Sensible family daily wagon - Mercedes Benz S211 E500

[bolidemichael]

So just under three months and two repaints later...



I'm pleased to say that they really put an effort in to get the vehicle correct, so paint work wise, it is largely and to all intents and purposes tip top. I'm certain to have uncovered some discrepancies after spending some time close up detailing, but at least we were finally there and the paintwork was glass like.









I discovered a couple of things that weren't quite right with reassembly:

- the n/s wing mirror no longer unfolds easily and the indicator is reluctant to connect

- the read wiper had completely packed up

- some rear quarter window trim hasn't been 100% secured

- a chrome strip sitting slightly proud at one end

- the new front door seals weren't masked when sprayed, so the exposed parts between panels have been painted too

I'll be magnanimous and declare that due to the age of the car, the multiple cycles in the oven probably exacerbated the brittleness of the wiring in the wing mirror and the rear wiper motor was likely kaput (though perhaps I didn't try hard enough eh, 300sl-24... RAY!).

The trim should be easily sorted and the overspray ok the seals is easily removed. It's indicative of a busy bodyshop that cannot be expected to have 100% attention to detail, but by and large, they have produced a good job and now it's up to me to look after!

[alec.e]

The finished result looks fantastic from the photos, pleased you got a satisfactory outcome for the most part.

I honestly can't say I have ever had a positive experience with bodyshops, usually I get the 'problem customer' treatment. I have done amature bodywork in the past and even had the bodyshop owners admit that the finish was on par with thier 'proffesional' work...

[bolidemichael]

After a brief walkaround, I spotted a couple of areas where the lacquer was marred by last minute rotary polishing. I must admit that by this point I wasn't looking with the most critical eye as

1) It looked okay
2) I didn't really have any other option!





The petrol cap was only painted on the outside and not on the inner fold over of the door, which will irritate me forever. Also, the nsr door handle hadn't been secured properly.

Overall, it's fair to say that after around ten weeks (!) they had finally done a good job.

A couple of great things are their excellent dent/dink repair man, that managed to remove a dink in the roof that was really quite tricky,





after



the fix in the osr door from a trolley that was present from purchase





after



and the awkward to fix malformation to the osr inner lip that occurred when a dodgy non-OEM, incorrect size 19" alloy fitted by a previous owner had cracked whilst on the move.

This demonstrates the damage nicely



after



The non-OEM alloy - I traded this against a nice set of 17" Ankaa back in 2017 after I bought the car and they were fitted with Continental ContiSportContact5 MO spec with decent tread.



Along with the more obvious damage from bumping stationary objects with the corners, it's the little things in particular that it was really satisfying to eliminate.

I'd also asked them to replace the bumper chrome all around with new items and also the tailgate chrome for the handle housing had to be replaced as it was damaged. So, plenty of bling to highlight the work undertaken and the overall effect was satisfying.

[Gallons Per Mile]

Looks like a good job now

That slight marring you can see should polish out no problem with a light compound.

[300sl-24]

It's never easy to tell from the photos Michael but the paintwork looks really good from here.

The most important thing is that you are happy with it. I think the amount of time, work and cash that you have put into your car is fantastic and a credit to you.

[bolidemichael]

alec.e said:

The finished result looks fantastic from the photos, pleased you got a satisfactory outcome for the most part.

I honestly can't say I have ever had a positive experience with bodyshops, usually I get the 'problem customer' treatment. I have done amature bodywork in the past and even had the bodyshop owners admit that the finish was on par with thier 'proffesional' work...

Thanks Alec. I think that the manner in which it was handled ultimately side-stepped conflict and it became a matter of personal pride for the owner who was by and large a decent chap. A young man, busy with a young family; his (rather easy on the eye) sister worked with him and he inherited the business from his late father. He attributed the initial errors to handover issues between the teams and was really quite embarrassed when the yellow stickers starting accumulating on the vehicle.















There are still a couple of st bits though

[bolidemichael]

Gallons Per Mile said:

Looks like a good job now

That slight marring you can see should polish out no problem with a light compound.

Thanks GPM. I had originally had it booked in with Ed at Divine Detailing for August, but we had to push that back until must later in the year after I missed my window! I wasn't so stressed about the marring for that reason.

