Correct paint/lacquer 124 bumpers

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MD5

MB Enthusiast
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wme451 a124 r129 s211 r230
Hello Peeps, it's been a while!

I read with interest the recent 124 cladding thread, and I have a 94 beryl blue cab, with contrasting, 'satin-finished' cladding. The previous owner had the bumpers painted prior to selling, but the match was imperfect to the other panels, so this was my remit to an MB approved paintshop, to match the bumpers.

Looking at the finished work yesterday, I just have another variation on a theme. It would appear that some of the other cladding has had paintwork over the years, and the o/s may be darker than the n/s, though this is difficult to see, as ambient lighting can play a part in this. A panel from the n/s was used for the match. Either way, the colour difference is still apparent, and on the bumpers the lacquer finish is different, feeling coarse and non deflective to the touch. The paint also lacks the depth and sheen of the other panels. Three coats of paint, and two coats of twopack satin lacquer have been used in accordance with MB approved paint manufacturer's specs.

I am now told that the rest of the panels must be wrong, and the only way to get a match is to paint the rest of the cladding, although they will confer with the paint manufacturer. They are convinced the cladding is not meant to have a glossy sheen, and that the other panels only do so because of years of polishing. I disagree.

Someone has suggested that they may have used paint for metal instead of plastic. Are there specific types? It seems to me that a final gloss lacquer coat should seal the coarse lacquer coats, but I'd value any comments and technical expertise, as I need to discuss the way forward with the paintshop this morning, and the car is due elsewhere soon.

Pics taken with my phone in dull and variable lighting yesterday:


124osf1.jpg


124rear.jpg


124osr.jpg


124nsr.jpg
 
i have just recently got my 124 back from Forum Member CKLclive. Amongst other bits and bobs he carried out on my motor, i got my claddings and sills sprayed at the same time.

i'll post some pics up when i get a chance it looks great. Drop a pm to Clive, he will be able to advise.

thought id add, i got the claddings sprayed in the non mat finish.
 
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As far as I can tell from the photos, in pictures #1 and 3 the kit is correct and the bumpers have been repainted and are off-colour and too shiny. This normally happens when bumpers are repainted to remove parking scuffs

It is difficult to get a good colour & finish match on the kit. In my experience the colour mix used by a lot of paint shops is incorrect. Painters also frequently paint them gloss, not matt. The final lacquer coat should have a matting agent to give the semi-matt effect the kit had from the factory

The paint is the usual metallic base & lacquer top coat. Whether some shops use a different paint for plastic parts I do not know

Nick Froome
the independent Mercedes Estate specialists
 
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I think they should be semi gloss, but I like a bumper with enough gloss so the bugs come off easily.

Here is the best new MB publicity shot I have, doesn't show much, but I think it is safe to say they were not quite as glossy as the steel. To me your front bumper is not quite glossy enough, although it can be very hard to see this from photos alone.

I agree I'd be nice to know the correct paint spec for these........

VERY nice looking car by the way!!
 
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Looking at your photo's again, your bodyshop has painted the bumpers the same colour as the car, and they should have been painted using the other paintcode. The lower panels are a different paintcode on w124's.
 
Looking at the pics provided, the front bumper is the only one that looks remotely like what it should...

From memory (as mine have been colour coded now) mine were definently not course to the feel, which must indicate that they have not been wet and polished properly, but they were definently not as smooth/shiny/glossy to touch and feel as the rest of the car....
 
Thanks everyone for youir replies so far. I spoke to them this morning, and they worked until midnight last night, having repainted each piece of plastic, bumpers as well, in a different MB approved paint, which appears smoother than the other, I am told, and will be ready this afternoon.

I also spoke to Milton Keynes this morning, and 888 is the code for beryl blue, whilst the trim/cladding code is 6250 (as per grober's link), and this is the code they have used. My only concern now is regarding the sheen of the finish, as they were adamant that the coarse finish was as specced, and we were going to discuss what to do to rectify matters today, so the decision has now been taken out of my hands.

Anymore pics for reference would be appreciated, and I'll keep you posted. Thanks again.
 
The bumper finish is usually described as a matt metallic clearcoat but in the case of 6250 lago blue its described as metallic clearcoat which implies it may not be a matt finish? However because its painting a surface which is fundamentally different from the body it will always probably be a coarser to the touch than the main body work. :dk: If they used the proper 6250 then that's probably the best they can do.
 
I remember speaking to someone at an MB body shop a few years ago who said they spray the cladding and bumpers using a clear mixed with 10% matting agent. This was the same for the w140, W210 and R129 as well I believe.

