I just noticed that my 3 month-old car just got keyed!!

Does anyone know if it is possible to have the panel really match the factory paint? I will call the dealer tomorrow, but does anyone know of any shops in the Denver area? I can’t say how upset this makes me. . . . But is is just a piece of metal after all

Steve Aguirre

 

I'm so sorry to hear that and I really understand what you mean. I have similar problem 15 years ago when I had my E30 BMW M3 brand new 10 days old. Someone key the whole car, I was so angry.... At the end I just have to accept it and move on... Keep us update let us know how you fix it. Best of luck!

Thanks!

 

that's terrible guys. i hate those punks.

 

That sucks... depending on the depth of the scratch, you might be able to just use some rubbing compound and buff it out. Someone keyed my minivan when it was about 6 months old. I had my other car in a body shop getting repaired and happened to showed the van to service guys... they buffed the scratch out 'til it was barely visible (unless you were a few inches away)... didn't charge for it either. Anyway.. just something to consider.

 

man that sucks, back in 2001 my dad's 01 ML320 got keyed at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk, it was pretty much the whole driver's door and 1/2 the rear door...but the body shop matched the paint perfectly(well, it was straight black anyways), they did a great job. But, you cannot get your car fixed with the nano-paint, but regular white MB paint will do just as good...just take it to your dealer, and they'll send it to a body shop they trust...good luck!

 

I guess that in some way we have all been through this. If you have not, I sure hope you never do. The kicker here is that my immaculate W124 got keyed in December and it got fixed perfectly. Then it got totaled in July. I just find it hard to believe this luck.

Like it was said, sometimes it can be buffed, but this one is really deep. On some parts, it goes all the way to the metal. It is on the driver’s side front fender and a bit of the driver’s door. I guess this, more durable, nano tech paint is more important for the flat surfaces like the hood, roof and trunk lid anyway; they get most of the UV radiation.

In the end, the scum that does this kind of thing gets what is coming to them. I only have a $250 deductible so money is not the problem. It is just my second claim in 11 months!

I have a body shop that does all my work, but they are an old fashioned shop. I think that I will take it to my dealer and I think that they use Stuttgart Auto body somewhere in the Denver area. They are also going to have to change the clear bra on the front fender and the driver’s door handle.

Thanks for all of your support; at least I don’t feel like I’m the only one that this happens to.

Steve Aguirre

 

Judging by the title of your thread you are concerned about the matching of your 'new' paint. Unfortunately the 'nano' technology paint can only be applied at the factory.

Technically it is only a clear lacquer top coat so your dealer should be able to match the actual colour.

Good luck,
John

 

I just got off the phone with Stuttgart Auto Body in Englewood, CO. They said that they just got the nano-tech clear coat system two months ago and can totally match everything! This sounds really good. They only work on MBs and they guarantee everything for life. I am dropping that car off today. I don’t even want to see the car looking how it does. It just pains me while making my blood boil each time I see it.

I’ll tell you all what it end up looking like and I’ll find out about how they can do the Nano-tech.

Steven Aguirre

 

That is brilliant news, I would love to see their bake ovens. I think I read somewhere that it has to be baked at Four hundred degrees fahrenheit. That is HOT.

I cannot even imagine how angry I would feel if someone decided to do that to my car.

I remember a number of years ago a youth was caught in Singapore damaging someone's car. Their judicial system wanted to punish him according to their laws, but............

Regards,
John

 

John. You are correct:


During the paint process, the ceramic nano-particles float around freely in the liquid paint. When the car body is baked inside the paint shop oven at 140 degrees Celsius, the ceramic nano-particles cross-link into a dense network instead of the long molecular chains found in conventional paint. This allows the lacquer to provide much more effective scratch protection against normal wear and tear.

Testing of nano-particle clearcoats shows they are three times more resistant to fine scratches than conventional clear coats and this allows the paint to retain its gloss. Mercedes engineers noted an around 40-percent improvement in retaining paint gloss compared to conventional clear lacquers.

 

I did not know that they baked it on that hot. But the body shop said that they will be baking it. I guess this means that they will have to take the parts off the car??

I will ask when I get there.

