That's the teleaid antenna. All that's missing is the rubber cover for the little cell antenna. It's a common problem, or so the counter guy at my local Benz dealer says. He knows the part price by heart; more on that later.

Unfortunately, you cannot purchase just the rubber doohickey, it comes as an assembly with the plastic base. Replacement is silly easy, there's a single 3mm allen head screw that holds it on. Five minutes tops. The main problem is the part costs $125.00. No, that's not a typo.

Don't ask how I know this, but you can go to your local auto parts emporium and purchase a collection of little black vacuum caps. They look just like the missing rubber bits. One or two of them joined together can be used as an effective replacement. Total cost: $1.99, good for maybe three repairs. Nobody can tell the difference.

We all have our limits...

- JimY