The type of plastic that Mercedes used for bumpers must have changed through the years. My wife's 89 W124 bumpers can take a beating but the ones on my 95 W124 crack very easily.

I talked to a guy who repairs bumpers for a spare one if he had, he told me the brittle ones are replacement parts, original german bumpers are flexible and give when pushed.

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2012 BMW X5 (Beef + Granite suspension model)

1995 E300D - The original humming machine (consumed by Flood 2017)
2000 E320 - The evolution (consumed by flood 2017)