I have an '88 300 SEL that has accumulated a few scrapes on the bumpers over the years. I wanted to match the paint perfectly so I wrote MBUSA and asked for a copy of the data card. I just got it a few days ago, but unfortunately it doesn't say the color of the bumpers. The code is 473U and it says "champagne metallic". The paint color looks gold to me, but I guess I'll trust that it is champagne. The car has never been repainted before. Anyway, if any of you blokes happen to know the bumper color or code so that I can order a few cans of spray paint I would really appreciate it. I'm attaching a picture.

The body shop supply companies should have that info in their paint books, should list codes for the accent colors.
Gilly

Do you mean local body shops or national companies that supply the body shops? Any examples off the top of your head?

Vacuum ???????????

The places that the body shops buy their paint from. One example around here is "Body Shop Supply Co", I think they may be nationwide.
Vacuum what??
Gilly

Why...... Vacuum Moderator, of course :)
I just noticed that.................hahahahaha

............................................. if any of you blokes happen to know the bumper color or code so that I can order a few cans of spray paint I would really appreciate it. I'm attaching a picture.

I do believe it was Tobacco.(?)

Look in the trunk...there's sometimes a paper paint colour check list...found them under the back seat too.



.

That's strange - www.paintscratch.com - would normally have it but they are not showing 473 as being a two tone. I wonder if the lower is the same color, just not cleared. Any good auto paint store will be able to help you.

Well, I looked in the trunk and under the seat. No luck so far. I called my local Mercedes dealer and they told me that under paint there were two codes. One was 473 for the body and the other code was 74. Unfortunately they weren't sure what color that was. I went to the Paintscratch website and didn't find any codes that matched. (or were 2-digit codes for that matter)

Found it for ya, sheeesh do I have to do "everything"??;)

It's at autocolorlibrary.com, one great site, I've used it before, they have pages and pages from old color chart books.
I think what it is is called "chinchilla", it's paint code 847. PPG number is 34293, a paint shop should be able to make up a touch up stick or spray with that PPG number. Here is the page for 1988 Mercedes i used in case you want to double check my work:
http://autocolorlibrary.com/cgi-bin/search/searchpic.pl?1988-mercedesbenz-pg01.jpg
Check bottom part of that page for "bumper and accent trim colors", those are the tough ones to come up with, not really common knowledge.
Gilly

Gilly, you are the best. What a great website. That is indeed the color that I am looking for. You win the gold star for the day. After such a difficult time finding the paint color, doing the actual work should be a piece of cake.

N/P, what for YOU? Fuggedaboudit. I think the PPG# will help more than the MB color code. Wondering, is that accent color code on that metal tag anywhere?? I think they kept the accent colors a secret.....
Gilly

IIRC its DB-847, Chinchilla Clearcoat

Keep up the great work:thumbsup2:
Any predictions on yesterdays elections?

Gilly

New problem. I went down to the local PPG paint guy today. Showed him my code, compared it to his book; perfect match. So far so good. Then he tells me that this paint can't be put it in a spray can. He can put it in without the catalyst, but it would then need a clear coat, and he says that the uncatalyzed enamel would wrinkle if you tried to put a clear coat over the top. Without the clearcoat, the paint wouldn't last very long. Has anyone ever heard of this problem before? Now I'm not sure what to do. The scrapes I do have probably aren't worth taking to a body shop to have the whole bumper done, but they bug me enough I was willing to DIY. Any thoughts, suggestions. Has anyone succesfully used this paint from a spray can and clear coated it?

Using the same PPG color chart, I had some some accent color paint (DB 7177) made up in a spray can by a local shop. I prepped the area I wanted to touch up, spray painted and then sprayed the clear coat. That was about 4 mos ago, so far no issues.

Brgds,

BENZSTER

It's always kind of struck me that the accent color wasn't clearcoated, always seemed to be a matte finish, not glossy like the sheetmetal.
Gilly