How serious is this damage?

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

horatio

MB Enthusiast
Joined
Apr 11, 2011
Messages
1,034
Location
herts
Car
CLK, 190E
The 190 has had a lowish speed bump on the left corner (not me!). It needs a new bumper, left headlight and wing. Probably bonnet. More concerning is the crumpling to the inner wing. Just how hard would this be for a body shop to straighten? The rails look fine.

Just wondering whether it’s worth getting some quotes and finding some used parts or abandoning the old thing (as painful as it would be :( )
 

Attachments

  • 1E5E09D2-A4C8-4346-9017-CE6744B5FEAA.jpeg
    1E5E09D2-A4C8-4346-9017-CE6744B5FEAA.jpeg
    1.3 MB · Views: 148
  • FF729538-0C7D-4722-A979-48880E8AA151.jpeg
    FF729538-0C7D-4722-A979-48880E8AA151.jpeg
    1.5 MB · Views: 144
I think the old car has had it,inner wing damage costs to repair plus all the other stuff,suspect it is the end of the road for your 190,bad luck.
 
I can get a replacement wing, headlight and bumper on eBay for not much and I’m pretty sure a dent wizard could pull the bonnet corner into shape as it’s not creased. Just a matter of how costly it would be to pull that inner wing into shape and get everything painted. If I can get the job done for a grand I’ll do it.
 
Well I can understand you wanting to repair the car,best thing is to price the parts you think will need replacing,maybe on ebay,when you have the cost for that remove the bumper and wing,and the see what else needs to be replaced,it is always the small bits of plastic and small parts that cost money when you add them up,I am sure the bonnet will repair,the inner wing will need a pull ,we have not seen a photo,but it may well only take a short time to pull,given the two repairs and the parts plus the respray I think you will be very lucky to keep it under a grand,but give it a go,it costs nothing to price the parts and then remove them to see what else if anything is needed.
 
Does the car still drive true and straight?
Yep. Mechanically its undamaged and the rails are fine. The metalwork behind the headlight is mangled though. I'll whip the broken headlight out today to have a better look.

It's a rust free car with a/c and I recently carried out a bunch of maintenance (front arms/bushes, rear shocks, alignment, rebuilt wiper, brake pipes etc) so it has a load of life left in it. Very reluctant to give up on it.
 
Better photographs would help with an assessment and opinion.
I can very much sympathise with you wanting to keep the car - I kept my s124 for 15 years and the w202 is still around after 20 years.
My brother sold my late Dad's old 190e and I still regret letting him get away with that!
Good luck!
 
I managed to find a bonnet & bumper in the same colour, both in excellent condition and a good used wing. Going in to body shop next week hopefully. All in all it should come to under £700.

I’m tempted to have both sides dusted over.
 
Tie it to a concrete bollard and reverse it back a few times...did it to my rover 216 a few years ago...worked ok for me...
When I met a tractor on a blind bend in my MkII Polo many years ago , the resulting low speed coming together with the front wheel of the tractor pushed in the grille , bumper , crumpled the bonnet and burst the radiator . There was no damage at all to the Renault tractor which was taking up most of the width of the road .

I got a replacement bumper , grille , radiator and bonnet in the correct colour from a scrappy all for £50 .

On building it up , I found the slam panel was pushed in , so I tied a rope round it , with the other end on the towbar of my 280TE and gently pulled , a little bit at a time , until the bonnet closed correctly again . Built everything back up and you wouldn’t have known anything had happened.

The car went on for several years and got passed round the family before eventually being scrapped .
 
99% there!

I have managed to lose and break a few clips of course:rolleyes:
 

Attachments

  • E7307E40-735F-413C-B4CD-CF49F5B6833D.jpeg
    E7307E40-735F-413C-B4CD-CF49F5B6833D.jpeg
    94.1 KB · Views: 16
  • A482635D-4626-438D-99D4-0DC66B3C5548.jpeg
    A482635D-4626-438D-99D4-0DC66B3C5548.jpeg
    56.5 KB · Views: 15

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom