Also I should point out, so people don't get the wrong idea, if my 80 450SL was in decent shape, I would find a mechanical way to correct that hood gap, not with a hammer!

It may be possible to lower that cross member, but without looking at it (it's raining here today) I'm not sure. There is bondo, painted the color of the car, covering all of that cross member on my car, and have wondered if MB did that, or it's been hit more than once in the front?