clkcadet

Hi all

I haven't posted on MBworld since my '04 CLK!! I hope to jump back on the wagon with a new GLK (lease)

Off the bat, I will admit to keep the lease price down, I am not getting any goodies. I will be getting a base car with heated seats, and panorama roof.

At the dealership, they mentioned they can find any combo and we found a few cars that come close.

My top 3 picks would be Black, Steel Grey, Palladium in that order. I never had a black car before, so I am afraid of visible dings and scratches (I live near NYC what can I do lol)

The other 2 silver based colors are really interesting. The Steel Grey seems nice, and the Palladium in person is much sharper than the ordinary silver Benz has.

I'm really leaning towards Black as it is a bit more stealth, but I know it will never be clean!

Any input is greatly appreciated, and I hope to share some photos once everything is settled.

NYCGLK

I was in the same boat. Really wanted black car but got Iridium Silver (which i think is now called palladium) Very happy about the color. I agree black looks nicer when it's clean, but that's about 2-3 day after the wash, then you start seing dust and dirt. Silver color is great at hiding dust. Back of the car is dust/dirst magnet due to turbulence.

Also I got a tiny chip on the hood and the primer is grey so you really can't see it with silver color. This would not be the case on a black car.

I posted a lot of pictures of my car on this forum, you can get an idea what silver looks like in different settings.

SD90

I've got the Irridium Silver, and I agree that for chips, they just don't stand out as they would on a darker color. I also like the way the rims look like they are the same color as the paint. It looks very sharp, and I can go a long time between washes!

clkcadet

Thanks guys, my biggest concern is my wife doing bumper cars while parking!! If those nicks are visible I don't want to have Black!

Palladium is now going higher on the list because I can imagine getting sick of the Steel Grey....

I'm not one to do weekly car washes, so my car is always dirty. I have a 2007 A4 quattro now (navy) and I like the "dirty" look and dusty wheels. Hard to explain but it looks better dirty than clean lol


Edit: just spoke to a friend, his 2010 e350 is "palladium" and his Father has a black S550 so I can kill 2 birds with one stone by checking out both colors in the flesh. I'm sure they both have "NYC bumpers" so ill see how the nicks look

JT01

Silver and Obsidian are my favorites colors... and had I been able to, I'm not sure which I would have picked. The car on the lot was Obsidian so I went with it. I admit, it is hard to keep clean (mostly because of dust) but I'm a guy that washes my car every weekend so i'm not too bothered.

Re the chips... the bumpers are black under the paint... NOT grey. I agree that silver hides dust and dents beautifuly, but when it comes to seeing scrathces or rock chips on the front bumper... silver and white are the worst.

If you go black... go obsidian black... hides dust and swirls better than the non metallic black.

NYCGLK

yes bumpers are black under the paint, body parts are grey.

but as far as bumpercars you can get the bumper bully for the back and you have licence plate up front, also if you get car with a hitch can just get a bar that goes accross in the back.

wired

i chose the metallic black as it looks so slick.. of course it won't be that way as here in the great white north..

also.. it will come full circle for yours truly as my first vehicle.. golf gti is black.. and now glk350 is black.. both germans.. but no comparison..

cheers

clkcadet

Black is back in the game!
Steel grey is out of the picture as I might get sick of it after some time.

The problem is I found a Palladium car with the exact features I need (pano,ipod,htd seats) at 40k

If they can find a black one I may be in business !

For the record I actually like the 19s

wired

follow your heart and enjoy your purchase to the fullest.. last thing you want is say.. gee.. i should have purchase that before..

lots of white and silver here in canada.. to each his/her own..

all the best in your quest...

cheers..

NYCGLK

Keep in mind 19 come with crappy tires and rims look a pain to clean. Just a thought.

MKenM

There is something to be said for Black. My GLK is Black and I love it. When it starts to get dusty you can see it from inside on the hood but it is not so noticeable standing outside. If you are not going for options then why pay a premium for paint?

chilledbenz

Yeah go with what your gut tells you, because at the end of the day your the one paying for it and driving it. I will say I will never own another black Benz for as long as I live no matter how much money they knock off it lol. I've had standard black, obsidian black and majestic black. The majestic black is by far the best black color in my opinion and I have no real complaints about it other than its only available on the R class at the moment. The standard black showed every single scratch, swirl, finger print, I think it swirled if the wind blew too hard against it. The obsidian black looks awesome when its clean, but frankly I can never keep it clean, so it just looks like standard black...that I paid an extra $720 dollars for

W210

Steel grey!

MBRedux

Remember, there are two *blacks*!

Black = Solid Black with Clear

Obsidian Black = Super fine Metallic Black with Nano Clear

glkbeige

That's why I like Sand Beige Metallic. It hardly shows the dirt and water streaks at all. The only thing I have to clean often is my wheels from the brake dust. I bought some Rejex and am waiting for it to warm up so I can apply it to the bumper & wheels.

chilledbenz

I was impressed with the Sand Beige in person myself. It looks much better in person than in photographs, but its still not for everyone.

guyfromtor

I didnt know this. SO does it mean all solid colours (white, red, and balck) do not get the Nano clear?

NYCGLK

Friday December 5, 2003
Mercedes-Benz has developed a scratch-resistant clearcoat using tiny ceramic nano-particles, each less than a millionth of a millimetre in size. The new clear lacquer is set to go into series production at Mercedes-Benz at the end of the year after four years of R&D with the E, S, CL, SL and SLK-Class series being first models to become in available with this new paint system.
The microscopic ceramic particles float around freely at first in the liquid clearcoat, before cross-linking as the drying process takes effect. The particles link in with one another in such a way as to create an extremely dense and smoothly structured network that is considerably more scratch-resistant than conventional paintwork.
According to Mercedes-Benz the nano-particles provide a three-fold improvement in the scratch resistance of the paintwork and ensure visibly enhanced gloss over an extended period of time. Following extreme tests in a laboratory car-wash, Mercedes engineers noted an around 40-percent improvement in paint gloss compared to conventional clear lacquers.
New nano-particle clearcoat will be introduced as standard for both metallic and non-metallic paint finishes.

clkcadet

Interesting stuff!

It looks like the dealer is not charging me extra for metallic, so I will see if I can locate an Obsidian car.

Otherwise, Palladium is the winner Im going to check out some more pics!

chilledbenz

*Correction..majestic black is also available on the S and CL models, not just the R.

mac911

All Mercedes paint has the ceramic particle clear coat.

In terms of what color to choose, I think black on a GLK is a bit more of a challenge to take care of as there are places hard to reach (ie the roof).

On a SLK, black is more manageable, but even then it is a lot of work if you want to keep a swirl free finish.

I think I'd go with the Palladium for least work and then steel grey.