Bonnet respray

[Bri]

Toying with getting a full bonnet respray due to half a dozen stone chips and a small scratch, its a 2 and half year old car and the rest of it is spot on but the bonnet is annoying me. Has anyone had a bonnet done in the north west and can recommend anywhere that dose a good job, and what kind of price to expect. The colour is cavansite blue so shows the chips and scratches and every time i look at the car they seem to stand out, wife says I'm being to fussy but not happy with it.

 

[MrGreedy]

The only thing I would says is that because you are obviously highly observant and precious about your car (no disrespect there is any way!) that you should read post#35 and post#41 of Pillow's awesome CL600 thread.
He mentions different shades of Obsidian black.

I would also mention that on 2 panel resprays I've had on 2 different cars, in the full daylight they look spot on, but in different and particularly artificial light conditions, you can see they are not an exact match. A red I have on my Alfa is terrible under any influence of sodium lighting (old street lighting), and it's not a sun/UV fade issue, as the newer paint is the one that looks the most faded under the artificial light. I can't offer any more advice than be aware of this and speak to any potential body shop about this.

If anyone can chip in with their experiences on getting great paint match, especially under different/artificial lighting conditions, it might help the OP.
My thought is would using a Mercedes approve repairer (i.e. who Mercedes use themselves) give much better chances of a paint match.

I'll tag @pillow on the off-chance he can add some more nuggets of useful information, as he's done such a super job on the CL600 and has been paying attention to detail on the paint work.

 

[markjay]

Just to say that getting it done at an MB Approved body shop will preserve both your new car paint warranty and the anti corrosion warranty, though I appreciate that not everyone cares about these.

 

[Deleted member 113659]

As above. You’re wanting to do it because you want it perfect again. If re sprayed and it’s not 100% perfect it’ll annoy you just as much as the existing chips.

I had chrome rear tailgate strip and 4 chrome door handles painted body colour a few months ago. I’m very happy with it but in certain light I’ve convinced myself it looks a different shade to the existing paintwork. Wife and daughter think it’s identical.

The body shop in question assures me they used genuine MB paint. Maybe it’s just because I know these parts have been painted?

 

[markjay]

...I would also mention that on 2 panel resprays I've had on 2 different cars, in the full daylight they look spot on, but in different and particularly artificial light conditions, you can see they are not an exact match....

Indeed.

I had a silver Vauxhall Omega that had a resprayed rear wing (done by the 'Vauxhall dealer', who in fact outsourced the job to a local garage), in daylight it looked fine but and at night under amber streetlights looked like it was prayed with two different colours

Then I had an Obsidian Black W203 that had the bonnet resprayed by Tony Fowkes, and it looked perfect under any lighting conditions

 

[GeeJayW]

I had the rear bumper on mine resprayed at Inchcape Volkswagen in Chester. They are an MB approved spray shop, they did an excellent job. Was also a little cheaper than an independent spray shop that also gave me a quote.

 

[MrGreedy]

I had the rear bumper on mine resprayed at Inchcape Volkswagen in Chester. They are an MB approved spray shop, they did an excellent job. Was also a little cheaper than an independent spray shop that also gave me a quote.

So is the paint match basically identical under a range of artificial lights, as well as daylight?
The point I was making in post#2 was that under normal daylight conditions, the resprays looked amazing. 1st class work. It is only having lived with those cars and been to various artificially lit locations that I have ended up noticing any difference.

I'm not knocking your suggestion, but a bit more info might help 'illuminate' the answer.
Groan. No? Sorry. I'll get my coat.

 

[GeeJayW]

So is the paint match basically identical under a range of artificial lights, as well as daylight?
The point I was making in post#2 was that under normal daylight conditions, the resprays looked amazing. 1st class work. It is only having lived with those cars and been to various artificially lit locations that I have ended up noticing any difference.

I'm not knocking your suggestion, but a bit more info might help 'illuminate' the answer.
Groan. No? Sorry. I'll get my coat.

As far as can tell, it’s identical.

 

[pillow]

My suggestion would be to avoid paint as long as possible.

If you are anal about it then the truth is it will never match perfectly. It can be really good and perfectly fine in 99% of conditions but as @MrGreedy says there are just certain circumstances where you will potentially notice it (again, only if you are totally picky about these things).

I understand the annoyance of having a dark colour because the chips are all the more visible, but the great thing is with a cocktail stick and some touch-up paint you can carefully colour in the chips and it will look flawless again from anything other than observer range.

I have toyed with having my bonnet resprayed but as it is a daily driver chips are inevitable so it doesn't really make sense until it's bad enough that the touch up doesn't really cut it.

I would suggest using the touch-up paint to fill in the chips, get the whole car polished and waxed (including the bonnet) and I guarantee you will be far happier with the results.

I would suggest saving painting the car until you're ready to have a fair bit more than just a single panel painted.

 

[bmb1959]

Have you thought about getting the bonnet wrapped ?

 

[Benz17]

Have you thought about getting the bonnet wrapped ?

This would possibly be have to done after the respray, as any blemishes could possibly show through the wrap, that’s my understanding, could be wrong.

 

[merc estate]

As said above, get your touch up brush and touch a tooth pick onto it and use that to touch in, car paints in street lights will give you a heart attack. If you do go the paint route i would advise merc but even with that ask around like you are doing for the best. Look on youtube there is some videos of people touching in with a tooth pick, make sue you get the polish out of the chip first and little at a time, don't just go at it with the touch up brush. if you touch it up and muck it up i bet a detailer will make it better or if not then you can respray you have lost nothing, good luck. Any photos?

 

[Bri]

No doesn't show very well on pics. I've used poorboys black hole on it and must admit it looks a lot better, i was a bit sceptical about it but it has helped. Thinking of going down the chips away route when things get back to something like normality and if that's no good then a respray. Thanks for your tips and advice appreciated.

 

[SmartAmg]

Spray Smart, St Helens.
Excellent.

 

[Eddy77]

I had my bonnet done two years ago. Had no choice due to stone chips and lacquer peel caused by bird lime being baked on.

my car is chromite black. Like a very dark tanzanite blue. Looks black in dull weather but has a deep blue hint in the sun. Very hard to match.

I took it to a local recommended shop and they matched it perfectly. I’ve really not ever been able to see any difference in any light.

The bill was £514.80. Quite a lot for the bonnet...::but it is as perfect as I could ever expect.

There will be cheaper places for sure, but to some extent you get what you pay for. The place that did mine specialises in exotic car repairs - Ferrari, Lambo etc. Seek out somewhere like that near you and you should be able to expect a pukka job.