I would like to paint my 86 460SEL black, instead of the stock champange color, which is in excellent shape by the way. That's look I'm going for.

How much should I pay for a good paint job? I'm here in the Boca Raton, Ft. Lauderdale area. Any suggestions where to go?

can't give you an dollar amounts, but it will be costly. Keep in mind, to do it right, not only do you have to paint the outside of the car, but inside all the door jambs, engine compartment, trunk lining etc. Basically, everywhere you can see the factory color. That woudl involve taking the engine out of the car, removing door pannels, seals, ALL trim peices etc. Simply not worth it, IMO you'd be better off selling and looking for a black one
R

Sell your car and buy a black one......cost = little to none

Paint your car (change color..etc) correctly....cost = more than buying a black one. Hummmm......you could have two cars for the cost of painting yours.

Or paint your car black , incorrecrly (the cheap way), you will end up with one worthless car and no money.

If you think it gets hot where you live, try it in a black car, hope your AC is ICE COLD, and you have a good stock of R12.

There are 2 kinds of paint jobs - bad and good.

Bad paint jobs cost anywhere from not much to quite a bit.

Good paint jobs cost LOTS of money - TONS of money. It's 99% labor and the more labor or preparation that goes into it, the better the job will likely be.

I hear what the previous poster said about just finding a black model. Then again, your car may be in excellent condition mechanically. Assuming it is, how much would you have to spend to get a new-to-you black one up to snuff?

If your car is in primo shape, you might go ahead and spring for the paint job. I could envision this costing $3k-$5k, depending on what has to be down, but again, how quickly can you cook this much money on 560 mechanical repairs in a used MB you really do not know anything about?

My 2 cents.

3-5k??? i thought it would cost more than that. Especially considering the engine/tranny, door pannels etc would have to be removed..... NOt to mention resale would take a hit as it wasn't original.
R

What about a hood roof and trunk repaint? Any idea on cost for that anybody??

for a really good, QUALITY job, i would guess about 1k tank. I got quoted 1,200 for the side of my 300SD, but that would also involve alot more prepwork, and it also envolved fixing a screwed up repair. This was from a reputable body shop. On the other hand, i got the roof, trunk, hood, and partial sides repainted on a 90 buick once for 500, but it was a sh*tty paint job and it started to flake in a year
R

hey remember kids, we are changing the color!

Sounds fair Ryan. LuckF8, you could paint the inside of the doors and trim yourself. After all half the time those areas get dirty and look dull anyway. Just an Idea. Truthfully for the value of these cars, unless you have basically restored it like mine (almost), you may just be better off selling yours and buying a black one. However, like mine unless it's been repainted, it will most likely have dull spots or imperfections. I can shine mine up pretty good and it lasts for about a month before the dull spots come out again like underneath the emblems and door handles for some reason. My hood has a very noticeable mark in it if you are up close. This is the kind of thing you may have to deal with on a n older car...

Never considered that it would involve taking out the engine. I mean, it's pretty obvious, but the though never crossed my mind.

Considering that it only cost me $5K, it certainly wouldn't be worth the money.

just though it would look cool...

A/C works great, by the way, and I have a black leather interrior.