djgiovanni

So I am just beginning to notice that orange peel is actually the norm on most new cars, especially, high end ones.
When I traded my 2015 ML350 for the new GLE350 I was astounded to see the amount of orange peel. Ended up trading that truck a month later and all others that followed had the same issue with orange peel. Turns out this is normal on Mercedes-Benz and pretty much all brands.

https://newoldcars.com/orange-peel-w...y-look-so-bad/

PeterUbers

https://mbworld.org/forums/sl-class-...eel-alert.html

nguyensteve

yes this is well know by now, eco friend paint.

superswiss

Yep, basically not worth fretting about. Biggest takeaways from the article 1) a smooth Rolls Royce like paint job has thinner clear coat that is less protective, 2) a Rolls Royce paint job would look worse in the hands of normal drivers driving their cars in all kinds of weather, getting sandblasted on the highways and being washed regularly. BTW handwashing is known lo leave deeper scratches than a high quality automated wash, 3) orange peel disappears over time as the paint is effectively being wet sanded by all the environmental abuse as well as when washing it.

W205C43PFL

That is a good reason why someone shouldn't correct orange peel.

Effects of water-based paint and also hides imperfections better. Another thing is not sure if it is true but some colours are more prone to show the effect of orange peel more, but does it actually have less orange peel though, probably not.

SW20S

Mercedes has big issues with orange peel. Thats one thing I really miss from my Lexuses, the much nicer paint. BMW and Audi also have much nicer, smoother paint.

Orange peel does not dissipate over time lol. Smoother clear coats do not have "less" paint. There is no "reason" for MB orange peel, they just don't have a very nice paint finish compared to their competitors.

W205C43PFL

Wait... it doesn't? Hmmm I know nothing about paint then I don't know who to believe now.

djgiovanni

Read the article on post #1

W205C43PFL

I didn't even notice the link in your original post, I should read it too.

C2 Turbo

All OEM paint has an orange peel and if it's missing, then it has been resprayed. It's very hard to duplicate the orange peel too

djgiovanni

Interesting information there I would have never thought possible. Good read for sure.

SW20S

Orange peel if anything indicates THINNER paint. it has to do with the process by which the paint is applied and how its prepared after its applied.

I did read the article, it says there are variances in the amount of peel and a 1-10 scale that manufacturers use, it just so happens Mercedes has some of the worst Orange Peel. I have been detailing cars for 25 years, I'm well versed in automotive paint and orange peel.

From the article:

Mercedes allows a much higher degree of orange peel than its competitors. Sit a dark colored BMW 7 Series or Lexus LS next to an S Class, and you will see they have much nicer paint than the S Class.

SW20S

It all has orange peel, but it has varying degrees of orange peel, and some manufacturers hand sand the finish to remove orange peel or at least smooth it out. Thats what Rolls Royce and Bentley do, and Lexus does that on the LS, LC and LX. The result is a paint finish that is much nicer than what Mercedes has.

I always examine the paint in cars when I look at them, as a detailer its one of the things I really focus on. Mercedes has one of the worst paint finishes in the industry. Big reason why mine is white.

As an example, I had a GLC loaner a few months ago that had terrible paint. Below is a picture of that paint:




This is the fender of our Chrysler Pacifica, which has much nicer paint. It has orange peel, but its much smoother:

Faast

GLC loaner, did you check the area with a paint meter, possible it might have been resprayed? If it's factory paint than it should all look the same, period

SW20S

It all looked the same, unfortunately. That was just one spot where the reflections showed up for the picture. MBs also don't have consistent orange peel, some are better than others, and the vertical surfaces seem to have more OP than the horizontal surfaces.

mb2be

Yeah it seems MB has a lot of this much more than others. I have to look at my X5 very closely at certain angle to see some peel. I don't remember this as noticeable either on my Lexus vehicles.

W205C43PFL

Unfortunately that is the only thing going for Lexus nowadays...

W205C43PFL

For sure.

W205C43PFL

Yup that is true.

AzurSL

I had a thread back in the W205 section years back about this. I’m happy to say that the orange peel on my W205 has seemed to significantly reduce over the last two years, although at point it was paint corrected (only one step though) and ceramic coated, but even before then it seemed to reduce in severity (or I just got used to it). This is common not only with MB but pretty much everyone as there are new environmental laws that have changed the way car makers are required to paint cars. I think it has to do with off gassing, but I don’t remember all that well. I saw the effects of this first hand with my W205. My 2015 W205 had perfect paint (before the new laws) and my 2020 had much more orange peel (after the new laws). Recently I was at my local dealer and was checking out the new W206 and noticed how much better the orange peel has gotten, so they seem to have figured something out recently. In fact all new cars at the dealer, GLE, S, SL, E, C etc all seemed to have much better paint quality than new MBs did just a few years ago when they first started with these new paint regulations.

SW20S

You just got used to it. It doesn't go away any more than scratches in the paint go away.

W205C43PFL

Good to hear they are figuring it out, just unacceptable on the new SL though at that price point... you came across that thread too right?

AzurSL

Yeah I saw it. I’ve been up close and personal with many of the new SLs and not once have I noticed it. I think that car was a one-off and maybe repainted before delivery. I’m somewhat OCD about my cars so good paint is something that’s important to me. I was actually pretty impressed with the paint on the new SLs and I definitely would have noticed it if it were bad.

Unfortunately I didn’t have much of a choice with my W205 when I picked it up as all of them had it so it was just something I had to live with.

W205C43PFL

Maybe some colours hide the orange peel more than others, not uncommon to have vehicles repainted due to damage at the VPC though you are right.

AzurSL

It could be. The colors I took a look at on the SL were hyper blue, alpine grey, selenite grey, obsidian black, that yellow color and silver, and they were all fine. Hyper blue is gorgeous by the way, definitely my choice