It appears to be the original paint, but the paint is fading on the hood (worse), roof, and trunk. It is really weird, has anyone had trouble with the Navy Blue paint on the 1990 cars. NC sun is strong, but it ain't that strong!

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'89 420 SEL
'90 300 SEL
'84 300 SD (sold it)

I have a Navy '91 350SDL. I bought it with the hood paint in the same cond that you are describing. I spoke with a few Benz people who told me that Navy Paint on the horizontal surfaces of the car of the ages of our cars loses its pigment quickly. I tried EVERYTHING on the hood (don't waste your time or elbow grease), the only solution was to paint it. It looks great now!

THanks Rappo. Was driving myself crazy because my other Benz's paint is intact and it is one year older (different color).

Out of curiosity, did you paint the whole car or just the hood? Did you have them put a clear coat? How much was it ?

Thanks

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'89 420 SEL
'90 300 SEL
'84 300 SD (sold it)

Gray paint does the same way. If you decide to do the top surfaces only be sure and have a good chat with the painters about blending and longer term color compatability. Most experienced guys are glad to get into these issues and a few extra dollars spent on first class paint bring a good benefit over the long haul.
Harvey

Harvey,

Are you suggested that just painting the horizontal surfaces with the original paint mught not be enough, u mean, they actually have to try to age the paint and blend it in even though it is the original blue. (The car is 10 years old and the sides are fine). The hood is turning grey.

thanks

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'89 420 SEL
'90 300 SEL
'84 300 SD (sold it)

I have the same problem with my 300SDL, and in the process of finding someone here in the RTP area that can paint the hood using blending methodology. I will keep you informed if I am successful. Likewise would appreciate it if you find a good paint shop before I do.


Johnny
85 300D (sold)
86 300SDL 172K
96 Explorer 62K

i had the same problem on my 85 500sel i painted it and it was the best thing i ever did to the car along with the rims

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Dan Younes
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1985 euro 500sel 220k
1981 300sd 278k sold
1979 240d 298k sold
1983 300sd 272k sold
1989 chrysler 2.2l Turbo
Leabaron 130k
1989 Dodge Carvan Se 285k
1996 C220(hopefully soon)

They just painted the hood, the rest of the car was good and I did not have the $$$ to do it "right" also there is a nice stripe on the car that I did not want to have to re-do. After some research, I came to the conclusion that eventhough the paint was not as "aged" as the rest of the car, because the hood is a different plane than the doors and even the fender which has a curve in it, the paint did not have to match exactly because light hits it differently than the rest of the car around it. As for the clear coat, I did have some clearcoat applied, and then when the painting was done I took it to a detailer and he wet sanded it and now it looks great over a year later - all for under $250.

What exactly is "blending methodology"?

Can they just take Mercedes Navy Blue and just apply it or do they really have to blend it with the rest of the car?

I need to get the hood, and maybe the roof and trunk. Sides are perfect.

Is the Mercedes Paint readily availabe or hard to get?

>Johnny will let you know - thanks

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'89 420 SEL
'90 300 SEL
'84 300 SD (sold it)

As far as I know getting good compatability is a case by case job. I'm going by the set up at the Mercedes dealer in Athens Ga. They've got a guy there with 30 something years experience and he blends his own paint to make it look good with what you have on your car. I'm sure he starts with a color code number.
So he's doing some mixing, then if he's doing a fender for example he sprays over into the adjoining door area and makes a transition if one is needed so you don't have that jump in color value from one section to the next.
The body shop manager explained to me that insurance companies are starting to cover this extra work so I imagine many shops can do it.
My main point was that it's worth taking the time to find somebody that can do this well and talk to them about the process (what kind of paint, how many coats, how the new paint is different from the factory paint) because you want to know how the car is going to look in a year, not just when it comes back from the paint shop.
Harvey

I am assuming you guys are referring to "904" Navy Blue? In my opinion, 904 Navy over Palomino interior is the most beautiful color combination that Mercedes ever had. Just my $0.02 on that.

Anyhow, my 450SL which we've had since new has had two paint jobs (it's red, the HARDEST color to keep up correctly) and it's going in for it's third at the end of the summer. We drove the car year-round for about 10 years (it's a '77) and then began to store it in the winter. I don't know if the cold weather has had anything to do with the paint problems, but the first "non-original" paint job was done long after we began putting it away in the winter, it was PPG paint and cost me about $4,000 to have it all done! I was shocked when I first noticed the oxidation and couldn't rub it out! This time, it's being done in original Glasurit so I hope it'll hold up better! BTW, my garage is heated and kept at around 65 degrees all year round.


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Rgds,
Aaron Greenberg
MB technician
Precision Motorcars, Cincinnati, Ohio
'67 250SE Cabriolet
'77 450SL
'80 300SD
'85 380SE
'86 420SEL
'89 420SEL
'93 300E 2.8
'74 Jensen Interceptor Mk.III
'81 DeLorean DMC12
'84 BMW 745i Turbo

I will have to echo the beauty of the Navy, some people think that I'm the Ambassador to France sometimes, he he.

Anyway, do you recommend getting the "original Glasurit" paint? Is it hard to get? Do most shops have it?

Not to sound ignorant, but most likely, the painters cannot just take the "904 NAvy Blue" off the shelf and spray it on. SOunds like they have to blend it to much. That sounds scary, hate for them to screw it up.

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'89 420 SEL
'90 300 SEL
'84 300 SD (sold it)