What was really bizarre was that the bodyshop knew next to nothing about detailing and detailing techniques. They didn't even own a dual-action polisher, which I found utterly bizarre.

His initial reaction when I first rejected the job was to tell me that the detailer would sort it out... that was met with short thrift.

Edited by bolidemichael on Monday 15th February 21:26

[bolidemichael]

300sl-24 said:

It's never easy to tell from the photos Michael but the paintwork looks really good from here.

The most important thing is that you are happy with it. I think the amount of time, work and cash that you have put into your car is fantastic and a credit to you.

Ray, this is mostly your fault as I was perfectly happy and living in ignorance until you messaged me about my cloudy headlights after E Class day in Quainton. Look what you done!

If only Joe Lewis had the same attitude to fettling Spurs

[300sl-24]

bolidemichael said:

Ray, this is mostly your fault as I was perfectly happy and living in ignorance until you messaged me about my cloudy headlights after E Class day in Quainton. Look what you done!

If only Joe Lewis had the same attitude to fettling Spurs

Lol, we would win the premiership Michael!

[bolidemichael]

Here's a Golden Hour walk around. By this time, I had yet to wash it.

Of course, I took a few gratuitous shots

[bolidemichael]

300sl-24 said:

bolidemichael said:

Ray, this is mostly your fault as I was perfectly happy and living in ignorance until you messaged me about my cloudy headlights after E Class day in Quainton. Look what you done!

If only Joe Lewis had the same attitude to fettling Spurs

Lol, we would win the premiership Michael!

and then the Charity Shield!

[300sl-24]

Looking good, have you considered changing your sidelight bulbs to bright white so that they match the headlights? Just sayin'

[Gallons Per Mile]

Looking at those pictures it doesn't look like you'd get much better paintwork from anywhere else. That looks spot on! I'm really picky with paint too, so it can't be that bad I've had another look at that marring and I reckon they just missed a bit while polishing after the wet sanding phase. Easily done when you're doing the entire side of a car.

[snoopy25]

wow very nice! Looks like it was definitely worth the money for the work then

[ZX10R NIN]

300sl-24 said:

Looking good, have you considered changing your sidelight bulbs to bright white so that they match the headlights? Just sayin'

+1 to this

[bolidemichael]

ZX10R NIN said:

300sl-24 said:

Looking good, have you considered changing your sidelight bulbs to bright white so that they match the headlights? Just sayin'

+1 to this

I'm sticking with the Sindelfingen vibe

[tog]

Looks great

[bolidemichael]

Gallons Per Mile said:

Looking at those pictures it doesn't look like you'd get much better paintwork from anywhere else. That looks spot on! I'm really picky with paint too, so it can't be that bad I've had another look at that marring and I reckon they just missed a bit while polishing after the wet sanding phase. Easily done when you're doing the entire side of a car.

I (eventually) found myself in a situation where I could count the errors on my fingers, so I'm with you there GPM. Nothing that couldn't be rectified by either the detailer or in the case of the door handle, them or a mechanic.

They did miss out on the roof stone (?) chips and also the bits in the door frame that were chipped, but they were always nice-to-haves.

One thing that I didn't mention is that they replaced for me the avantgarde handle 'latch' for the centre console. The lugs on the driver side were always snapped from purchase and they are really expensive to replace - over £100.

As they were missing after the car had been given an interior valet prior to the first aborted collection, the owner told me he'd sort it and I gave him the part number.





That was another sweet little fix that made the car feel that much more titivated.

[bolidemichael]

snoopy25 said:

wow very nice! Looks like it was definitely worth the money for the work then

Thanks Snoopy - these Golden Hour shots are very nice, I must admit. Soft light etc...

Labour: £1,330+VAT
Paint/Materials: £550+VAT
Dent Removal: £80+VAT

The MB parts cost about £1k!

What do you lot reckon on the price/value?

[B'stard Child]

bolidemichael said:

What do you lot reckon on the price/value?

It doesn't matter what we think IMO - what is more important is that you are happy

Cars are either A to B modes of transport or a hobby in my book - as such as longs as you can afford the "hobby" element and it gives you pleasure to both look at or drive - hopefully both

I keep looking at the BGT and thinking it really needs the paintwork sorting (30 years of use shows) but I know if I get it done I'll be precious about it then it won't be so much fun for me...........