I own a 89 190 which is a charcoal color (MB has a fancy name for it I'm sure). The clear coat is starting to burn off on the hood, top, and trunk. Looks kind of "hazy". I've been told by my dealer here in Tucson that in the late 80's MB was experimenting with three different clear coat formulas for their cars in the sunbelt states (max UV out here guys..window tinting and a dashmat immediately). Looks like my car got one of the formulas that didn't last too long. Anybody else have this problem...and if so, what did you do? Short of a new paint job is there anything that can be done? I've got enough Meguiar's on it (number 26 and glaze) to choke a horse. Any thought would be appreciated.

Dave Browning
89 190e 2.6
"U-571"

Dave:

I believe it's probably color #199; Pearl Black. My 1986 2.3-16V is the same color. Out in the sun, the original finish (sans minor scratches and chips) looks quite nice. But, in my garage under fluorescent lighting the clearcoat does look quite dull. I haven't gone to a professional detailer (yet), as I'm waiting for my car cover to arrive first. Any insights from other readers would be appreciated.

Brian

Once a finish gets to that point there isn't much that can be done that I know of. You can try a couple apply/remove cycles of something that removes a bit of paint (#9 for instance). If your dealer claims it a known problem see if he can get any goodwill from MB on the problem.

Hope this helps...Lee