Steve

 

Hi Oslo
As usual you beat me to the draw. We both found the same site.
During the paint process, the ceramic nano-particles float around freely in the liquid paint. When the car body is baked inside the paint shop oven at 140 degrees Celsius, the ceramic nano-particles cross-link into a dense network instead of the long molecular chains found in conventional paint. This allows the lacquer to provide much more effective scratch protection against normal wear and tear.


But sadly by calculations were slightly out, I reckon it is only 284 degrees fahrenheit, still very hot and I would assume the panel would have to be completely removed from the car???

I be quicker than you ONE day

Regards,
John

 

Then it's a question if the assurance companies are willing to pay for the extra work?

 

cases like this make leasing sounds more attractive. I mean, it would feel less painful if you didn't really own the car outright, at least to me anyway.

 

But you'd still have to get it fixed before returning the car. Not to mention that know one knows if you're leasing or purchasing your car when you're driving down the street so you should still have the same amount of pride in your vehicle either way.

 

So, I just got back form Stuttgart Auto Body Ltd. They are a Mercedes Benz factory certified and Aluminum certified body shop. They also work on BMWs and Jaguars.

They said that not all MBs have the NANO paint. The way to check is to look at the paint code on the sticker in the door jam and see if there is a “C” at the end of the paint code. If there is, then it is NANO-TECH. Otherwise it is the regular MB stuff. The regular stuff is still very good stuff , he added.

This place bakes all their paint. My insurance does cover this work, but my car does not have the NANO paint anyway. I just have to pay $250 for my deductible and the shop will take care of the rest directly with State Farm, including the clear bra on the front left fender and in the driver’s door handle well. There were two other W211with metallic paint and they were not NANO either. He said that it is only done in the SL as standard, but the Es are starting to have it. Yes, they have to remove the panels for curing the paint. Even if it is not NANO. I left the shop feeling much better about the end product I was going to receive. O, he said that they do the NANO clear coat, but not as hot as in the factory. They were given a way to do it by MB.

About leasing the car, yes, I guess if you leased it you could be less picky about how it was fixed if you knew that you were not going to buy the car at the end of the lease. I own a business on the side, but my accountant still does not see much benefit in renting cars for a long term. It will not benefit my tax situation. I would have to buy a H2 or some other atrocity that weighs about 3 tons to make it worth while. I bought this car cash and I intend to keep it until the next E comes out and I hope to get the newest V6 CDI 4-Matic.

Thanks for all your support and information. Also, if you could reply and state if your car has “C” at the end of the paint code, I would like to see which car actually has it.

Steve Aguirre

 

Do you mean in front or end? I've C744 it is after my VIN number. Btw, what is so special about this Nano paint?

Thanks!

 

It is not the VIN number, it is the paint/color code. I don't have the car here (it's at the shop) so I can't check where it is exactly.

Can someone else help?

Steve

 

Hi Steve,
If you do a search for 'Nano' paint you will find ALL the answers to everything you ever wanted to know about this technology.

The official date for the start of Nano paint in Europe is a January 1st 2004 build date. However I believe 'Oslo' has one of the first which was produced way before that date. I can hear you 'shouting from here about your own vehicle. Your 4Matic was not manufactured in Germany so that makes it the exception to the rule, I have no knowledge of when or if any 4Matic has this paint.

. The E-class was one of the first models to receive this excellent technology. The protection this top coat gives is exceptional when compared to modern Mercedes-Benz that do not have it.

PLEASE, please do not think I am criticising your excellent body shop, it is so nice to read such glowing reports and I am in NO position to doubt them. All I would say is that to bake this type of paint, I personally believe that everything would have to be stripped off the panel, sound insulation, polythene water barriers, trim etc. The paint does not cure until it reaches the temperature already discussed, so the bake oven MUST reach temperatures way in excess of that.

Your car will leave the paintshop looking pristine and as you have already stated it does not have nano paint and does NOT need to be cooked to a 'frazzle'.

