I would like to learn from someone who is experienced, how to refinish the flex surrounds, front and rear, on my '86 420SEL. The car is Diamond Blue and the surrounds seem to be some sort of grey color. My rear one has a couple of scratches, the front has the usual bug damage, etc. and I would like to remove them and refinish. I need to know materials and anything special for painting the plastic. Thanks.

You are just going to have to search for information. Here is a start. First the paint is special on these rubber bumpers. They have a flex agent added so the paint does not crack and/or form aligator patterns on you down the road from lightly tapping something that would not normally damage a rubber bumper. Here is a link to get you started. You might want to do the prep work and let a pro paint them for you. Painting is not that easy with a learning curve. The link below and others have information you will need for the scratch (fillers). The bug damage is prolly just in need of some solvents to remove the bug mess. Most people are not smart enough to get the bugs off their cars before they damage the paint just like bird ***** does from the acids that eat the finish. But first try cleaning it a few times with something harmless like Simple Green to see if that removes the dried bugs first with a power washer but not set to 2500 psi please. I have a good power washer that really works good on wheels. But you must choose the right nozzle for the job at hand. If that does not work at worst you might have to lightly sand those bug damaged areas with a light grit sandpaper. If that cleans it up they can then prime them before they shoot your bumpers. A good body shop supply store can give you priceless information if you ask very nicely. A $20 "tip" given to the owner for some of his valuable time to help you select the right products can be worth a $200 reduction in your headaches doing the job.

http://www.urethanesupply.com/storeepoxy.html

I just bought a used Euro front bumper for my w126 300SD. It has one small slice I will clean it up first, remove the chrome, and then prep and sand the sliced area. I will then use a special filler made specially for these flexible bumpers. Then when it is prepped my body man will paint it for me off the car with the rest of my car. Even after that I still torn on using it or not? The Euro bumpers look sweet but with no front bumper shocks a minor 5 mph "tap" can be big bucks to have fixed. My body shop friend is a magician with a frame machine. I painted more than a few cars 25 years ago. The actual painting is the EASY part of body work. The prep work is the real killer to do right or the car will turn out like crap. I am going to remove the bumpers, rear tail lights, headlights and the the bottom side mouldings myself. I will also prep the door sill plate areas so he can shoot them and as much as I am able to do of the prep work to save some money on the complete paint job. I AM smart enough to pay my body man to R&R the rear window and window trim and the front windshield to fix any rust before the actual painting is done. Even on rust free Southern cars like my 1983 300SD they are never as easy to do as one thinks. What you make up for in the rust free bodies you get hammered with sun damaged interior parts. I just scrounged new door panels, and perfect wood trim to replace what is in there. But the car should look good by the end of May. You just need to read up and learn how to sand the scratches in multiple sanding stages. Take your time. If you are unsure go to a boneyard and buy a damaged scrap value only bumper for $10 to practice your sanding skills on. You can also try the filler made for flex bumpers and sanding to see if that is an option for you. Good luck and read all you can. The info is out there for you to find if you use search engines. John