There are a few sources selling replacement body panels in the USA. Does anyone know if they are probably all made by a single source or have any experience to know if one sources panels are better then others?
Prices with shipping aren't too different

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83 280TE- 5 spd, 16.5mm rear sway
85 280SL- 15" Bundts, 5 spd

Something to be aware of when getting patch panels.

The metal is likely to be thinner. This isn't some evil ploy by part makers to take advantage of poor 'ol diesel owners. It is due to the use of soft tooling / hydroforming in probably an underpowered stamping press.

The body lines might not be as crisp or shaped exactly as original. This is due to soft tooling / hydroforming , variations in factory cars. It two factory panels were slightly different, you probably would not notice it, cut them in half and swap halves and there could be a noticeable difference.

An example is when I spliced the front and rear of a factory bolt on rear fender on a early 70's VW Type 3. Using the car as a jig, the top and bottom lined up but the body line was slightly off between the two.

For a low production car, all the panels are probably coming from the same or a handfull of makers. My question to the sellers would be: Is the panel made from Galvaneal or painted? ( If painted you will need to remove the paint and start from bare steel. )

I bought an aftermarket left fender for my 190D. It was mostly perfect, but the rear edge didn't match the form of the door. The error exceeded the range of all available adjustments. The only way it could have worked would have been with a cut & shut by a good torch guy. When I called the vendor, they told me that I should bring it to a body shop. Instead of throwing good money after bad, I bought a good used fender, which dropped right into place without much fuss. Instead of a replacement fender, get a real mercedes fender.

Pick and pull yard, and get the owner to cut the part out from a scrap Mercedes . Also for wings a good second hand wing is better than new aftermarket .If your lucky you might just pick a wing up the same shade and paint code as yours this way you cut out the paint job.

What did the aftermarket fender cost Vs a fender from the Classic Center?


Are there many perfect , rust free 40 year old MB in yards near you?

If you factor in the cost of having the rear edge reworked, even a new factory part would have been cheaper.

Perhaps, but why didn't you buy a new MB fender from the start?

What year 190 ?

Unless a body part is CAPA , ICAR or some sort of German equivalent certified, it may be of lesser quality and the buyer must be willing to accept that. I've noticed that some parts are NSF certified but I'd be suspect of an organization called National Sanitation Foundation would have the background.

For really great body work, you need to send it to Arthur Tussik https://www.youtube.com/user/tussik01/videos?disable_polymer=1

There are some that say some of his heavy repairs are iffiy but they are worlds better than any hack in the US. Given the cost of cars in Eastern Europe and safety of a typical car there, this is an acceptable risk.