Good luck,
John
A sunny morning in Torquay

 

John,

What you said make perfect sense. The other E classes I saw were all 4 Matics. As you might know, 4 Matics are very popular here and comprise a disproportionately larger percentage of the overall MB population of cars. I would say that half of the sedans are 4Matics here. The dealer’s loaner cars are all C and E 4 Matics and they have a bunch of MLs. About the paint, its just as well that my car does not have it, this way I know that every panel will be the exact brand of paint and if it does fade (that is not that common anymore) it will fade at the same rate.

I have no idea how they do the NANO at the body shop, but there was no miscommunication about them being able to do it. I don’t have to worry about anyway. I believe that the NANO tech must be awesome, but I have never ever had any problems with MB paint in the 13 years of owning them. Granted, I wax my cars often, I garage them and I have never had a metallic finish (which don’t fade on MB’s as far as I know).

I know that white is mostly regarded as a company fleet vehicle color in Europe, but I love it. It actually stays clean and it is much cooler. I must say that I have not seen any bad color on the W211. In the end, color is a matter of personal taste and preference. I think that white is the least popular color, but I like it.

Thanks, Steven Aguirre

 

Steve - Yes my paint has a c744 indication (in front not in back). Car was made about June 04. When you get your car back if you could post if the C is before or after the paint number. I know 744 is the code for Brilliant Silver.

 

I just talked to the Body shop again and you are correct, the C is at the front of the paint code. He checked a SL that was in the lot. Again, all the Es that they had there were 4-Matics so we could not check the number on the W211s.

He also said that they use NANO tech, that is 100% true. He said that the NANO-tech they use bakes 100 degrees (Fahrenheit) hotter than the regular clear coat. He said it is better than the standard clear coat, but not quite as good of the factory NANO. But it is NANO after all.

I guess I would still rather have a 4-Matic rather than a NANO-paint car. It is useless to look really great while you are stuck on the side of the road. Not to mention that that probability of ruining the NANO clear coat on a RWD E is much greater anyway.

Also, the good news is that they will not need to blend the front fender by also repainting the hood. (I could not believe when they said that they might have to do that!!! I surely wanted to avoid having the hood repainted). They have to do the front fender and a bit of the driver's door and clear coat both panels completely. The damage is $1,045. This is exactly why I only have a $250.00 dollar deductible. It just paid itself off for 3 + years. (By this I mean that a $250 deductible is only about $240 more per year on my insurance rate than the $1,000 deductible).

Since I am also being credited by my insurance company for a rental car (that I don't need) I will be using the $20.00 per day to pay the deductible and have 0 out of pocket expense after all is said and done. That old Audi 4000 Quattro just keeps on coming in handy and paying for itself.

Thanks for all the info and support,

Steve Aguirre

 

Steve,

May I ask you a question? Let's assume you have a Nano paint in your car, Is that mean your body shop will do less work means that they just need to paint the clear Nano coat of that scratch panel rather then doing all those matching and painting the hood in your car? Since I have Nano in my car, just want to educate myself.

Thanks!

 

I don’t think that that statement can be applied to all. In my case, the scratch went all the way to the aluminum of the front fender. That means that both the paint and the clear coat are gone. They have to do everything over again.

If the scratch is rather superficial, I guess it MIGHT be possible to just redo the clear coat after wet sanding the original NANO clear coat and some of the paint, then just clear coat it again. However, I seriously doubt that a body shop of any good reputation will do any wet sanding and then just clear coat. Today’s paint layer under the clear coat is much thinner. Wet sanding it is suicidal.

If your scratch is deep enough that you feel your fingernail hit it when you pass your nail over in perpendicular to the scratch, then the damage is done. I have not heard of too many clear-coat-only “keying” scratches. Since the person doing the scratching is not applying the same amount of pressure during the whole scratch, it is a big gamble to assume that no area of the scratch hit the paint layer.

The rule is that if the scratch does not buff out smooth with wax or polish, then you need to redo it if you want a perfect finish. The NANO clear coat is just supposed to be more resistant to scratching, but once it is scratched you are in the same boat with the old paint.

In the end, if you have a ******* SOB with a metal key, the NANO clear coat will also be damaged. This is my opinion, I would be willing to bet these *******s will damage something nice regardless of the technology in the paint.

Steve A

 

Steve,

Thanks for your respond. Let's know how it turns out.