Jason:

My 300CE has the plastic cladding. The 300TE does not.

I am not too crazy about the cladding.

If you park your car "too" close to the curb and you have a passenger on the right side, or the curb is "too" high (older neighborhoods in L.A. have really high curbs, reflecting the the fact that cars used to sit real high off the ground on the old days) the cladding can scrape the curb. If you try to close the door, it will snag on the curb and possibly break the attachment points inside the cladding. Then the cladding will be loose and look like hell. The only repair is to get a new cladding.

Bruno Sacco got a lot of ribbing for the cladding.

I prefer the cleaner look of the cladless W124.

Just my 0.02 centavos worth.

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Current Benzes

1989 300TE "Alice"
1990 300CE "Sam Spade"
1991 300CE "Beowulf" RIP (06.1991 - 10.10.2007)
1998 E320 "Orson"
2002 C320 Wagon "Molly Fox"

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