I have a white 99 Eldorado ETC and scraped the painted side protection panel on the driver's side on a piller in a tight parking garage. It's not serious but it bugs me and I would like to have that panel repainted.

Can that be done without removing the panel?

Also, how do I find the right color code (there are a lot of differnt kinds of white, what do I tell the painter to use)? I would not be getting this done at the dealer. Does it need to be covered up with something like a clearcoat gloss or similar in order for it to look indistinguishable from the original ?

Somebody said I should check the sticker on the side of the driver's door. I did, but it says nothing about the exterior paint code. It only says something about when the car was manufactured and something about the tires.

any reliable paint shop should be able to check the code for you, and blend the paint for any fade . and match it

There might also be paint info in the glove compartment but that might just be interior color.
Have you tried asking dealer to run your VIN and see what the exact factory paint code is?
Good luck.

I checked the doorframe, the trunk and the glove compartment, but there was no info on the color code anywhere, not even in the owner's manual.

In the end the Cadillac dealer ran the VIN through the computer and found out the color code. Luckily he did that for free, and the independent paint shop did the work. There is a minor difference between the color of the body and this small side panel, but nobody would notice it unless I point it out to them, so I'm satisfied.

I'll try not to park anywhere near a pillar anytime soon...