Do you think I'll need a new fender?
 

My dad and I had a DJ gig Sunday night. We took the van, leaving the 300D for my mom to drive should she need go anywhere. The 300D was parked in the top center of my driveway. The 190E was parked at the bottom left, nearly in the grass.

The 300D is my DD and the 190E the backup.

Somehow, in the middle of a sunny clear day with plenty of room on both sides, my mom managed to back my 300D into my 190E.

There was very little damage to the 300D, a few scrapes on the bumper and bumper cover.

The 190E however did not fare so well.

300D / 190E Incident 7-14-13 - Imgur

The fender/hood gap is way screwed up as well.

It is a bit unfortunate but that looks quite easy to repair to me.

I'd put a replacement fender on there with the same original color. Swapping out the fenders is easy. Bondo and respray will end up costing you just as much as a replacement fender and you will be hard pressed to get the color right that way. There is also the emotional trauma of having Bondo to consider as well.

Put out a BOLO for a W201 fender with the right original color and patiently wait. There are plenty of W201s still working their way into the pick and pulls and your color will show up soon enough.

The hood / fender gap can be fixed with the fender off. Just hammer on a 2x4 against the inner fender with the outer fender off until it lines up. The metal and paint are robust enough to take that without any damage.

I think my plan going forward is to just hand it off to a body shop. My mom is going to cover the damages since she caused them... I frankly don't have the time to corral parts and deal with fender gaps and what not. I've, historically, not been very good at setting them correctly.

The shop I was recommended is supposed to be very good with Mercedes and their colors.

I dont like using bondo, just it doesn't feel "right" to me.

It looks like a new fender from Mercedes is about $220. Some other online places had replacement driver's side fenders but no passenger side. At least not the ones that I checked.

Thanks Mom!

I've got a gold colored one if you want. Shipping from 37363 might be more than its worth and I don't know how to go about packaging it for shipment but will try if you want. If you pay shipping, I'll swap you for a cruise amp repair.

Ship it by Greyhound. Fast and easy. Wrap with cardboard and it'll be fine.

Body shop.

PULLAPART.COM IN NEO
 

If you decide to find parts on your own, and if you haven't already, checkout the Pullapart.com websites for Northeast Ohio. 2 in Cleveland, 1 in Akron, and 1 in Massillon. They usually have a few 190's. I pay $40 for used fenders at the PicknPull in Columbus. And as a previous poster noted, lots of times you'll find the color that matches.

Had a body shop come out and quote the repairs:

http://i.imgur.com/1ii4FbVl.png

http://i.imgur.com/sNBu91el.png

I can buy the fender from Parts and save about $100 there and just get a used turn signal and save the $155 there. But I really can't argue much about the rest.

James, I would attempt to get a used fender the same color and have a body shop, familiar with MB automobiles, install it. If you cannot find a used fender perhaps the body shop can. A body shop will be hard pressed to duplicate the orange peel finish of the original paint. A high end body shop repainted the quarter panel of our 1992 300CE and the color matches perfectly, but the smooth appearance doesn't match the original paint's texture. Lie on the ground and look up at the paint on a door or fender, and you will see the orange peel factory finish.

Wellll insurance adjuster came by today evidently.

I was at work, my dad was in Cleveland, only my mom was home.

I'm not really sure about everything because the idiot didnt have the common courtest to leave a note. He just left a bunch of papers with values and such on it.

From the looks of it and what my mom told me. They want to total the car. They said the $1600 estimate was too low, that Ed missed something on the bumper and the real repair estimate should be about $2800.

The said total it, we'll give you $2400 for it and you can buy it back for salvage at $390.

Maybe I'll scan the document and let you guys see what its all about it. It has a value comparison to other 190E's in the region. Doesn't say if they are 2.3 or 2.6. And also say I evidently don't have a sun roof...

I was looking at our policy and the 190E is insured for $5000 in the event of a collision. Soooo they owe me $5000 (as they waved the deductible).

Salvage Title
 

Hey JD, was curious if you've had a car with a salvage title before? DJ in Columbus.

Nope, I've only had clean titles.

Alrighty,

I've updated the album:
300D / 190E Incident 7-14-13 - Imgur

Added the "loss" paperwork that the insurance company left me on Friday.
Added a copy of the current insurance policy that is on my cars.
I boxed out the personal information.

On further inspection, it looks like what they did was said Ed's estimate was wrong. The bumper is not repairable and needs to be replaced. NEW list price is $1600. So $2800 is more than the ACV, so total it. Give the owner $2400 or whatever the total was. He can buy it back for $400 and do whatever.

The guy who looked at the car must not have known our policy has a $5000 value set for the car...so that should throw his BS $2400 thing out the window.

Additionally, the bumper that is on currently on the car is from an early pre-89 190E so its actually the wrong bumper style. Today I went to the junkyard and bought a 93 190E's front bumper. Physically in great shape, no cuts or tears like the current one. Just needs painted and one of the studs replaced. It was only $50.

We'll see how this goes down on Monday. My dad was pretty pissed off at them.

I was more pissed the adjuster didnt have the common courtesy of leaving a note about what all this stuff meant/was about and WHY the body shop's estimate was incorrect.

