Successful Headlight Assembly R&R on 1991 W126
 

Hit rocks from a truck recently and cracked headlight lens on one side and the light "garage" assembly on the other ... both were pretty pitted anyway.

Taped pieces together and everything worked well so I waited for a few weeks and then it was Virginia state inspection time - didn't think they would care as long as lights worked - but, they did and failed it.

Looked into new prices and was aghast ... did the eBay thing and found left and right assemblies rom a 1990 300SE that were going off auction in 4 hours! Bid and won ... total with shipping and insurance was $100 for both vice the ~$400 apiece for new ones... had been considering Euros, but just couldn't bring myself to part with that much money.

Received and they looked OK with some light pitting on plastic except what appeared to be a shipping crack in the upper part of the plastic garage housing on the passenger side. No choice at this point since I needed car working so I installed both per CD instructions (with a bit of experimenting since the CD doesn't show everything). Very straighforward - first side about 30 minutes, second side about 10.

Some of the plastic was very brittle so be careful with older plastic pieces. Broke one of the connectors that holds the small air shields in place, but was able to get it hold well enough, I think.

Assessment? I love eBay ... care is required, but success is possible.