Mercedes Magno paint issue

[jamesbilluk]

Hi all,

I recently purchased an E63, with the Magno Alanite grey paint. Whilst cleaning it today, I noticed it looks like it's had a resprayed rear bumper, not a problem with a 53000 mile car, but whilst looking at it in the sun, I realised it doesn't quite look right, the magno looks almost satin, but this looks too matte. (I'm really annoyed with my self I didn't notice it when I viewed the car, but it was soaking wet) and I was overly excited to see it. so it blended in fine. The colour is OK, but its not the same sheen.

I'm not sure how the magno paint is done, would this need to be completely re painted? Or a different top coat on there. I have read magno paint can be a pain to match.

Thank you.

Here are the photos

Front is fine, how it should look


The different sheen can be seen here






It doesn't look too bad from this angle

Edited by jamesbilluk on Monday 21st June 12:36

Edited by jamesbilluk on Monday 21st June 12:37

[M3Gane-Fan]

Not possible to tell from the pics but if it needs a respray that is going to cost you up to £1K as its a massive area to respray & match correctly. They will probably want to remove the bumper as well to do a decent match.

[Wills2]

I had a frozen paint from BMW Frozen silver on an M3, the paint is standard it's the clear coat or rather opaque coat that gives the matt/satin effect.

I had to have my bumper resprayed and the body shop really struggled to match it after the respray it felt rough to the touch but of course they couldn't flatten it off and the colour was off slightly even in the best conditions.

Some points to note the rear bumper will always look a different shade in some lights and angles no matter as you have shown, it's also a different substrate plastic rather than a metal wing so that can cause the paint to have a slightly different hue. I found that in some lights from certain angles even the factory paint looked different, the satin finish seems to highlight it and be very light sensitive.

[jamesbilluk]

M3Gane-Fan said:

Not possible to tell from the pics but if it needs a respray that is going to cost you up to £1K as its a massive area to respray & match correctly. They will probably want to remove the bumper as well to do a decent match.

Blimey, could be pricy then! Very true, now that I look at it, it is quite a large area to get resprayed.

[jamesbilluk]

Wills2 said:

I had a frozen paint from BMW Frozen silver on an M3, the paint is standard it's the clear coat or rather opaque coat that gives the matt/satin effect.

I had to have my bumper resprayed and the body shop really struggled to match it after the respray it felt rough to the touch but of course they couldn't flatten it off and the colour was off slightly even in the best conditions.

Some points to note the rear bumper will always look a different shade in some lights and angles no matter as you have shown, it's also a different substrate plastic rather than a metal wing so that can cause the paint to have a slightly different hue. I found that in some lights from certain angles even the factory paint looked different, the satin finish seems to highlight it and be very light sensitive.

Thank you. Interesting about the coating that gives it the effect, it must just be the usual Silver underneath.

That exactly like mine, in most light, it looks fine, but just at the wrong angle, it looks off, it's also rough to the touch, the genuine magno paint looks much softer.

Very true that, Ive been looking through various photos of silver E63's in the classifieds, the bumper does seem to look a different shade in some lights. I remember reading a thread somewhere of someone who recently purchased a Magno grey E63, they noticed the rear bumper also looked slightly different. That does sound just like mine, the genuine paint seems more of a satin effect, the respray is more rough/matte.

[M3Gane-Fan]

jamesbilluk said:

Blimey, could be pricy then! Very true, now that I look at it, it is quite a large area to get resprayed.

Sure is! They usually want to do the whole area until it reaches an edge as its easier to blend that way to match. Otherwise try a mobile sprayer but results vary many will take the money & run some might do a good job its very hit or miss.

[jamesbilluk]

M3Gane-Fan said:

Sure is! They usually want to do the whole area until it reaches an edge as its easier to blend that way to match. Otherwise try a mobile sprayer but results vary many will take the money & run some might do a good job its very hit or miss.

Does seem to be a tricky one, I'll have a research, see if there's any well reviewed companies near me. My locsl Mercedes dealership seem to offer a body repair/paint service, I'll bet it would cost though! Price wise, it could be well worth getting done for when I come to sell the car.

