i also had time since the customer was gone for a week vacation. having read your tutorial weeks prior, i decided to closely follow you. I worked on one just like this about a month ago, our shop has had done a couple of these in the past but this was my first.
#USED 2002 MERCEDES SLK KOMPRESSOR CONVERTIBLE HEADLINER FULL#
Need to buy SEM Products? Visit DLT Upholstery Supply- which carries a full line of preparatory supplies and paint!įiled Under: Archive, Before & After, Products & Reviews, THR Favorites Tagged With: 1999 Mercedes-Benz SLK, Auto Trim, Auto Upholstery, Car Interior, Mercedes-Benz, SEM Color Coat Reader Interactions Though removing, stripping and repainting all the plastic pieces took time, it was definitely the right way to do the job. Next up, I’ll need to reupholster the seats. The added protection from scratches that the clear coat provides is crucial, as I’d hate to have to do the job again.Īfter everything was allowed to cure overnight, I came in the next morning and reassembled the dashboard and console. The clear coat really set off the pieces with just a subtle amount of gloss that looked completely OEM. I choose to use SEM’s Low Luster Clear Coat because I didn’t want the panels to be too glossy. In the end, the job took one can of promoter and three cans of gray paint before I laid down the clear coat. It took numerous coats to cover the black plastic in such a light shade of gray.
I first sprayed all the pieces with SEM adhesion promoter and then applied the silver gray paint. Unfortunately, they didn’t have the exact shade of gray I needed for my SLK, but I found a near-perfect match in their BMW Silver Gray color. I covered parts in tape that weren’t to be painted.įor paint, I turned to SEM - which has a large selection of OEM colors, including some for Mercedes-Benz models. All parts were sanded with a 3M scuff pad, cleaned and degreased. Any paint left on the plastic was scrubbed off with a rag or blown off with an air gun.Īfter the pieces were completely stripped of their original paint and allowed to dry, I began to prep them for paint. After 24 hours of soaking, the paint practically peeled off on its own.
Knowing that harsh chemicals in paint-strippers could damage the plastics, I decided to soak them in water to remove the old paint. To avoid further problems down the line, I decided that the best course of action was to completely strip the plastics of the factory paint. It was sticky, hard to clean and scratched at the slightest touch. However, the paint Mercedes-Benz used wasn’t like anything I’ve seen before. In most cases, you really don’t need to do much more than sand and clean a plastic panel to prepare it for paint. The door panels, glove box, center console, instrument cluster bezel, and all remaining dash pieces had to be separated from all electrical and other accessories mounted to them and pulled from the car. To solve the problem correctly and permanently, I needed to disassemble the interior and repaint all the affected panels. Without a doubt, it wasn’t something that I was going to tolerate in my car.Īlthough touch-up paints are available for a quick fix, they only mask the blemishes without preventing new ones from occurring. Evidently, Mercedes-Benz used a low-quality paint on the cabin’s interior plastics that scratches easily, leaving SLK owners with an ugly interior unbefitting of a luxury car. I recently purchased a 1999 Mercedes-Benz SLK 230 and discovered a major interior defect that owners have been struggling with since the vehicle debuted in 1996.
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