I had a little incident with my fathers W123, and bent the front wing.... would it be better to get a used wing and paint it and bolt it on.... or get some panel beating done on that wing and try to fix it since its the original one that came with the car? I'm guessing if you do get the panel beating done it wouldn't be exactly the same as the other side since its done by hand? also the bumper has gone in a little.. any ideas on that?

NOTE: NO STRUCTURAL PARTS OF THE CAR WAS DAMAGED.. THE WING HAS GONE IN A BIT AND THE WHEEL ARCH IS STICKING UP A LITTLE... LIGHTS ECT ALL INTACT, THE DAMAGE IS DONE TO THE BOTTOM PART OF THE RIGHT FRONT WING, BELLOW THE LIGHTS (THANKFULLY)

Thanks

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1975 240D W115 version 3 (Australian car )

The paint match will be the hardest thing given the age of the rest of the paint.

I replaced a wing on one of mine due to an object falling off a shelf in the garage and denting. Due to high labour costs here: it was far cheaper to replace than to beat. But this may be different where you are.

By the way, How did one of our Australian babies end up in your neck-of-the-woods?

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1995 E300 Diesel

Your front fender/wing is actually glued on, and they are a royal pain to remove! If you have someone that can fix what you have, that should be a less expensive way to go.

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Chief

1991 350SD

He didn`t say the year of the 123. my 80 240 is glued on, but my 85 is not. I think from 82 on, they are not glued on.

Also the 85 has the full plastic splash shield that extends from the front to the rear, where the 80 has the little short one at the rear of the wheel. this might be an indicator if it is glued or not.

Charlie

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there were three HP ratings on the OM616...

1) Not much power
2) Even less power
3) Not nearly enough power!! 240D w/auto

Anyone that thinks a 240D is slow drives too fast.

80 240D Naturally Exasperated, 4-Spd 388k DD 150mph spedo 3:58 Diff

We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics. Funny how that works

We are Australian citizens, parents lived in Brisbane for 24 years, the W115 was our daily driver.... we brought it here.

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1975 240D W115 version 3 (Australian car )

I know about the glue, I saw a video on mercedes source... so panel beating would no bring out the original shape and may be different from the other side ?

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1975 240D W115 version 3 (Australian car )

Who'd agree with me that American cars are crap, and that German cars are better made?

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1975 240D W115 version 3 (Australian car )

Something tells me an American car smacked your wing

Sixto
87 300D

HAHA LOL I forgot this was an American forum... Uh Oh!
Actually its because of my careless driving, I lost control and hit a wall abit, I never meant for this to happen, infact this was after I'd finished working on the car and was taking it for a test drive... this happened on the way back. I love old diesel Mercs. I should have been more careful and more responsible with a sweet old lovely Merc... Still this taught me a bitter lesson I shall never forget.

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1975 240D W115 version 3 (Australian car )

I RETRACT MY STATEMENT I MADE ABOUT AMERICAN CARS!!!!!
also can I get a pattern part off fast lane ?

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1975 240D W115 version 3 (Australian car )

If you have a good panel beater at your disposal I would go that way. The skill no longer exists except for high-end restoration work here in Canada (though sometimes we get immigrants from countries where it's still taught, so I have seen it done).

It will certainly be cheaper than getting a new fender/wing and to me would be preferable to a used one.

I would imagine it would represent at most 2-3 hrs labour from the panel beater? Frankly from your description it sounds more like 1-1.5 hrs, a skilled panel beater works very quickly....

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Mac
2002 e320 4matic estate│1985 300d│1980 300td
Previous: 1979 & 1982 & 1983 300sd │ 1982 240d

“Let's take a drive into the middle of nowhere with a packet of Marlboro lights and talk about our lives.” ― Joseph Heller, Catch-22

Why not go to the "Beater" and get an estimate?

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1983 300D, the "Avocado"
1976 240D, 4-spd the "Pumpkin", SOLD to Pierre
1984 190D, 2.2L, 5-spd, my intro to MBZ diesels, crashed into in 2002

BEATER IT IS!

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1975 240D W115 version 3 (Australian car )

lol, why? if thats what you believe, you should own it. After all, this is an American car forum dedicated to German cars.

personally, I find my two old American cars to be more reliable, but less well made as far as fit and finish than my two old German cars that require endless maintenance. None of the panels may line up on my old chevy van, but it never stops working, while my MB has excellent panel spacing, but runs only occasionally and when I shell out some cash.

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