WayneE

... because I always find another rock chip

With the bad weather here in MD, I haven't driven my car since our track day a few weeks ago. Still had dirt and rubber on the car, so I spent about 4hrs yesterday washing, waxing and just generally detailing the car.

So far, with 4-5 months of ownership and 6000 miles, I have 2 chips on the nose, a chip on the leading edge of one of the doors (how the **** that got there, I don't know) and a nick from a rock during one of my passes at Capitol

Oh well, the car is sitting in it's nice, warm garage, waiting for the weather/roads to clear.

It's going to be a long winter.

siswati

Wayne

Can you please explain what Winter is - I am not sure that I understand the concept!

Greetings from South Florida where the cold front has swept in and the temperatures have plummeted to the low 70's!

Siswati

draggingcents2

Get a good Deatailer.

IanSL55

I've found the paint to be pretty durable thus far... but I'm not dealing with those east coast roads.

~ Ian

cte430

We're laughing on the inside!! Actually washed mine yesterday also and found some more chips. I am convinced the nano paint is NOT more durable. When I had my E500 (non-nano) there were far less chips than on this car. Plus, the E500 was my daily ride. This one is not. It's in the garage

WayneE

I have a good detailer - me Only my wife's cars go to the detail shop. I turn my own wrenches and wash my own cars.

04E55 AMG

Washed mine the day after the track! Had all that rubber under the car from running with DR's. Was able to make a ball with of all that rubber the size of a tennis ball. The car has been sleeping in the garage for about a week and with me going out of town later this week, it may even be 2 weeks before she's back on the street.

cte430

...And stop driving it like an old lady!!

Beowulf

I've never been a fan of clear bra solutions, but after a nose chip within the first month of ownership, I started to reconsider. Adding some urgency was the fact that dump truck traffic around here increased at least tenfold in the last 9 months. Convoys of 8-10 are commonplace.

Forum member vitaman turned me on to a local source that uses 3M 8-mil Scotchgard poly film with a 5-year warranty. The install, done on-site in my garage, took an entire day. After 7 months, there's no trace of yellowing on my brilliant silver car and the edge across the hood is all but invisible unless you're within 10 feet.

I'd certainly understand your skepticism on the clear bra solution - apart from the edge lines, any yellowing is going to be especially noticeable on a white car. However, I've been happy with mine so far and it looks clear and clean.
Ask the Greek - he's seen it up close & personal.

brt3

I've owned many Benzes, BMWs, and Audis, along with a few Lexus products. My E55 has what I consider the worst paint of any luxury car I've ever owned. My wife's VW Phaeton has one of the best factory paint jobs I've ever seen, and it simply puts my car to shame. Though the paint looks reasonably good it has far more orange peel than the Phaeton, and is INCREDIBLY easy to chip. Once you get a chip you realize how incredibly thin and fragile the paint is. My detail guy is one of the best in the biz; he refuses to color sand ANY new Mercedes cars; there's simply not enough paint depth to get away with it.

For comparison, many years back I owned a 1992 420SEL. The car was practically new when my wife and I returned home from a "date night" to have the baby-sitter tell us our boys, ages 4 and 7, had wanted to surprise us by washing the car. "How cute!", I thought, never imagining any adult would actually let kids wash a new Benz. How wrong I was; not only did she let the kids wash the car; since she couldn't find the proper wash supplies, she let them use BROOMS to wash the car! I went ballistic and did my best Looney Tunes/Human Thermometer imitation; when I looked at the car it was badly scratched over roughly 70% of the car. I knew a guy who'd worked at Junior's House Of Kolor in Los Angeles; though he was pretty old the guy was an absolute master at color sanding. After working on the Benz for a day there were almost no signs the car had been touched, and it even looked better (reduced orange peel) in some respects.

Back to the E55; it infuriates me that I should even have to consider this, but I'm thinking about taking it to a body shop, getting the factory paint surface close to perfect, and shooting one or two coats of clear on top...