C280 Surprise @ 105 Mph
 

:eek: CRUISING WONDERFULLY @ 105 MPH WHEN I SAW SOMETHING GO STREAKING PAST THE WINDSHIELD! THOUGHT SOMEONE HAD THROWN SOMETHING OUT OF A CAR OR A TRUCK HAD KICKED AN ITEM UP -

WELL, DISCOVERED THAT WHEN PREVIOUS OWNER HAD APPARENTLY NOT FIRMLY REPLACED FRONT LEFT TURN INDICATOR ASSEMBLY. I HANDWASH MY CAR AND HAD NOT NOTICED ANY LOOSE MOVEMENT. BOTTOM LINE, AT 100+MPH THE COMPLETE ASSEMBLY LEFT THE CAR! BARELY MISSED THE WINDSHIELD AND LANDED IN THE MEDIAN...

ALL I HAD REMAINING WAS THE PLUG FOR THE ASSEMBLY. FOUND AN ASSEMBLY AT THE NEAREST DEALER AND 10 MINUTES LATER HAD REPLACED AND BACK ON THE ROAD.

THE MORAL, CHECK THE ASSEMBLIES AND BE CERTAIN THEY ARE LOCKED IN PLACE. FRO THOSE THAT HAVEN'T REPLACED, THEY MERELY "SNAP" IN PLACE WITH A SPRING-LOADED LOCK.

DRIVING FOR 26 YEARS AND THIS WAS A FIRST FOR ME... :eek:

at 100mph images of a space shuttle exiting earth's atmosphere come to mind...maybe C280's have fancy speed governors that include discarding body/trim pieces,,,just kidding.

...but it happens more often than one would think. Had a new Integra GSR with 7 miles on it...on its second freeway entry the left turn signal assembly and lens went to highway heaven

-fad

Yeah, same thing happened to my 230E's (124) Indicator, i think it was the left one... it just went off to the road and didn't hit the car i think...
when we stopped, i realized that it was missing

Same thing happened on a brand new 1987 560 SEL. I told my Dad it just blew off and needless to say we drove down the highway the next day looking for it luckily there was snow on the ground so it showed up quick and saved my butt.