Thanks whunter,

I completed the removal of the differential and axles. The rear (third point) bolt was locktite'd in and even while being careful I ended up stripping the star socket bolt. I ended up chipping away the rubber mount so that I could attach a vice grip to it and eventually I was able to remove the bolt (took well over an hour). I'll have to find one of these bolts for the reinstallation. Other than that this was an easy task. In fact I believe the job would have been easier in the first place if I had removed the differential to begin with.

The reason I started this job was because I needed to replace the subframe mounts, trailing arm bushings, rear wheel bearings, rebuild the calipers, new rotors and pads, rear differential mount and all other differential rubber mounts. My initial task was to do one side at a time so I would always have one for reference, but when I noticed the trauma on the subframe I new I needed to ask here and make sure before I started putting things back together.

Now that the differential is out I still see no other trauma anywhere. Even the pins coming down from the body/frame that attach to the subframe mounts are straight with no visible signs of stress. I pressure washed and degreased the differential and I carefully inspected the mounting areas of the differential to subframe and I can not find any cracks or other signs of stress. I drove the car once before and no noises were heard from the differential either so I'm sure everything there is OK.

I have not yet completed the removal of the passenger side trailing arm. I'm working on that now and once I get that removed I'll drop the subframe out and start inspecting it. I'll pressure wash and degrease everything and take a magnifying glass to all areas that I can think of that would be affected by this. If I can't find anything wrong I'll straighten the holes and put it all back in. Right now I don't even see a paint chip, but who knows until I get everything out. This really does look like something dragged the vehicle from the trailing arms rather than an actual accident (see updated pic). The impact that could cause this would have to shift the subframe toward the rear of the car. I can't see how any side impact could do this, but hey, I'm no accident investigator

I've completely rebuilt the entire front end of the car. Virtually everything is new. After I get everything back together it's going to Mercedes for a final inspection and alignment. At that time I'll also ask them to verify the tracking and make sure the rear subframe is within specs. If it is, I'm good to go. If not then I'll have to purchase a rear subframe and do this all again. At least now I know how to do it so it won't be so bad the next time. hahahaha

Thanks again,
-Tony-

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