Not a Mercedes w/o the hoodstar

[DieselHead]

Finally, after 19 years of good service, my hood star was ripped off of my car tonight while I was at dinner. The crazy thing is, I used to drive that thing into the city all the time and it was never harmed, touched, or dented. Tonight I drove to Greenwich, Connecticut to a Japanese restaurant, and the star was torn off. Greenwich, Connecticut!!! I'd say it's one of the richest, wealthiest places in the country, and someone takes the star off my old diesel. I parked next to an E55 and it still had its star when I left. How unfair is that?

So, now I have to find myself a new hoodstar. I guess they're not that expensive, but are they hard to install? Is it just a matter of unscrewing something from the underside of the hood? Does anyone have the removable hood star sold through Adsit Co.? This is very frustrating.

Alex

They are a little tricky. You only get one chance really, and if you do it wrong, it's junk.

Pop the hood, and on the bottom of the grille you will see a U-shaped bracket that claps the entire assembly onto the grille. Get some big pliars, and while you pull down on the U-bracket, twist it, so it is even with the body of the star, and that way you can pull it out of the grille.

Installation is the reverse, pull down and twist it 90deg. so it is clamped in place, be careful, like I said, you pretty much have one shot, and if you mess it up, the star is junk.

I think the star is around $15.