Over 260K Km on my 300E and not a scratch. Last year alone I put on 60K in all kinds of treacherous weather and didn't hit a pebble. Then the other day, in broad daylight, I hit a concrete post in an underground parking garage. I'm still cursing myself and limping (left foot big toe is swollen from kicking the same post, not one of my better moments).

It is a small dent on the front driver side fender. Not on the flared rim, it is smack in the middle of a smooth section of the panel. Paint and metal are not broken, no damage to any parts other than the metal. Dent is about 4" x 7" and about 1.5" deep.

Anyway, I've found a good body shop who will do the repair for me, they've had some excellent recommendations. The final quote - parts, labor, etc. comes to $530 CDN including taxes. Backed by a full warranty. Their labor rate is $46/hr. 4.7 hrs body work, 3.2 hrs to refinish, $76 for paint/materials.

I know this is hard to assess without seeing the dent but does this quote appear reasonable? Not having any prior damage, I have no experience in this area.

thx!

__________________
Chris
2007 E550 4Matic - 61,000 Km - Iridium Silver, black leather, Sport package, Premium 2 package
2007 GL450 4Matic - 62,000 Km - Obsidian Black Metallic, black leather, all options
1998 E430 - sold
1989 300E - 333,000 Km - sold
1977 280E - sold
1971 250 - retired

"And a frign hat. They gave me a hat at the annual benefits meeting. I said. how does this benefit me. I dont have anything from the company.. So they gave me a hat." - TheDon

Zeus:

This could be a DIY'er job, all except the paint job of course. A new OEM aftermarket left fender is $61USD from the link given below, and removing and replacing that piece is not that difficult of a job at all.

Give it a shot if you're looking to save a little $$$.

http://www.autobodypartsonline.com/cgi-bin/webc.cgi/st_main.html?catid=440&sid=77CBJv0VaEykCrM-52102312092.0e

Good luck in whatever you decide!

~Paul

________________________
'91 300E, 206, miles

Thanks for the link Paul. I'm short on time these days and have the cash, so I think I will get the shop to do it. My main concern is the finish and matching the paint. I don't mind paying, I just want to be sure I'm not getting fleeced. I had some other estimates and they varied quite a bit. Cheapest was $325. Highest was this one, but this shop was recommended highly...

__________________
Chris
2007 E550 4Matic - 61,000 Km - Iridium Silver, black leather, Sport package, Premium 2 package
2007 GL450 4Matic - 62,000 Km - Obsidian Black Metallic, black leather, all options
1998 E430 - sold
1989 300E - 333,000 Km - sold
1977 280E - sold
1971 250 - retired

"And a frign hat. They gave me a hat at the annual benefits meeting. I said. how does this benefit me. I dont have anything from the company.. So they gave me a hat." - TheDon

The color match is difficult on 15 year old cars! Depending on the color of the car as well. MANY times a replacement fender wont fit as well ar the OE one.
I would have the OE fender repaired but $500 is very high!
IN the US a new fender is $222(OE). Have it Painted off of the car then you install it.
AFTERMARKET is just that on fenders! FIT can be terrible. I have replaced the ones on race car with the cheap ones(Tawain) only once, they just don't fit right.

__________________
MERCEDES Benz Master Guild Technician (6 TIMES)
ASE Master Technician
Mercedes Benz Star Technician (2 times)
44 years foreign automotive repair
27 Years M.B. Shop foreman (dealer)
MB technical information Specialist (15 years)
190E 2.3 16V ITS SCCA race car (sold)
1986 190E 2.3 16V 2.5 (sold)
Retired Moderator

you mentioned that the paint wasnt broken or scratched, I would suggest you paintless dent repair. I've seen and hear that it works well as long as the paint has not cracked. They should be able to tell you if the repair is possible without painting. Take a look

placo1

my uncle owns a body shop in s. illinois, and through talking to him, i have learned a little bit about auto body repair. Firstly(doesn't have a hole lot to do with this case but...) the myth that a car isn't ever as good as it was before the wreck is exactly that, a myth, AS LONG AS THE REPAIR IS DONE PROPERLY,he couldn't emphasize that enough. Secondly, he also told me that they charge significantly higher the their competition, but they also do MUCH better work. Mixing paint and sanding takes time(trust me, i've watched), and someone who takes 5 hours to do job will get better results then the person who takes three. Period. I'd go to the recomended shop, especially if you have the cash. Not only will that shop do a better job, they will also be concerned with their reputation, if they screw up and you want it fixed. Just my thoughts,
Ryan

__________________
83 300SD.......sold
96 integra SE....sold
99 a4 quattro....sold
2001 IS300.......sold
2002 330i.........current.
2004 highlander limited....current.

I had a friend with a black Lexus and he had a place (I think it was called "Dent Magic") fix it, they charged $50 per dent and fixed five (four door dings and one nasty dent on the curved part of the trunk), it was AMAZING! I could not tell where any of them were!! I would not believe it - especially on a black car - but I saw it with my own eyes! They give a money back guarantee and it only took a couple hours, whadda ya got to lose!?!?

Good luck in any case,
-Tom

__________________
RIP "Betsy" (Oo=*=oO)
'96 E 3 2 0 (W 2 1 0) M 1 0 4 (Totalled)
Spaces in sig so as not to screw up the SEARCH; every time someone searches for that MB they don't want my sig!

