if your car is brand new). If your car is an older model, and you don't mind bringing it to an independent to fix, then I guess you could do that as well.
And from what I hear, MB paint can only be applied at an MB dealership/collision center (but I didn't verify that).
In your case, get your friend to pay for it (especially if your car is brand new). If your car is an older model, and you don't mind bringing it to an independent to fix, then I guess you could do that as well.
And from what I hear, MB paint can only be applied at an MB dealership/collision center (but I didn't verify that).
I might add it took 3 returns to the body shop to get the job right. The tail lights are led's. They were damaged in the collision. They are not typical bulbs and the circuit boards had to be replaced. The paint had shadows on the trunk lid and it had to be repainted. The cargo net was thrown away so they had to replace it.
Finally after 3 visits it was "right enough". This means only I can see what they missed.
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MB paint is nano paint and exclusive to MB. I had my MB repaired at the MB dealer authorized repair shop under their direction.
I might add it took 3 returns to the body shop to get the job right. Finally after 3 visits it was "right enough". This means only I can see what they missed.
I might add it took 3 returns to the body shop to get the job right. Finally after 3 visits it was "right enough". This means only I can see what they missed.
* The first one was so bad they had to weld out the trunk and put in a new one. Perfect job of welding, near perfect job of blending on the unibody frame. You could barely see the blending that was 3-4 feet from the weld. It was about 30% of the fairly new blue book. They sent me to a very good shop in Marin near my workplace.
* The second one sent me to a local American dealership with a huge body shop that fixed all kinds of cars. Good job.
* The third time I went to a hole in the wall that used refurbished parts but was high tech for assessment and measurements for putting things together.
* The fourth one was repaired by the used car dealership I sold it to and I could see how crummy it was when I saw it passing me one the highway near my house.
* Anecdotally, I worked for a company that sold "totaled" cars to its managers which came from floods and hailstones in Texas. Hmm... A first edition Escalade with little dents that someone could have made with a sharpended pencil. Hmm... Fixed by a good local dent doctor who came to the CEO's workplace.
Bottom line, this time I a selected a on-MB place place linked to the insurance company which guaranteed the work. Insurance companies want to settle things once and then forget about it.
Last edited by iblaho; Jul 27, 2009 at 09:49 AM. Reason: spelling
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I read a little about nano paint. It has tiny ceramic particles. It is more resistant to heat and scratches. (Regular paint is colored with metals. Does MB color the ceramic and do it differently?)
The webpage said something about ions, but I think all paint adheres because of the properties of ions. Those properties also cause faint dimples in paint with successive layers. If MB eliminates that and doesn't just hide it with clearcoat, that would be an advance.
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Thread Starter
Member
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 156
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From: Seattle, Wa
2007 E350 Sport
Thanks for the feedback guys. So, it sounds like I need to specify that I want nano clear coat after they have to repaint? For some reason I thought my dealership had an internal body/paint dept but they referred me to a body shop up the street that they send all of their customers to. This makes me comfortable as I pretty sure if this place was not reputable they wouldn't continue to forward their customers there. After further investigation it looks like my driver side tail light was cracked as well in the fender bender. It keeps getting worse. I assume they will have to replace the entire tail light correct?
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Joined: Jun 2009
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From: OKC, Ok
06 w211 cdi, 05 slk350, R1200GS
I'm reasonably familiar with the auto body repair techno field & cross paths with several Euro specific body shops in the area. The paint processes used on the assembly line just can't be duplicated in the field although, a body & paint shop that has state of the art paint booth's & equipment (along with highly skilled tech's) can come close.
The guy that weilds the paint gun has to be well educated on the paint product he's using, a true crafrsman, part artist, and part witch doctor. (these are hard to find but they're out there)
The prefered Benz paint system (by most Euro shops in this area) is Standox. It's endorsed by MB and the refinish tech's I've talked to say they can obtain a better match with it than with Dupont, PPG, or some of the others available in the USA.
The guy that weilds the paint gun has to be well educated on the paint product he's using, a true crafrsman, part artist, and part witch doctor. (these are hard to find but they're out there)
The prefered Benz paint system (by most Euro shops in this area) is Standox. It's endorsed by MB and the refinish tech's I've talked to say they can obtain a better match with it than with Dupont, PPG, or some of the others available in the USA.
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From: OKC, Ok
06 w211 cdi, 05 slk350, R1200GS
PS: You may be able to massage the dents out of your bumper cover using a hot-air heat gun. Gently heat the area around the dent & it may come out on it's own. If not, apply some pressure from the back side with your fingers (suggest wear a leather glove) or try using the blunt rounded end of a paint stur stick.
Thread Starter
Member
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 156
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From: Seattle, Wa
2007 E350 Sport
PS: You may be able to massage the dents out of your bumper cover using a hot-air heat gun. Gently heat the area around the dent & it may come out on it's own. If not, apply some pressure from the back side with your fingers (suggest wear a leather glove) or try using the blunt rounded end of a paint stur stick.
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Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 3,254
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From: Louisiana
03 E500 and Corvette
........... For some reason I thought my dealership had an internal body/paint dept but they referred me to a body shop up the street that they send all of their customers to. ......... It keeps getting worse. I assume they will have to replace the entire tail light correct?
Their recommendation is probably better than taking it to just 'any body shop'. But use caution. The shop mine was sent to was also a recommended shop. However it too many trips back to get it right. The downside for me was we had evacuated for Katrina and my car was 100 miles away from our home. So each trip to pick up the car was a 200 mile trip.
For the tail lights BE SURE TO CHECK THEM BEFORE YOU DRIVE OUT. The lights have a safety feature that if one fails it will auto switch to a back up. Mine did just that so we did not know that the lights on the top of the assembly were not working until I was following in my truck and could see them.
Do an actual light check stop back up, normal lamps when you inspect the work.
I agree the "nano" paint is done at the factory but on my 3rd trip they repainted the trunk so it looked great. I refused to take it if I could see overspray or shadows in the paint areas when the sun would shine on it.