I would have thought any MB body shop would have dealt with this issue many times and know exactly how to mix the paint and clear properly?
 
I'm relieved and pleased to say all is now well, and they have done a good job, having painted all of the plastic, as I mentioned before. The colour appears correct, as does the finish and sheen, and it is, of course, all matching. I was getting angry at the two against one scenario yesterday, when I started to doubt my own judgement and nearly lost my cool, but customer satisfaction was the order of the day today.

Poor lighting again today, but this picture gives an idea. Thanks again for all your help and comments.

os-1.jpg
 
Me too. A few different stories from different people there today. I think they made a few phone calls yesterday, and realised they weren't using the trim colour code, but the body code, hence working til midnight last night. Anyway, I'm pleased with it now, and any imperfections from previous paint have been sorted.

I'm taking the car to Berlin for the MB 125th anniversary clebrations at Templehoff Airport in a few weeks, and I was worried I'd run out of time for other jobs with the potential delay this might have caused. Another query I had this week was which emissions group this car falls into, as I need a German environmental badge to enter certain cities. Not an easy task, but I've managed to get a green group 4, the friendliest rating!
 
Just to let anybody know for the future there is a specific matt/satin clear coat avaliable for the Mercedes claddings. When I was a refinisher many moons ago there was a special Glasurit paint system that was avaliable for this job which I think has now been discontinued as I had a problem to find a retailer that kept it or could get it recently. When my AMG front bumper was painted a while back I managed to get hold of a similar clear coat from another cheaper paint manufacture and this worked nearly as well as the old Glasurit system. The finish should still feel smooth to the touch regardless of the paint system, just sounds like the sprayer applied the paint dry to try and cut back on the shine if they used a matting agent in a gloss clearcoat. If you apply the paint in that manner it will feel rough and slightly gritty to the touch.
Hope that helps anybody else out there.
 
I filed the invoice with the car's history yesterday, and in the column marked 'code', it shows 888, which is the bodywork colour, and not the trim/cladding colour. The invoice was prepared before the work had started!
 
It is a personal preference whether you go for matt or gloss. They were matt (satin) from factory, if you run a buffer over them they will gloss up. It is the matting agent added that decides the sheen.

Kevin.

Colours for future reference:
COLOR NUMBERS I USED WITH OUTSIDE PAINTWORK I​
980​
------------------------------I------------------------------------------------------------------I

980​
NO.0011 SAPHIRSCHWARZ I 009 * I

980​
NO.7700 ALTO GREY I 040 ,122 ,199 * I

980​
NO.7738 SATO GREY I 147 * I

980​
NO.7176 MUSSEL GREY I 172 ,651 ,702 * I

980​
NO.6211 KIWI GREEN I 249 C,254 ,261 ,815 * I

980​
NO.6856 KIWI GREEN I 249 D - E,256 * I

980​
NO.6304 MALACHITE (GREEN) I 249 G * I

980​
NO.6864 GREEN I 269 * I

980​
NO.5301 ANDOR BLUE I 348 ,355 ,900 ,929 * I

980​
NO.5218 AZURITE BLUE I 366 * I

980​
NO.8477 CHINCHILLA I 432 ,441 * I

980​
NO.8482 CHIMNEY BROWN I 485 ,475 * I

980​
NO.7166 VIOLETT GREY I 481 * I

980​
NO.3521 NAVARRA RED I 512 E,540 ,587 * I

980​
NO.3522 ALMANDINE-RED I 512 G * I

980​
NO.3515 TARTAN RED I 568 * I

980​
NO.3533 IMPERIAL-RED I 582 * I

980​
NO.1631 SAFARI BEIGE I 623 A * I

980​
NO.1658 LIGHT IVORY I 623 B * I

980​
NO.7209 ONYX GREY I 721 * I

980​
NO.7177 STRATUS GREY I 735 ,751 * I

980​
NO.7181 ATLAS GREY I 744 ,752 * I

980​
NO.6250 LAGO I 888 * I

980​
NO.5309 RIO BLUE I 904 E * I

980​
NO.5214 MIDNIGHT BLUE I 904 G * I

980​
A = UP TO IDENT NO.: B 365987 I

980​
B = FROM IDENT NO.: B 365988 I

980​
C = UP TO IDENT NO.: B 431235 I

980​
D = FROM IDENT NO.: B 431236 I

980​
E = UP TO IDENT NO.: C 153403 I

980​
G = FROM IDENT NO.: C 153404 I

980 =================================================================================================
 

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