OK this sucks-
Today I went back to my car to find someone had scraped the passenger side front door with their bumper while backing out of the spot next to mine... the scrape is under the trim piece about six inches long and unfortunately it is not just paint on the surface however the dent/crease in the body is very minimal. What is the best thing to do here? I have never worked with these plastic type body panels on the newer cars... I will try to get pics up soon. Thanks everyone!

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05 E55
03 E500

Touch up as best you can...seriously!

I have a couple of the same types of scrapes on my W124, and the body cladding on a former SL and my wife's CLK suffer some of the same incidents.

Metallics and "Designo" paints are difficult to match and sometimes require a respray of the entire panel. Because of this, it's usually not worth the effort doing so on a car that is exposed to daily use and morons with no regard for others' property.

You can go ahead and get quotes if you must, but if another poop-head does so again on your freshly painted panel, you will even be more enraged!

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2009 ML350 (106K) - Family vehicle
2001 CLK430 Cabriolet (80K) - Wife's car
2005 BMW 645CI (138K) - My daily driver
2016 Mustang (32K) - Daughter's car

Here are some pics i just took- does anyone know if one can buy just the lower panel seperately or is it connected to the top piece above the trim? If the body was metal i could simply have the mobile dent removers come by for a quick fix...

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05 E55
03 E500

The Parts Department at your local MB dealer will be able to get you replacement cladding panels. Be prepared for sticker shock! Then have a reputable bodyshop paint them and install them. You can do the installation if you're a DIY'er ... be sure to replace any clips that break while removing the original cladding panels.

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Fred Hoelzle

CL 500 very NICE, have you tried some high quality paint cleaner or cleaner/polish with a high quality 100% cotton or microfiber towel?

The metal can probably be straightened by a GOOD paintless dent removal person.

I had similar damage on my black 2002 Mercedes, the white paint in my case buffed out. I also had a car with a nice protective wax coating.

The lower door panel is in syn with the upper panel, it is not separate.
and on your car the door panel is aluminum?

I think if you decide to have the panel straightened, which seems like it would be easy, the repaint on that lower portion would just involve a quality covering up of the whole car to eliminate overspray, removing the belt trim and a color matching good spray of just that one panel, not even worrying about blending.

After looking at your picture, I think only the front fenders and rear lid are composite. Door I think is aluminum. At the door tip though it looks as if the metal may have been gouged. If it is gouged, you may want to contact a Mercedes dealership qualified do work on the advanced aluminum chassis'. They probably have a trick compound to smooth the metal.

The better-half "gouged" the bumper on our C220 with those poles that stick out on dumpsters. I took it to the dealer expecting the worst. The dealer had someone like Dent Wizard or something that could use fiberglass to repair and then painted it. Looked great - I could not tell it was repaired. Cost about $100 to have it done.

Check with your dealer and see if they have someone who does paintless dent removal and see if they offer that service as well.

Ferdman: We are talking about a 2000 CL, unfortunately they do not have cladding panels like the older models...

Ethan: This is not a scrape that paint cleaner or polish can remove, when you run your hand accross the damage you can tell it is plastic, it has that "plyable" feel as well as slight splintering of the plastic due to the severity of the hit.

benzboy87: Dent Wizard won't touch it, they only work with metal.

I guess I am getting ready to bite the bullet and just take it in for correction so I can forget about it! San Francisco parking sucks!

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05 E55
03 E500

Of course there's the theory that you have a fine car and should get it fixed properly regardless of cost. But if you really believed this you wouldn't have asked us. I would certainly try to repair it - it might end up looking good, and it's not going to cost that much.

They make plastic fillers for everything. You need to find out what kind of plastic it is. There is no reason not to fill it - you're not putting bondo on metal on a fine car, you're filling plastic with plastic. It's not that hard to do and it's not that hard to get it right. You need cleaner, the smallest sanding block that will do the job, the plastic filler, some 220 and 400 sandpaper, and high fill primer.

If it was me I'd paint it too - not that hard. Get a paint shop to put matching paint in a spray can. Get off the shelf clear and an overspray leveler. Wet sand with 2000 and buff. It's down low - not that critical. If you hate it - take it off and take it to a paint shop. They're going to spray both panels anyway if not the whole lower car. You'll be out 50 bucks and you'll have a blast - or maybe not, but you'll find out.

JFAZ, sorry about the misinformation. My first thought was that a CL500 didn't have cladding, but your mention of plastic panels confused me. Nor did I realize that MB was using plastic door panels. Unless you're experienced with minor bodywork and painting I'd opt for a bodyshop specializing in MB vehicle repair to fix the damage. A CL500 is too nice a car to be practicing on.

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Fred Hoelzle