The White Dog

[John]

RM Tyres in Rochester are careful, Rash, and good on price too...

Sorry to hear about the dog - I must have missed this post.

Feel a bit sorry for the guy who's dog it was. Seems he's had a pretty sh*t time of it.

I also think you did the right thing re: insurance. I would have felt the same in that situation.

 

[Rashman]

RM Tyres in Rochester are careful, Rash, and good on price too...

Sorry to hear about the dog - I must have missed this post.

Feel a bit sorry for the guy who's dog it was. Seems he's had a pretty sh*t time of it.

I also think you did the right thing re: insurance. I would have felt the same in that situation.

Hey bud, thanks for posting up

Yes, it really was an unfortunate incident

And like you say, the dog owner has really had things tough.

I managed to get my tyres changed without damage

Just waiting on my new bumper, then I can finally get the car sorted.

 

[Rashman]

update...

I had a call from John at the Bodyshop this morning to say that the front bumper is is not available at the factory?

He said that it sounds like they either have to make a bumper or try and source one from somewhere.

Sounds like this is now going to take weeks, if not a month or two to get sorted!

Do any of you know of somebody high up in Mercedes Germany I can contact by email, should the factory start dragging their heels about all this?

.... Just had an email from David Skinner at Maidstone to say that he is on case and will be chasing for a quick lead time on this.

Really appreciating David's involvement in this.

 

[Dr-Nab]

Sorry to hear of the delay Rash, hope it gets resolved quickly this is the same sort of problem I encountered after I'd spoken to you at Trax about the liklihood of being able to get hold of a CLK63 bumper easily/quickly. My guys at MB said they couldn't give me a date back then the only things I could get hold of are "good" replicas from some other contacts to make moulds of a front lip. I could never guarantee perfect fitment for genuine bumpers because I don't know what degree of accuracy the replicas would be made to since all the other stuff is made from real OEM parts.

 

[C240Sport97]

update...

the front bumper is is not available at the factory?

has been some sort of run on CLK63 bumpers??

 

[KillerHERTZ]

Complete one on eBay.de

MBenzNL also sell brand new ones from factory - instock. - Authorised OEM parts reseller, I wonder if they could be used to supply?

 

[m2287]

Not sure if this is of any use...

Mercedes AMG W209 CLK63 Coupe Cabrio Front Bumper | eBay

 

[Rashman]

Complete one on eBay.de

MBenzNL also sell brand new ones from factory - instock. - Authorised OEM parts reseller, I wonder if they could be used to supply?

Hey Karl,

I have been in contact with Mercedes about what you have said and they are looking into it.

They were most surprised and me mentioning that the Netherlands may well have stock of my bumper and probably wondered how the hell I came to learn of this. lol!

Both David & Darren at Maidstone are looking into this and will hopefully have news for me by early next week.

Darren mentioned that there is a route that is taken when ordering/ sourcing parts..

First, they check stock levels at Milton Keynes, then they go to Germany. If Germany don't have stock of an item, they then try to source the part from their outlets around the world.

So it may be that Germany will be contacting the Netherlands or any other outlet that has my bumper in stock.

I'll keep you informed of things.

Thanks for your input on this matter.. much appreciated!

 

[Rashman]

Not sure if this is of any use...

Mercedes AMG W209 CLK63 Coupe Cabrio Front Bumper | eBay

Hey bud, thanks for your post.

Unfortunately, I won't be going anywhere near CKS again, after the poor service they gave me when I had my old CLK.

But thanks for your help with this bud

Thing is, it may well be possible to source a bumper from ebay, but I don't know if MB would be happy to do that as I'm sure they will say that there is no way for them to guarantee the quaility/ condition of the bumper.

It's going to take a while longer for MB to source one by the looks of it but I would rather MB get the bumper so that they can ensure it is genuine and in perfect condition. Then they would be able to take responsibility if any issues should arise.

 

[Rashman]

has been some sort of run on CLK63 bumpers??

Shortage, you mean?

God knows.

I know the CLK63 is pretty rare but jeeeesus

 

[Rashman]

Sorry to hear of the delay Rash, hope it gets resolved quickly this is the same sort of problem I encountered after I'd spoken to you at Trax about the liklihood of being able to get hold of a CLK63 bumper easily/quickly. My guys at MB said they couldn't give me a date back then the only things I could get hold of are "good" replicas from some other contacts to make moulds of a front lip. I could never guarantee perfect fitment for genuine bumpers because I don't know what degree of accuracy the replicas would be made to since all the other stuff is made from real OEM parts.

Hey bud, yeah, I'm hoping I'll hear back from Mercedes with some good news soon.

I really wanted all this sorted out before the winter arrives.. I'm not going to want to run the car back and forth from the dealers once salt has been thrown about the place!

Hopefully they can source a bumper soon...

 

[e55]

Just read this and sorry for you mate.
Hope you get your new bumper soon.

Will you have to polish it 70 times at once so it matches the rest of the car?

 

[Rashman]

Just read this and sorry for you mate.
Hope you get your new bumper soon.

Will you have to polish it 70 times at once so it matches the rest of the car?

Adrian!
Hey bud. Hope all is well with you

Yes, I'm hoping the car will get sorted soon too.. Not so sure at the moment because there doesn't seem to be a bumper available for it at the moment.. Not even from the factory!

So it may be a while yet.

Not happy about it. But as usual, there's nothing that can be done about it.

Yes, I will need to wax the bumper to balance it with the rest of the car. Not 70 times, but 74!

 

[KillerHERTZ]

Any updates?

 

[Rashman]

Any updates?

Hey Karl, hope you are well, bud.

No updates as of yet I'm afraid

I spoke to John at the Bodyshop last Friday and he hadn't heard anything regarding an ETA of the new bumper

He did, however, mention that they had changed the status of the order to VOR (vehicle off road) as this should speed up the process.

Thing is, if MB Germany are having to source a bumper from anywhere they can from around the world, VOR is unlikely to make any difference

I'll ring the guys at Maidstone in alittle while and see if they know anymore.

To be honest, I can see this dragging on for weeks.
At least the car is safe at home and tucked away in the garage.. and not sitting around at the dealer waiting for the bumper.

I'll keep you updated.

 

[Rashman]

So I called Maidstone Mercedes today to find out if there was any news on my bumper.

They're saying that they have a release date for the bumper - which is the 29th oct (next Monday).

Darren tells me that this means that they should have it approx 2 days after this date.

But he also told me that the release date is subject to change - which probably means that it can be late if someone sods up the shipping process.

So, if all goes as it is supposed to, they should have the bumper by next wed/thur - which should hopefully mean they will have enough time to get my car in and complete the work by the end of next week.

I'm not holding my breath yet. The last time I was waiting for a part for my car, I waited 3.5 months!! (but I won't go into that now).

So I can't do anything more apart from wait until the middle of next week to see if they've got the bumper

 

[brucemillar]

Rashman

I have some old wooden pallets kicking around. Happy to knock something together if that helps.

 

[brucemillar]

Rashman

Your perfect loaner below. Drive it with pride my man.

 

[Howard]

Can't be bothered to read all 15 pages of this ...

Did you have to sue the little old lady and the disabled man whose dog died to repair your CLK63 in the end ?

Did they have to pawn their wedding rings to pay for your new bumper ?

 

[Rashman]

Rashman

Your perfect loaner below. Drive it with pride my man.

Wow!..... that is a beaut!

I reckon I'll just get rid of the CLK63 and get one of these badboys!!

I love the way the lines of the body flow together like water.

LOL!!!