Euro bumper question - NEW MEMBER

[Palm Springs]

Hi. This is my first post on this forum. Excuse me if this is common knowledge, but I am looking for a source for euro-style bumpers for a 1980 450SL.

Thanks for any help that I can get in this matter.

[chiwanga]

Im in the same boat. Ebay is the only reasonably priced source. And even then you have to be on the lookout every day pretty much.

[alabbasi]

look at car-parts.com for a 1973 mercedes benz 450SL these have the small bumpers. The problem is the items are very expensive to ship so look for one that is nearby.

[ljmauricio]

Took 9 months of looking on Ebay to get an excellent pair. You have to be persistent.

[ch7ckc]

Palm Springs...IMHO,the best way to get a set of these is to look for a part out SLC.The SLC's do not hold value very well and they are almost worth buying one for part out for a few thousand.That way you get all the bolts/brackets/attachments to swap them out.The good thing about ebay is you can see so much...the bad thing is everybody else can,too.I lost a reasonably priced set of these bumpers to a last second snitch so I went to part outs or junkers.

Good luck,ch7ckc
1987 560 SL
Euro bumpers/headlights
and 8 hole wheels

[ljmauricio]

Well I guess I was probably that "snitch", although the word you're looking for is "snipper". Common practice on Ebay and something you need to get good at if you want to be successful. I've missed some stuff I've really wanted by seconds. Patience is the key to stuff like Euro lights and bumpers on Ebay. Every body wants them. Every bid I've been involved in for those items were won in the last seconds. Usually by someone who did not participate until the end. Good luck in the future.

[ch7ckc]

Originally Posted by ljmauricio

Well I guess I was probably that "snitch", although the word you're looking for is "snipper". Common practice on Ebay and something you need to get good at if you want to be successful. I've missed some stuff I've really wanted by seconds. Patience is the key to stuff like Euro lights and bumpers on Ebay. Every body wants them. Every bid I've been involved in for those items were won in the last seconds. Usually by someone who did not participate until the end. Good luck in the future.

LJM,the small bumpers are always in demand and they could well be one of the 107's last business opportunities.I thought about trying to make them myself but,upon close inspection of mine,realized they are too complex to stamp.On the positive side,if you could make them to a good tolerance,the market could be several thousand.

Approximately 25% of 107's were SLC's,so that means there is a tremendous supply of them just waiting on SLC's to go belly up.

Not snipped lately
ch7ckc

[Strife]

This may seem vulgar to say, but I've seen a modified SL with 1967-68 Camaro bumpers (that were narrowed and de-bolted) that looked really good...Those bumpers are copied in Taiwan and are very reasonable. Now, if only Taiwan would copy small Euro bumpers for us...

[jaybird840]

Hi All,
And yes.... I'm one of those frequent SNIPERS that dashes your last second auction hopes. After being sniped a few times myself, I learned to play the game. Sign up at www. auctionsniper.com, or at least go read about it so you understand how it works.

Anyway... on to Euro bumpers. I have just purchased a set on eBay, and have the rear bumper and amg valance mounted. It went on with relatively few problems. The front, however, looks a bit more challenging. Can anybody shed light on how they mounted their front bumper? Also, I'm trying to find a pic of the fender-area front bumper mount, and how it works... It's completely different from the US mount. I could probably fab something up that would work, it just wouldn't look as nice as what was originally designed.

I'll be posting some pics of before and after as soon as I get the front bumper on... Just sitting there, they sure look sweet!

--Jay Swann
Austin, TX

Slowly "Europeanizing" an '82 380SL

[ljmauricio]

I had the same questions until I removed the front US bumper. After getting that out of the way, the Euro mounting was obvious. Basically, there are 2 mounting bolts in the front, and 1 on each side.Before I go any further, let me state that I was converting a 500SL Euro back to small bumpers, so what you have for mounting points may be different than what I describei f your car is US. Your euro bumper needs 2 brackets on each side. On the set I bought the front brackets were welded to the bumper. It looked like a factory deal, so your bumpers may have these brackets also. In that case you will need the outer brackets (unless your bumpers came with them). I bought mine from K & K Mfg. They are different for each side. The side brackets bolt to the back of the front frame crossmember and provide the mounting point for the bumper side thru the same fender hole that the US bumpers mounted to. The front brackets are held with long bolts back to the same frame crossmember that the side brackets bolted to. On my car, the crossmember was already threaded for these attachment bolts. I would suspect that all SLs come this way. Before I went any further, I would look under the car and identify these mounting points. From underneath the car looking back forward you should see three on each side. One is for the outer bracket, and one is for the long bolt that secures the front bracket. If your car has these mounting points you have it made. The K & K Mfg online catalog has a parts diagram for the euro bumper that will give you an excellent perpective. Get back to me if you have further questions. Perhaps I can get some pictures if you need them. Hope this helps.

