william rogers - lmao. That *no-seeums* comment was perfect. The perfect punishment for keyers!
I'm from Canada but first ran into those little suckers in Florida...evil insects. Although I'd throw in hordes of horse flies and red ants as well...
As to the post topic - I've got an '89 300E - smoked silver as well and recently had it re-painted due to a collision. They matched the paint exactly! Looking at it in bright sunlight and in shade, the color match is perfect. Since it looked so good, I'm having them re-paint my hood as well. I also had them touch up a door panel which had been keyed prior to my owing the car. They painted the upper half of the panel (above the plastic trim) and again, they matched it perfectly. The work was done by a Mercedes dealership recommended by my insurance company. I'm very, very pleased with the results.
My recommendation would be to have it re-painted at a Mercedes-authorized shop. It may not be cheap, but you'll get what you pay for. As for color matching, they should be able to get it perfect, even if the paint has aged.