Bumper Repair on 1991 SL300

[tecqboy]

A rather large rock or stone must have hit my front bumper as I have discovered I have a 1 inch hole near the bottom at the edge of the "spoiler". I checked with the local Mercedes body shop and was told that they never repair these plastic bumpers; only replace. A replacement costs an unbelievable $1300. So I started looking on e-bay. Apparently any bumper from a 129 series will mount on the vehicle, but there appear to be 3 different styles and 3 different auxilary grill inserts. Does anyone here have the "facts" about 129 bumpers? Has anyone found a shop to repair a bumper?

[jjrodger]

I struck a pheasant at high speed the other day and as a final act of revenge he cracked my bumper cover. Having discovered the unbelievable cost of replacement, I went to a good body shop who told me repair was not a problem. Phew.

As for styles, there are three that I know of. The chunky, stock style which ran from 1989 to 1995; the softer, more rounded style which ran from 1995 to 2001; and the AMG-style which was optional from 1995 to 2001 (there was an earlier AMG style but that was from before AMG came in house). Not only did the front bumper change in 1995, so did the rear bumper and the side protectection panels. The most obvious difference is the change from three holes to two holes on the front wing (fender) side protection panels.

[deanyel]

Can you post a picture? If it's down low it's not very noticeable. Why not repair it yourself? Long strand body filler is easy to work with, very tough stuff, and easily sanded, primered and painted.

[tecqboy]

Actually, I've given a good deal of thought to a "home" repair. The hole is low and surrounded by solid material. But the bumper has 14 years worth of small pits and paint chips as well. It becomes a choice of doing a "get by" repair at home or having it done right by a professional. I went to a "high end" independant body shop for an estimate. They want to repair the bumper skin, sand out "pits" on the front of the hood and grill area, then repaint everything back to the doors. Cost, about $2K They have examples of some very nice workmanship at their "studio". But, the car is only worth about $10K on a summer day. Spending $2K on these cosmetic repairs would not increase the value to $12K. It doesn't look bad until you get up close. I'm not sure what I should do. But I think I'm going to see if I can find a body shop willing to just repaint the bumper if I patch the hole and sand it out myself. New bumper skins for just about every other Mercedes model are less than $500. Why the heck does the SL bumper cost so much? That's rhetoric.

[tecqboy]

My local Mercedes inde mechanic knew a guy who had a friend who repairs bumper skins. I was able to track the fellow down and he gave me an estimate of about $300 to repair my rock damage, sand out all the stone pits, and then prime and repaint the entire bumper. He works out of his home garage. He has a good reputation, but I won't even mind if it doesn't turn out perfect; the price is reasonable.