Hope you can fix it yourself part way.

Now that your insurance co. knows it was damaged, if you repair on your own, then next time they might discount the value etc.

good luck !:)

What Yard Had The Bumper?
 

What yard In NEO had the bumper? Did you decide to go the total loss route and salvage title? Are you planning to ever sell the car?

I would source an original fender from the boneyard or from eBay. Even though you get a fender with the same color you will need to color match it with the rest of the car (ie: weathering). Also I would suggest changing both side markers so they match correctly. You can get the parts here on this site. It makes a difference. Good luck on the repair.

I got the bumper from Cleveland Auto Wrecking in Youngstown. They're predominantly a domestic yard. They get Mercedes every now and again. My one buddy used to work there and I've done some work for the guy who runs it so we usually get pretty damn good prices on items.

No I dont think I'll go the total loss route and salvage title. I think insurance will correct themselves when they realize that I have a $5000 policy on the car and they would have to pay me out instead of their $2400 original.

I don't plan on selling the car any time soon or likely ever

Aside from cost, assuming insurance will be pay or my mother (whom damaged the car)..What is wrong with buying a new fender from Mercedes. They are only $200. It will still need to be painted like the used one will.

Actually, the side marker that is on the car was not damaged. I took a look at it and all it did was pop out. The tabs were still in tact and the light bulb even worked!

When you say value, you mean their "actual car value"? As I understand it, we have the policy setup so that they pay $5000 regardless of ACV. My one 300SD is at $7,000 and my 300D is at $8,000

Nothing wrong with a good OEM fender. You want to avoid the knockoffs because of fit issues.

I agree. This might be a point of concern on our 300SD. The original fender had some rust issues. A friend of mine bought some aftermarket fenders for his 300SE which ended up in an accident, so he sold me the needed fender for my SD. Its not been painted yet but when I fitted it, I had some difficulty getting it all to line up perfectly. But then again I am not particularly skilled at body work.

Evidently I cannot buy new 126 fenders from Mecedes? The left fender is 1268811301, came back non existing. Hrmrm.

And voila. The 190 has returned:

They didn't do the best of all jobs waxing it as theres some powder left lol but I think they did a good job on paint and fitment.

They painted my rear bumper impact strip to match the front and redid my pin striping on both sides of the car.

New Fender (MB)
New Corner Light (MB)
New Tow Hook Cover (MB)
Used Bumper

http://i.imgur.com/o0zbJabl.jpg
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http://i.imgur.com/qXoRUC2l.jpg

Nice. I wish my 190E looked that clean.

Nice - though what is it with the US of A and pin striping?

That I'm not sure. I know it had it pin striping on from the factory. So they kind of had to re-do it. Our 420SEL has the same, it was painted on and is faded in spots.

Looks better than the "Wheeler Dealer" episode using a "pattern part?

hm?

Oh Ed had to file it and hack it and bash it a bit!

Pattern part = aftermarket fender (copied from an original - hence the "pattern" name)

OHH! Now that makes sense!

that whole thing shoulda buffed right out

damnit. Something is aligned wrong... My new fender is rubbing into my tire. It already took off a small portion of paint at the one edge/corner thing.

My driver's side doesnt hit there at all.

The passenger side didnt do that before it was backed into.... I know it did afterwards with the dented fender...

The only time I've ever had rubbing issues was when I had 195/65/15 snow tires on and the front struts were bad. I think thats what caused the driver's side fender rust as there are no marks or gouges in these 16 inch tires.


http://i.imgur.com/EKRObKal.jpg
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That and the m103 needs a tune up. Its been AT LEAST 18,000 miles since the last one. 18,000 miles ago was when the 3L m103 was put in..so add how ever old the plugs/rotor/cap were on that to the 18,000...
Tune up parts ordered, $100..

EDIT: The 3L was installed at 213K..So its been 24,000 miles since THAT point..how old the cap/rotor/plugs were on the 3L when it was installed? No idea.

This is a bit of a rough and ready idea but why not try measuring the distance between the centre of the wheels (front and back) on either side of the car and compare. Then measure the distance of each wheel within the arch. If the rear wheels sit at the same place in the rear arch (they should!) then you can start to compare from the front end of the rear arch to the front end of the front arch.

More complicated measurements can be made by parking the car on a flat hard surface and dropping a plumb bob from each point of measurement and marking the floor with chalk - drive / roll the car out of the way to measure between points and (importantly) across points.

Im fairly confident that its not an alignment issue. Prior to the accident I was not having any rubbing issues. I have a set of Lorinser 16x8's on there. They've been on there for three years now..

Dollars to donuts it's going to play out like this:

1) Hmm rubbing here on this passenger fender lip area?
2) Hmm rust on the driver's fender lip area, same as passenger?
3) Hmm wheels must be rubbing.
4) Not our problem. Tough.

My 190E had the right wheel rub the fender the same way, due to a dent on that fender.

So I just gloved up with and pulled the fender outwards little by little, just enough to stop the rubbing. Went for a test drive, and even on dips the tires no longer rub.

This is on 195/60/15 tires.