[ch7ckc]

Jay, I did not take pictures as I went along but this may help.You need the two inner brackets more so than the two outer brackets.The trick is to get two 10 mm bolts(about two inches long will do)inside the boxed front frame at the correct hole(approx 7" inboard of US bumper mount).I used 1.5 metric pitch nuts and bolts as that is what MB used.

The bolt will fit this hole in the perfect spot for the inner bracket.Here is the fun part...you will see a slightly larger hole about 2" outboard of mounting hole.It is just big enough to push the 10 mm bolt into.I took a 3" cable tie and
super glued the end to the bolt,not the head,in a longitudinal attach.Put an internal locking washer on the bolt and push the bolt into the boxed frame.The flexible cable tie will allow you to fish the tie out of the mounting hole...pull the bolt out...spin on the nut...tighten it up(lock washer goes to work)...and you just built a ship in a bottle.

If the bolt slips on tightening you can always use a hacksaw to cut a slot in the bolt end to use a screwdriver blade.It won't spin anymore.

Outer brackets are nice...I didn't have them so I used the square leftover US brackets,here again with 10 mm,1.5,hardware and they stabilize the bumper ends.Don't worry...the front bolts are doing the real holding.

That's it.Now our member Strife will know I'm just a low tech guy.

Let me know if you hit a snag.

ch7ckc 1987 560 SL,Euro bumpers/lights/8 hole wheels

[ljmauricio]

ch7ckc, it sounds like what you did is fish a mounting bolt into the box through one hole and brought the threaded part out the other hole and then bolted the bumper to that. If I am correct, your bumper is mounted to the outer crossmember, which along with the inner crossmember form the box. The inner crossmember forms 3 sides of the box, and the outer crossmember is the 4th (front) side. The inner crossmember is by far the stongest of the two and is where the factory attaches the bumpers. That is why the inner crossmember is the one that is threaded to accept the mounting bolts. Actually, it's not threaded, but has nuts welded to the backside. Look at the backside of the box and see if you see 3 nuts welded on back there. If so, those are the intended mounting points for both the front bolts and the outer braclets if you use them. The front bolt goes through the box, out a hole in the back of the inner crossmember into the nut. Like I said in earlier post, my car is euro, yours US, but I would be surprised if the factory made different inner crossmembers for the cars. If you don't have the set up I described, it would be easy to adapt, and provide a stronger mount. Hope this helps.

[ch7ckc]

LJM,you may be right about a pre installed nut deeper in the box frame.I did not shine a light into that dark abyss...maybe I should have.I had a hard enough time finding an acceptable 2.5",10 mm bolt to make the attachment.The factory must have supplied a lot longer bolt as these cars came down the assembly line.

All's well that ends well.

Best Regards,ch7ckc

[RickM]

Originally Posted by alabbasi

look at car-parts.com for a 1973 mercedes benz 450SL these have the small bumpers. The problem is the items are very expensive to ship so look for one that is nearby.

It's downright inexpensive to ship if you use Greyhound. I shipped running boards and a large rear valance for .....get this......$30. Went from Northern NJ to Washington DC. Was there 6 hours later! This works if you have a terminal near you and the buyer/seller is willing to make the trip to their terminal.

Also, wans't there a thread on how to convert standard bumpers to the EUro look by shortening the shocks and rubber trim?

[ljmauricio]

ch7..., if you decide to look further, the nuts are on the backside of the inner crossmember, so are visible from under the car. I threaded a long stainless steel bolt through the nut from the back, so the threaded portion is pointed fwd like you did. With both sides done, the bumper brackets will hang on the bolts. Spin nuts on and tighten. Key is the right length bolt, which I believe was 2/12 or 3".