This is going to sound like a trivial question to all you MB owners who're troublshooting tranny problems or blown head gaskets, but where do you mount a front license plate on a stock MB bumper?

Just bought my first, a '72 280SEL. The thing runs like a top and is in great shape. Problem is, the cops out here in California are sticklers for that front plate. The existing bumper has wide slots that look like they're for a European style plate.

Now I'm no idiot--I could easily rig up something that would hold the thing on there, but my rigged version would be ugly, rattle like hell, and in general do a disservice to the aesthetics of this otherwise beautiful auto. Does anyone know of any aftermarket part that will match up U.S. plate holes with a German bumper?

Many thanks, and thanks to all who gave me advice on my potential purchase of the dead '73 450SEL last month. I passed on that one, and for just a few hundred bucks more landed the 280 I'm happily driving now.

I got a good deal on the 108 because it exhibited a very loud clanking noise everytime it hit a bump. I checked here and found that such a noise was usually related to struts/shocks, so I decided to buy the car anyway knowing that I may be in for a $400-$800 replacement. The owner cut a good deal due to the problem.

Got it home and it turns out the problem was a combination of two things--one, the tire jack was loose in the trunk (causing part of the clank) and two, the driver's front shock was missing both nuts at the bottom. They may have vibrated off at some point, so I still plan to have an MB mech look at it to make sure there wasn't something unusual that caused this. I secured the jack, replaced nuts, and now the car drives fine.

Chasmo