2004 Audi A8L
'98 VW Passat 1.8T 5M
'87 Alfa Romeo Milano 2.5L 5M
'67 Impala convertible, 327cid

Thanks for the advice. I'm going to look into the dent repair alternative. The dent itself is somewhat irregular (not just a smooth circle) so I'm wondering how they could possibly restore it without doing some kind of bodywork...anyway, I'll look into it thx.

MBDOC - yes, the paint matching is what I'm most worried about. They use a spectrophotometer to match but still, it's hard to reproduce 15 years of mother nature's oxidation...

__________________
Chris
2007 E550 4Matic - 61,000 Km - Iridium Silver, black leather, Sport package, Premium 2 package
2007 GL450 4Matic - 62,000 Km - Obsidian Black Metallic, black leather, all options
1998 E430 - sold
1989 300E - 333,000 Km - sold
1977 280E - sold
1971 250 - retired

"And a frign hat. They gave me a hat at the annual benefits meeting. I said. how does this benefit me. I dont have anything from the company.. So they gave me a hat." - TheDon

Just bringing your car through a body shop's doors usually means a $500 bill. It's tough for them to do many competent repairs that involve painting for much less.

DON"T buy a non-MB fender. No double galvanizing! They don't make them to MB standards. I have yet to meet anyone with a non OE body panel that was satisfied with the results.

It will rust prematurely and it's tough to fit properly.

I had quite a nasty ding (ding? A Dent!) on the crease line on the top of my door. $75 at a top paintless dent shop, and it was GONE! I couldn't believe how good it worked. I agree about exploring that first...

__________________
John Shellenberg
1998 C230 "Black Betty" 240K

http://img31.exs.cx/img31/4050/tophat6.gif

Well, I got the car back from the shop and I'm happy and mad. Happy that they did an excellent job with the body work and the final tally was right on the quote. The paint job is flawless and the color matching is also excellent. I asked my Dad for his opinion and he looked at the other (non-damaged) side, rubbed his hand over it and said it looks great. Then I told him it was the other panel that was worked on.

What I'm mad about is that they seem to have broken the outside temperature gauge. It worked fine before I went in, but when I picked the car up, it didn't work at all. I checked it and it was re-installed incorrectly. They had to remove the bumper to do the work and they didn't re-install the gauge properly - they had it mounted behind the front license plate rather than in the bumper slot where it should go.

So...I brought this up with them and they inspected the bumper area and noticed that the bumper had some prior damage. This is true - a friend of mine hit a curb lightly when parking the car a few months ago. The body shop guys said that it was possible that the wire lead and/or sensor was damaged when this occured and that when they removed it, it was the straw that broke the camel's back. There is no visible damage to the sensor, other than the fact that it is worn-looking after 13 years of service.

The bottom line is that they are offering to pay 50% of the replacement and labor costs. I am wondering how sensitive these gauges are and if, in fact, their theory holds any water. Even after my friend hit the curb, the gauge worked fine up to the time I brought the car in for the work. On the other hand, they did do an excellent job on the body work, I'm very pleased with that.

Is this a fair/regular deal they are offering or am I getting scammed? As I first mentioned, I don't have a lot of experience in this area. Thanks!

__________________
Chris
2007 E550 4Matic - 61,000 Km - Iridium Silver, black leather, Sport package, Premium 2 package
2007 GL450 4Matic - 62,000 Km - Obsidian Black Metallic, black leather, all options
1998 E430 - sold
1989 300E - 333,000 Km - sold
1977 280E - sold
1971 250 - retired

"And a frign hat. They gave me a hat at the annual benefits meeting. I said. how does this benefit me. I dont have anything from the company.. So they gave me a hat." - TheDon

me in Wpg. He said she said. The time spent fighting over it ain't worth it. Take the 50%. The sensor can't be that expensive. That way you will be happy it works and they will be happy that you are happy - everybody happy happy happy - don't worry - be happy!!!

I once had a sensor replaced and to honest it wasn't that expensive. Be glad that they did a nice job on your paint because thats far more important than the easily repaired sensor. While your at it make sure they put everything else back together correctly. I had bodywork done on a car in the past and remember the bumper was not installed properly. Also make sure all the fasteners and bolts are installed. Other than that enjoy the car!

Placo1

__________________
Afshin

Current:
02 C32 AMG

Previous:
92 500E
84 190E 2.3 5 Spd

I remember somebody mentioned a CHEAP repair of the sensor with items from an electronic supplier... Radio shack? Worth looking into it?:p

__________________
J.H.
'86 300E

Ambient air temp. sensor = $45 @ PartsShop/FastLane.

__________________
The Golden Rule

1984 300SD (bought new, sold it in 1988, bought it back 13 yrs. later)

Thanks for the opinions guys. It's been resolved. They came back to me with a 60-40 split and I said sure. They even threw in a spring-time rustproofing touch up for free, so I'm now quite happy.

Funny how you can get pulled into something too closely and you lose a little perspective...

__________________
Chris
2007 E550 4Matic - 61,000 Km - Iridium Silver, black leather, Sport package, Premium 2 package
2007 GL450 4Matic - 62,000 Km - Obsidian Black Metallic, black leather, all options
1998 E430 - sold
1989 300E - 333,000 Km - sold
1977 280E - sold
1971 250 - retired

"And a frign hat. They gave me a hat at the annual benefits meeting. I said. how does this benefit me. I dont have anything from the company.. So they gave me a hat." - TheDon