Mercedes-Benz W201 190E

Starting point

Under the motto “Old love never rusts”, a married couple wanted to give something back to their Mercedes-Benz W201 190E after many years together and commissioned the LZ 730 paint sealant. The car wears a red single-component solid paint without clear coat. On this type of paint, the sun’s UV radiation leaches the colour pigments out over the years; the surface chalks and shows dull, whitish patches. We see such damage mainly on modern classics and classic cars, since today’s vehicles are almost always finished with UV-resistant clear coats. The decisive question was whether this paint could still be saved before a trip to the paint shop.

Work

A 1K solid paint demands treatment that is gentle and abrasive at the same time. The dead, chalking paint layer was removed piece by piece and with a great deal of material; a certain loss of paint was unavoidable. With every pass, the true colour reappeared, a rich red. Since a conventional polish does not last long on this type of paint and the chalking continues, we then applied the LZ 730 brilliance sealant in several coats. It fills the valleys in the paint surface, so that water and dirt particles can no longer take hold and the paint becomes less sensitive to UV radiation.

Result

The 190E shows its rich red again, a result that astonished even us. The multi-layer sealant protects the colour pigments from chalking again. For ongoing care after sealing, we recommend matched care products of the kind we use every day in our own workshop. We have been looking after the detailing of cars like this since 1997.

Workshop archive, original report. Product details reflect the state at the time.