Cheers chap!
UK Mars Red /Fire Opal Red [code 590] Micro Blistering Paint Manufacturing Fault
- Thread starter philld
- Start date
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Cheers chap!
Sonic1952
New Member
I’m a newbie to the group and searched paint code 590 to find many members with the known Fire Opal Red paint fault.
I had this issue a few years ago and discovered it after a car wash where they used jet lances which left one large bubble of water under the lacquer so I visited Chipsaway for a resolution and it was they who informed me of the known MB issue with the red paint and suggested I go back to the MB dealers who sold it to me as new.
They in turn directed me to their bodyshop sister company at Witham, Essex who initially tried to dodge the issue but I did my research online and as I’d had the car from new, had a MB FSH and no paint repairs by others and after many paint gauge tests all over the car they relented and I had a body respray FOC as a goodwill gesture. They even filed two very minor dents when down to the bare metal. They did an excellent job BUT they don’t do the plastic parts but they really should as I’ve got very minor bubbling/peeling on the front bumper’s lacquer!
I’m offering this information to encourage MB Fire Opal Red members in the UK to persevere and stand your ground and argue your case at the MB Bodyshop as they know full well they are respraying hundreds of red cars with this very same fault but will do their level best to fob you off!
Lance water jets don’t go nowhere near my car now and the issue hasn’t returned but I did read online at the time that some people had to have a second respray as the issue returned! What bad luck! I also heard at the time that MB don’t sell red cars anymore!
Good luck to all!
I had this issue a few years ago and discovered it after a car wash where they used jet lances which left one large bubble of water under the lacquer so I visited Chipsaway for a resolution and it was they who informed me of the known MB issue with the red paint and suggested I go back to the MB dealers who sold it to me as new.
They in turn directed me to their bodyshop sister company at Witham, Essex who initially tried to dodge the issue but I did my research online and as I’d had the car from new, had a MB FSH and no paint repairs by others and after many paint gauge tests all over the car they relented and I had a body respray FOC as a goodwill gesture. They even filed two very minor dents when down to the bare metal. They did an excellent job BUT they don’t do the plastic parts but they really should as I’ve got very minor bubbling/peeling on the front bumper’s lacquer!
I’m offering this information to encourage MB Fire Opal Red members in the UK to persevere and stand your ground and argue your case at the MB Bodyshop as they know full well they are respraying hundreds of red cars with this very same fault but will do their level best to fob you off!
Lance water jets don’t go nowhere near my car now and the issue hasn’t returned but I did read online at the time that some people had to have a second respray as the issue returned! What bad luck! I also heard at the time that MB don’t sell red cars anymore!
Good luck to all!
ALFAitalia
MB Enthusiast
- Joined
- Feb 19, 2022
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- 2009 ALFA 159 2.0 JTDM, Merc A170 (W169), Merc CLK 200K (C209) gone, 1999 Merc SLK 230K (R170) gone.
They do sell red cars....but just metallic I think......no solid red.
Sonic1952
New Member
That’s what I meant!
Our current car (2016 C-Class Estate S205) is Designo Hyacinth Red Metallic, we’ve had it 7-years and the paint is pretty much as we received it. I have not seen any reports of micro blistering.
Our previous car (2015 C-Class Coupe C204) was Fire Opal Red and at about 15-months old I noticed micro blistering on the boot panel. Over the next couple of months, it developed on the roof, both rear 3/4 panels and the bonnet. It wasn’t at ‘poke you in the eye’ obvious, but if you knew the problem it was visible. It had never (it had 200 miles on the clock when we got it) been subject to a high pressure lance.
When I went to our Mercedes dealer, they sent me to their local paint shop (which is a department at a VW main dealer). I said to one of their technicians that I had a Mercedes outside with micro blistering. He said ‘Oh, is it Fire Opal Red?’ When I said yes, he told me that they’d already resprayed a number of cars in this colour and they had a number in the pipeline. As he approached the car, he could see the problem from 10ft away had a quick look and went to get the manager. The manager checked the paint thickness to see if it was original paint. He agreed that it was an example of the ‘classic’ problem and booked it into the system for a respray under warranty, but told us it would be months before they would be able to do it. He said some paint shops were booked out for a year dealing with this issue.
We traded it in and got the estate instead of waiting around for a resolution.
There are numerous accounts of Fire Opal Red paint suffering from micro-blistering. I’ve not seen a report that says why it happened or why this particular colour. Since changing cars, I’ve not really had the interest to dig into it more.
Sonic1952
New Member
Wish I had gone for the Hyacinth Metallic Red but had already put £10K of extras on it and the metallic was another £1K - life kicks up regrets! I’d spent £2.5K on Comard and never used it in the nine years I’ve had the car, I only ordered it as a friend recommended it! 