[paintman]

Bodyshop only.
Don't even contemplate a mobile man-in-a-van-on-the-drive.
You may even find that some bodyshops won't touch it.

A major problem is that on normal shiny clearcoat any nibs (bits of dust) in the paint can easily be sanded out & the surface machine polished.
If you try that with matte finishes you'll end up with shiny areas.
Same applies to trying to sand out excessive texture.

Quick google, might be of interest. Sherwin-Williams are a paint manufacturer: https://www.bodyshopbusiness.com/technical-mattes-...

[jamesbilluk]

paintman said:

Bodyshop only.
Don't even contemplate a mobile man-in-a-van-on-the-drive.
You may even find that some bodyshops won't touch it.

A major problem is that on normal shiny clearcoat any nibs (bits of dust) in the paint can easily be sanded out & the surface machine polished.
If you try that with matte finishes you'll end up with shiny areas.
Same applies to trying to sand out excessive texture.

Quick google, might be of interest. Sherwin-Williams are a paint manufacturer: https://www.bodyshopbusiness.com/technical-mattes-...

Thank you for the reply, and article link as well, I'll have a read!

Sounds like it may be tricky to match the factory finish
It seems to be too texturised at the moment,

[V8covin]

paintman said:

Bodyshop only.
Don't even contemplate a mobile man-in-a-van-on-the-drive.
You may even find that some bodyshops won't touch it.

A major problem is that on normal shiny clearcoat any nibs (bits of dust) in the paint can easily be sanded out & the surface machine polished.
If you try that with matte finishes you'll end up with shiny areas.
Same applies to trying to sand out excessive texture.

Quick google, might be of interest. Sherwin-Williams are a paint manufacturer: https://www.bodyshopbusiness.com/technical-mattes-...

Thanks for the link, makes interesting reading and puts me off painting matts even more lol

[jamesbilluk]

Really interesting article, I must admit, apart from this issue, that may be tricky to match... the matte paint seems very durable, at 53000 miles, it looks like new, no micro scratches or swirl marks. I am paranoid about where I park it though!

Edited by jamesbilluk on Monday 21st June 22:57

[Wills2]

The reason you can't see the swirls is the top coat is light absorbing,

[jamesbilluk]

First quote, this was just a quote to paint the rear bumper, but there seems quite a lot of the itemised bill.. I'm off to visit another company in Birmingham in person on Friday to see what they say.

[paintman]

Reads to me like they're planning to blend onto both rear wings to try & lose any variation between the bumper & the body.

And that they intend to flat & polish the finished job. On a matte finish.......

Be an idea to ask them to tell you exactly what they're intending to do in simple English without all the 'Stage whatever' stuff

Edited by paintman on Tuesday 22 June 14:14

[V8covin]

paintman said:

Reads to me like they're planning to blend onto both rear wings to try & lose any variation between the bumper & the body.

Edited by paintman on Tuesday 22 June 14:14

In which case it would be advisable to have the bumper fitted before painting,that something I did the other day on a 3 stage pearl,wing and bumper corner repair.
Had to remove the bumper,strip it,refit it loosely to paint,remove it,fit it up and then refit.
Bit of a ballache

[jamesbilluk]

paintman said:

Reads to me like they're planning to blend onto both rear wings to try & lose any variation between the bumper & the body.

And that they intend to flat & polish the finished job. On a matte finish.......

Be an idea to ask them to tell you exactly what they're intending to do in simple English without all the 'Stage whatever' stuff

Edited by paintman on Tuesday 22 June 14:14

Ah, could explain the price then!

I did wonder wonder that, regarding the polishing..

This company are quite far away from me, but look to have a very impressive set up.

There's an authorised, MB paint shop in Birmingham I'm off to visit on Friday, be good to speak to them in person.

[mbwoy84]

I did the same colour a while back on a front bumper. I would be putting a price of £750+VAT on that, and really wouldn't want to be "blending" it due to the paint it is.

It would be a slow process getting the shade right in the first instance with a series of spray out cars for variants, and yes it's a real pain, especially getting a plastic bumper to match a metal quarter panel, but get it right from the outset and it should be ok.