2011 Mercedes-Benz Touch Up Paint (62 OEM Colors)

The 2011 Mercedes-Benz Vibe

Welcome to 2011, a year when Mercedes-Benz was busy proving that a "German Rainbow" consists of exactly fifty shades of gray, six blacks, and a very brave splash of red. This was the era of the SLS-Class gullwing-the spiritual successor to the 300SL-parked in showrooms next to the blocky GLK and the workhorse Sprinter. With 62 colors in our database for this year, you'd think there was a lot of variety, but let's be honest: if you weren't driving something in Iridium Silver Metallic or Obsidian Black, you were probably making a statement in Cuprit Brown or Capri Blue. It was a sophisticated, high-gloss time to be alive, provided you didn't mind your car looking like a very expensive piece of corporate stationery.

Paint Health Check

We are firmly in the Thin Paint Era. By 2011, Mercedes was obsessed with "Robot Efficiency." While their factory robots were masterpieces of German engineering, they were also stingy with the product. You're looking at a factory finish that is incredibly hard-thanks to the "CeramiClear" nano-technology they were touting-but also dangerously thin. This makes the paint brittle. Instead of a chip being a minor dent, it tends to shatter the clear coat like a microscopic glass pane. And if you're one of the "lucky" ones with a Mars Red (Code 590) C-Class or SLK, you already know the heartbreak of the "red plague"-where the clear coat decides to part ways with the basecoat in big, ugly bubbles.

Restoration Tip

When you're fixing a chip on a 2011, remember: the factory didn't use a ladle, so you shouldn't either. Because this era of paint is so thin, a giant "blob" of touch-up paint will stick out like a sore thumb against the flat, robotic precision of the surrounding panels. Build your layers slowly. Use a fine-tipped brush or even a toothpick to apply thin, successive coats. This is especially vital for the high-flake metallics like Palladium Silver; if you dump too much paint in the hole at once, the metallic flakes will sink to the bottom and the color won't match. Dab, dry, repeat. Patience is the only way to beat the robots.