The rust to worry about is that which you don't see until it eats its way out from an inside cavity.
Fortunately in the UK, Mercedes give us a thirty year rust guarantee. Something no other maker will do. I don't know the position in the US. Someone care to fill us in??
The orange peel isn't really a result of the paint used. Even with waterborne paints, you still use an acrylic urethane clearcoat over it (which has been used for quite a bit). I've mainly dealt with PPG and Glasurit 90 line waterborne paints, which I believe is what MB uses as OEM. Biggest explanation I could see with the clearcoat is nobody felt like color sanding it proper, or the machines that spray the cars is off.
Still, orange peel is nothing new, I've seen it on 126's that still have the original paintjob.
I believe the W140 S classes were the first to be painted with water based paints - according to my original brochure. And my '92 600sel has no rust or orange-peel effect paint on it
As has already been stated @those were the days'
I had an '86 Volvo 740T and the lower body panels were galvenized.
volvo started to galvanize all their cars in 86 in the floors
and other salt exposed parts
really makes a HUGE difference 20 years later
no floor or lower fender rot on the galvanized parts
shocked to to see MB was so very very late to catch on to galvanizing
my 300sd has some minor rust in a few spots
the heavy under coat can trap and hide rust on a MB like my car
even in the south without road salt to deal with
Hi all, I was just wondering, but according to the MB dealership my 1995 W202 C Class is 60% galvanized but I'm beginning to suspect that this may not be the case, can anyone elaborate please.??
i just bought an 88 300E with just about all the paint gone from the harsh new mexico sun, so I know for sure that the body is galvanized uner the paint. Actually debating on weather to repaint it or to just chip off the remaining paint and have a flat, silver benz, lol
__________________ Steelies with caps and sealed beams RULE!!
I just bought my first Mercedes, a 1990 300E, burgundy with tan interior. Love the colors. Overall condition of the body is good with the normal chips and parking lot dings you'd expect on a 17 year old car.
I buffed it out with a electric buffer and compound (the red stuff). I was amazed at how hard the clear coat is, very hard to buff out the scratches.
On another note. Porsche started fully galvanizing the 911 in 1978.
Fortunately in the UK, Mercedes give us a thirty year rust guarantee. Something no other maker will do. I don't know the position in the US. Someone care to fill us in??
While MB offers a 30 year rustout warranty in the UK, we in Canada have a 5 year rustout warranty for the exact same car. But back to the galvanising of body panels, does anyone know if there is any galvanising on the B class which is selling well in Canada? Derek
Last edited by Derek Lecours : 08-28-2007 at 06:26 AM.
shocked to to see MB was so very very late to catch on to galvanizing
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