18 year old tired paint

[VA5-0]

I just purchased an 18yo Mercedes Benz that was very well cared for below the hood, but they let the finish go a long time ago. It has been re-painted on one side from being keyed, has a few bird dropping "slashes" that seem to be darker than the rest of the finish, and parts of the interior have become extremely sun-bleached. Help!! What do you reccommend, short of repainting and reupholstering...or are those my only options??

 

[Accumulator]

VA5-0- Welcome to Autopia!



It's hard to say what you can fix and what will need redone, at least without seeing it. IMO most paint-related issues can be markedly improved, often to the point of "good enough". Try a throrough polishing and see how it turns out. I'd probably use 3M PI-III RC and MG (05933 and 05937) or their new PI-3000 equivalents. Note that, *IIRC* certain Benzes of that vintage still had single stage paint. Not the metallics, but it was right around that time that the solid colors switched from ss to basecoat/clear.



The sunbleached interior pieces *might* come back a little with the appropriate treatment (leather conditioner, vinyl dressing) but often the color loss is permanent. You can either refinish or replace, depending on how involved you want to get.