Hood Pad
 

The OEM hood pad is listed on Parts Shop and I am going to place an order. I would like to know if their is a hood pad out there that is improved providing more silence and better heat dissipation.

Usually, OEM stuff is always the right buy. I just thought I would ask?

hello tom

there is a guy on ebay that sells an upgrade type pad. i bought one they sell about 45$. i bought one for my 107 for 29 but it was just a cheapie.

the one for my 126 has a cover on both sides so the foam won't flacke out as it dries with age.

if i hadn't already purchased the upgraded one i would put it on my 107 as well

The one that was factory on my 126 was an egg crate type thing with little squares cut out in it. I ordered one from Performance Products and when I got it I wasn't happy with it because it looked totally different and was thinner and I sent it back. Then I went to the MB dealer and ordered the MB PART (woo hoo) and it looked identical to the Performance Products one except that it had a silver heat shield insert in one area. I was wanting what I had on there, but I figured that since MB sold this one now it was improved and all and I kept it.

Usually MB put heat shields on the turbo diesel model hood pads for obvious reasons. There are aftermarket accessory sources that sell the quilted heat sheilds that can be cut from rolls if you believe that excessive heat is affecting the paint surface of your hood, but that may be "masking" some other engine compartment overheating issues. The foam hood pad serves 3 basic functions, 1) it reduces transmitted heat to the hood; 2) it dampens engine noise; and 3) acts as a flame retardant in case of an engine fire, so long as it's not soaked with oil and falling apart in chunks in the engine bay.