I went to put the grill on my W115, and noticed that it didn't fit. I was confused for a while, and after a quick Google search, found that I'm missing a piece (the part labeled 52 here). My question is, what do you call that? More importantly, where can I get one? There's a 71 Benz that showed up in a nearby junkyard, so I'm hoping I'll luck out, but in case I don't, does anyone know a source for these?

Thanks,
Brandon

It's a rubber gasket. You can't order one from the dealer?

What year is your 240D?

EDIT: I believe the part number for the facelift cars is A1158880297 (pre facelift cars are A1158880097). Should be less than $25 new.

-J

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1991 350SDL. 230,000 miles (new motor @ 150,000). Blown head gasket

Tesla Model 3. 205,000 miles. Been to 48 states!
Past: A fleet of VW TDIs.... including a V10,a Dieselgate Passat, and 2 ECOdiesels.
2014 Cadillac ELR
2013 Fiat 500E.

It's a 72 220d, so pre-facelift. Even though I will (apparently) need that gasket, unless it's fairly thick I'm afraid that's not what I'm missing. I'll attach some pictures of what I'm talking about. Looking at the car, the grill shell is being held exactly where it would be if it were attached. The picture isn't great, but you can see about a 1/2" space between the grill shell and the hood.

The shell itself doesn't look bent, and neither does the hood. I don't think either one is post-facelift (i.e., wrong for the car), because except for this they line up perfectly. Any idea what's going on? Maybe I should just quit being a sissy and torque it down and make it fit--it's just that doesn't seem like the thing MB would do.

It will rattle if you torque it down without the gasket. It is pretty thick, and the grill won't line up properly without it. Closed cell neoprene foam tape from the home center works well for this application. If you are a purist, then the Classic Center is probably your best bet.

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'79 240D

Perfect, thanks!

The original gasket is about 1/16 inch thick. Not enough to account for your 1/2 inch gap.
A piece of old tire inner-tube would work. Also, you could use some of that vinyl membrane that home-improvement centers sell for shower pans, but
that stuff is usually grey.
Check your replacement grill to see if there's any hardware on the back that is causing the gap.
If it's a used grill, it could be bent. If it's a new aftermarket replacement it could also be made wrong.

Happy Motoring, Mark

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DrDKW

I believe it to be the original grill, it doesn't seem bent, and there's no hardware on the back other than the speed nuts (I'm not entirely sure that's what they're called). The hood is another story, but at the very least it looks straight as well. A 1/2" gap might have been a little generous on my part, but it's still seems more than 1/16" to me...my eyes are probably off. I'm going to go ahead and get the gasket since it sounds like I'll need it anyway.







Looking at this last picture again, I could see how a gasket would fit.

I replaced mine a few years ago with a nicer one from a parts car. The initial fit wasn't too different from the photo. When dealing with a nearly 40 year old sheet metal hood that's been raised and slammed shut countless times, I think the tolerances have to be pretty generous. The original gasket was about indeed about 1/16" thick, which is just about what the 1/8" neoprene tape compressed down to when everything was tightened. Once the thing was mounted, I still had to grab the bottom edge and "adjust" it some to get it where it needed to be, so it I was glad that I had something in there with gap filling properties.

Glad to hear that those solutions have worked. They surely wouldn't have worked for me. BTW- my original gasket, which was too far gone to re-use, was grey. I was glad to have material with a clean edge to start with. The gasket surface is pretty flat, with pretty tight bends to make, and the outside edge has to look good. I suppose it could be cut out of a sheet of pvc shower pan. If I were to go that route, then I'd look for a serious plumbing supply distributor who has the stuff available on bulk rolls, and can cut lengths. Otherwise there would be an awful lot of waste. I actually had a piece of the pvc pan material on hand when I needed to do this, but I also had the neoprene tape. I tried the latter first, and that was all that I needed to do. Cutting up anything else and getting a clean edge would have taken a lot more time.

Good advice. If the replacement is bent, then it would just have to be bent back. It's just a ring, and it is pretty flexible. I know that aftermarket grills are available, but I've never seen an aftermarket chrome frame.

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'79 240D

It might help knowing why or how the grill was removed.
If there had been a minor accident, or if the grill and hood were separated carelessly, the surfaces of the hood and grill where the mounting-screws go, may have gotten pulled and distorted, accounting for the poor fit.
Yours might need a little carefull re-bending in these areas.

Happy Motoring, Mark

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DrDKW