my bumper fell off!!!

[g.brew]

well as "benzy" gets older and older i've come to rely on the mercedes shop forum more and more.

this time its my bumper; it fell off, the front one. It's an 84 300D. it seems to have broken away from the braketts, which are still bolted to the car. Were these bumpers glued to the braketts some how? Its seems to be the only way they could have sepparated. No signs of a bolt-on or clip. Damn, if i wanted a glued together car i would have bought amerikan -

Thanks alot!!!

Greg

[nhdoc]

It was welded on originally and probably rusted off, if it was glued on that was not done at the factory.

[g.brew]

no signs of a broken weld. the bumper attatches to the brackett via a square piece of rubber on both sides, so this couldn't have been welded. there are signs of some white crusty stuff on the mateing surfaces. Im going to take a closer look this weekend. maybe a drill and bolt job. Potomac German Auto wants $200 for a used one, HAHA!

Greg

[guage]

Originally Posted by g.brew

no signs of a broken weld. the bumper attatches to the brackett via a square piece of rubber on both sides, so this couldn't have been welded. there are signs of some white crusty stuff on the mateing surfaces. Im going to take a closer look this weekend. maybe a drill and bolt job. Potomac German Auto wants $200 for a used one, HAHA!

Greg

There were at one time 2 L shaped brackets, 1 top & 1 bottom that fit on to the rubber part of the shock,( rubber part of bumper shock slid in between brackets) the part thats still attached to the car, then glued.

I drilled and bolted my bumper back on.

[Dave Horvath]

The bumper is made of aluminum. The white crusty stuf is the old welds. Look for a shop that can weld it back up. I fixed both my 84s this way.

[t walgamuth]

could you post pics? i am trying to imagine where and what you would weld. of course we all who have 123 s have the same problem.

there were two styles of attachment, one as described above with aluminmum ears or cleats which was better than the earlier but still break off. the first style had four bolts bonded somehow to the aluminum which eventually break off.

i found a car with an absolutely beautiful bumper (parts car) near here. i made a deal with the guy for the bumper. i unbolted all the 17mm nuts and gave it a firm tug and the left bracket came off the shock! booooo hoooo!

if someone came up with a fool proof method for fixing them there are lots of folks interested.

the only two i have that are good are wagon bumpers. anybody have a sedan bumper to trade for one?

tom w

[fruitmeister420]

I can't believe this isn't more common. Right now my Rear bumper is is being held on by bungie cords as I try to figure out how to re attach it. I have found a couple of angled aluminum pieces that fell out of there, but no apparent way to fix the darn thing. Is there no one with a resolution for this issue?

[lkchris]

"My bumper fell off" is an admission of VERY POOR owner maintenance, which does BTW include "inspection." You know, those things people hate to pay professionals to do.

[fruitmeister420]

OK, my bumper would have fallen off if I had not discovered that the mounts have deteriorated over time to the point that they were no longer stable. How's that for you? I have taken temporary steps to retain it in place while I research a more permanent solution.
Would any one else have encountered such a scenario and have a viable solution to this situation?

[t walgamuth]

I have a couple of good front bumpers for sale in parts.

I would have spoken up sooner but I assumed it was your rear bumper since they always seem to fall off first.

Tom W

[Tims450SL]

i kick the tires not the bumpers....

[fastcar]

Happened to my friends 85 300TD the bolts erode. A trip to salvage yard and find bumper in good shape with bolts intact is all you need.

[ja17]

Hello Guys,

This bumper design was one of those last minute fixes by Mercedes to satisfy the US DOT Safety Bumper Regulations. The European models with the original design did not fall off, looked better and had a more conventional attachment method. The extreme corrosion is caused by the dis-similar metals (aluminum and steel) used in the construction of these USA "safety bumpers".

Joe Alexander
Blacklick Ohio

[toomany MBZ]

I am suffering from a failed, meaning deteriorated, rear bumper bracket on my CD.
Just one side.
I installed a trailer hitch a while ago to help keep it on, I saw this coming, finally happened.
A friend went through the same thing some time ago and helped immensely, here are some pics.
I did this to both brackets, as I'm sure the other will fail unless bolted on.

[panZZer]

I guess this is why we cannot use a real jack to jack up on the US bumpers--I have never used the silly rocker hole type jacks, just a floor lack under the a arms.