SL55 - rusty arches

[anonymous-user]

Cleaned my SL55 today and noticed the very tiny beginnings of rust on the rear arches.

The car is in beautiful condition overall so want to get the arches done properly before the tin worm takes hold.

So anyone know any very good bodyshops in South London - I don't want cheap, I want quality.

New to London hence the question.

[anonymous-user]

ZX10R NIN said:

What part of London are you in as I may be able to help.

Thanks for the reply.

Dulwich, but don't mind travelling for the right job. I know a great body shop in Altrincham, but that is a bit far so was hoping to find somewhere in south London-ish.

[anonymous-user]

ZX10R NIN said:

Give the guys below a call:

Auto Image
Dartford
DA1 5BS
01322 291944

Ask to speak to Shaun & he'll sort you out.

It's about 30-40 mins from you.

Cheers, that's great and I know Dartford as used to live in Gravesend as a kid.

[anonymous-user]

swisstoni said:

Out of interest, where is the rust starting? On the inside lip edge out of sight?
I've got one too, so want to check.

Yep on the lip out of sight at the top of the arch, and I am being really picky but it's there. Also tiny spot on lip edge down by front of rear wheel arch on drivers side. It's really only just starting, but I want to get it sorted before it takes hold. The rest of the car seems pretty rust free. Had bumpers off last year, wheel arch liners out and good nose around underneath on a ramp. You can never be sure but overall it looks very good so going to get the arches done properly.

[anonymous-user]

CaptainRAVE said:

I would worry more about the bits that you can't see. My old SLK230 had the common rust issues on the rear arches. When you looked closely you could see that most edges were starting to show similar signs of bubbling and rust. Shame Mercedes cheaped out on these cars as they were otherwise brilliant, but the bodywork really lets them down.

But these are SLs not SLKs and definitely suffer less rust issues than most Mercs SLKs included. They make up for it in other ways though.... ABC, SBC, boot seals, fuel tank baffles etc. etc.

[anonymous-user]

ZX10R NIN said:

Give the guys below a call:

Auto Image
Dartford
DA1 5BS
01322 291944

Ask to speak to Shaun & he'll sort you out.

It's about 30-40 mins from you.

Just got my SL55 back from Shaun at Auto Image and they have done a fantastic job, thanks so much for the recommendation. The X5 is there now having a bit of tarting up done.