I'm about to drop the hammer on a 2014 E Class and was a bit unsettled by the paint job. My current car is a 97 LS 400 and the paint on that is glassy smooth. On the other hand the E Class seems to have a bit of orange peel effect that I was not expecting in a vehicle in this price range. I looked briefly at S classes and other types and they seem to be about the same.

I'm not really a paint guy but it is my understanding they compounded down the LS to get a nice smooth finish. Wondering why they don't do that on Mercedes (other than the expense of course).

Anybody have any thoughts on that?

 

MB got bigger problems than paint jobs. They apparently designed 2013 E350's to be noisy at around 8 MPH after EVERY re-start of the car but re-designed it in 2014 and eliminated that noise. BMW have the orange peel effect too!

 

The paint look of my E's were great and they seemed quite durable.

However, the paint application on them was maybe the worst I've ever seen on a car, period.

My 2010 I thought had to be a one-off as there were dried up paint "drips" in inner areas like along the trunk edges. One was so fresh since the car was brand new that it was still slightly "soft" when I popped the "pouch". On my inner trunk lid I actually then had a little area with no paint on it at all due to shoddy application making it so that I could pull it off when I went to shockingly feel what it was.

Then on my inner doors, on the far edge of it (i.e the part that meets the front quarter panel/fender) the paint was SO sloppily applied that it was dried up in jagged forms. These "drips" being dried up and were as sharp as knives. I couldn't pull them off if I tried. It looked terrible when I'd open my door and look at that area.

Then I got a 2011 W212 with the same color (Arctic White) and the finish along the inner trunk edges wasn't nearly as bad, however wasn't close to perfect. And it STILL had runs all over the inner portion of the front doors (the far edge closest to the front quarter panel/fender. Again, they were sharp as hell as they were paint runs that dried up in "pointy" jagged forms).

Also on both cars there were one or two (or maybe more) little tiny "specs dots" here and there that looked like dimples from a pin.... they were there because they were bits of dust or debris that were painted over, i.e they made it into the paint application room meaning the car wasn't properly spotless before they M-B painted it.

On my 2011 there was also an actually visible DRIP of paint, like a run on the EXTERIOR going down the rocker panel as well. The dealer took it off with polish or something.

 

Ok, thanks, I guess better give mine closer look before signing on the dotted line.

 

I've never seen many (any?) MB's up close so maybe that's just the way they've always done their paint. Kind of the same deal with the MB-Tex. At first I was thinking there's no way I'm going to pay 60K for a car with vinyl seats. After reading up on it I've more or less decided that MB-Tex would be OK after all.

 

mine looks just fine to me!! my 06 c class looked great when i recently sold it too.

 

I think the orange peel effect is due to manufacturers having to use water based paints now. They dry too quickly. An environmental requirement, I assume.

Your '97's paint was probably prior to the change.

Regards,
Don

 

Lexus hands down puts more effort into their paint work than most of the other companies they compete with.

BMW, MB, Audi, Jaguar, Cadillac, and Infiniti.....all are not as good as Lexus.

I would probably put Audi 2nd.

 

I always thought that Mercedes' had great paint, especially when you compare it to competitors; of all of the common Luxury car brands I would say that MB paint quality would be second behind Lexus. My 2013 BMW has very noticable orange peel and when I compare it to the MB, the MB's paint looks very smooth even though I've had it for over a year, the paint looks better than my six month old BMW.

 

I just rechecked my cars and the paint is flawless. It compares with the Porsche 911 which is also perfect. I am not saying a bad paint job can't happen but in my experience, I have not seen it.

K-A seems to have a more discriminating eye finding flaws in MB's now that he doesn't own one. I don't remember him mentioning those paint flaws in the past. Maybe he needed a BMW as a reference point to gauge the quality of workmanship.

 

Ok now that was just downright cleverly put.

That notwithstanding I think I have observed a fair amount of orange peal on modern Mercedes. I always (perhaps incorrectly) wrote it off to robotic painting.

 

C'mon Petee you sound ridiculous. You've embarked on full blown fanboy territory at this point.

I did mention it plenty of times. Good looking but terribly applied. It was a fact on my two cars, not the hyperbole you created to counter it.

Oh and for the record my BMW's paint likes to chip when I merely look at it. So some more objectivity here to counter the desperate loss of it from your end ever since I moved to BMW.

 

Ok, sealed the deal today. Will take delivery tomorrow. On 2nd inspection there is some orange peel but it is smoother than my memory was telling me. The Lexus does appear to be somewhat superior though. Oh well, I'm not gonna fret about it. Most people probably wouldn't notice anyhow.

 

Absolutely correct. The Europeans were far ahead in legislating water based paints for environmental reasons.

 

My black gx470 has zero orange peel unlike my black e350.

 

Orange peel is just the way it is these days, unfortunately, on basically all cars. It barely bothers me anymore as I've just accepted it as "the way it's supposed to look".

Though of course it still does bum me out a bit when my eyes set on it.

 

Had my 2010 for about 3.5 years now and the paint is perfect - or at least as perfect as you get with a car. Have not noticed any orange peel, drips, runs, etc. Great looking inside and out.

 

I have a Polar White car - as I am a clean car freak, I have gone over it very closely several times. The paint application is excellent, some of the minor expected orange peel, but no real other flaws - 2 tiny pin ***** style marks which might be bubbles, only noticeable to someone with OCD like me.

My Tectite Grey E55 had virtually no orange peel, the paint looked excellent - but - would chip very easily.

 

If only Lexus would put their superior paint on a less ugly vehicle. The current LS and GS are just so uninspired to my eye. The LS in particular is not as exciting as the Genesis and/or Equus from Hyundai or the new KIAs. Nice paint though.

 

I was about to say the you picked the worst paint color for BMW. Jet Black is one of the softest and most unforgiving paints on the market. The metallic version has a hard clear coat finish. My 07 Acura TL-S is just about as bad as Jet Black but I know how to detail my own car. It is literally a part time job keeping it immaculate. Good Luck.

 

Absolutely true on all counts. I imagine having a white or silver car would be such a synch for me now. I've gotten really good at acquiring a care taking formula on mine but it's the freak occurrences that are more worrisome. Even something as simple as somebody else literally touching it lol.

The beauty of a pure black car though is how if you do dedicate that time and care, your car will always stand out. It's literally indeed its own job though.