Really sorry to hear about your bad experiences. Best of luck with the repairs!

I almost had the same experience today, but was luckier. A pickup truck in front of me had started moving away from the stop sign, after waiting for way too long (hesitant driver) -- but then stopped in the middle of the intersection, without my noticing it. I was turning right and was only paying attention to the incoming traffic from the left, gunned the engine when I saw an opening, and... almost hit the stopped truck. Managed to stop a few inches from it.

Two lessons I got from this afternoon:
(i) I was lucky (don't want to credit my reflexes, that's the surest way to be overconfident the next time);
(ii) though I am not completely satisfied with the stopping power of the brakes in hard driving in the twisties, so far I _love_ the emergency brake assistance feature. I had thought that it would be like having a nanny behind my shoulders all the time, but I suspect that the greater boost in emergency stops has saved my hide twice over the last year.

sorry to hear that about your car, but i hope that you can get it fixed back to its original shape with all of the mods that you placed already onto it. I'm sure you could try taking it to another body shop that does reputable work and see if they would entertain the possibility of letting you get the 05 front end for the coupe. Though that would be a very nice addition to the coupe.

The so called 05 grille is actually the 2005 "Evolution" or "Evolution AMG" grille in germany. Here in the states, all coupes 04 and up came with the C7, or "Evolution" package standard.

The car in the picture is a non evolution euro model.

Just to pile on....make a stink about the flame job. That's just bull****. Damaged or not, its not their property...period.

Doug,
ride with me up to the October 15 MB/AMG Meet in Irvine.
do you want to meet at my house ?
I put your name down on the list, with VTAMN C being there in spirit.

also,
are you going to the CORONADO Speed Festival this weekend ?
I'll probably be there all day Saturday. A lot of vintage racers,
and I think they have a Mercedes-Benz corral too.

Carlos

Saprissa@aol.com

Doug, the flames look good! ...j/k...I'd place a formal comlaint for sure on that one.

As for the front bumper, if you can get the '06 to work, I think that front bumper looks really nice!

carlos, i will ride with you this weekend to the meet for sure.

i will be putting aformal complaint in with MBSD with the hood. between the hood and the missing foam this has been one eye opening experinece on quality.

no problem

Let me know what MBSD says. Those dirty b@st@rds.
Hopefully, once all this is behind ya, you can get back on track with the mod craze.


__________________
Carlos

Saprissa@aol.com
Sign up to attend the:
Orange County MB & AMG Meet in Irvine, CA - October 15th !
and see the:
Complete Attendee List

they new hood was being fitted today. i took some pics during lunch and will post them after work. they new bumper should be in sometime this week.

here is the new hood. they painted the underside friday and saturday and are aligning it with the fenders, and will paint it once the bumper arrives. should be in tuesday or wednesday they are saying.

looking good mang.... sorry to hear about the accident. Hope your baby gets fixed faster than expected so you can drive her again.

That grey spot on the fender is going to give you trouble. Body filler shrinks over time, and they almost never feather it good enough. And they will never be able to blend that touch up right. They should have had someone pop out the dent without paint, paint it all, or replace it entirely.

yeah i asked about that. they wouldn't replace that fender just because it was that little spot that was bent. kinda sucks!
they are said they are going to guarantee my satisfaction. we'll see. ive been down there every other day checking on the progress and their work.

the new bumper arrived today, i will be going in at lunch to make sure its the right one.

well i just got back and it is the right one. they also ordered the non-evolution grill which im going to have painted green to match the car. the evolution grill i will keep silver.

Doug, glad things are going more in a forward direction now. Keep us posted.

You're gonna be at the meet, right?

yeah im riding up with carlos. ill definately be at the meet

Its gonna show the first time the temp changes dramatically. Body filler shrinks and expands at a different rate than metal.

Plan on *****ing royally. Also, keep an eye on the prep work on that hood. A new hood shouldn't need so much aggressive sanding. It looks used.

i went down there today and they are prepping for painting since the bumper came in. i have pics of whats done so far. there is very little filler in there and when i called my insurance company they said they did not approve a new fender because there was very little damage. let me know what you think about what is done so far once i post the pics this evening.

word of advice citron....if you keep going down there everyday, they will get irratated at you thus they will find a way to f*ck around w/you....

yeah i hear ya, they called me to come in a verify the bumper. im not going back for a couple days. i am very weary though because of the missing foam from the last body shop.

i don't go down ever day, but i am there for a reason. first time was to provide a list of part numbers for 2005 parts, second time was to verify they ordered the wrong bumper, and then today. i will be back in when the mesh arrives so i can mask it off for them to paint. im not there lingering, but when i am there i do look at the car, take pics and am there for a purpose. w/e.

here is what has been done so far. you can see area on the driver fender where the patch was, but they were still wet sanding it and were going to do one more spray and sand it again they said. so im hoping it comes out ok.

the reason the looks off is because the driver side was latched down but passenger side wasnt.

also pics of the 2005 bumper.

2005 bumper looks good man! It looks like they're doing a good job, just taking a look at what's on the pics.

thanks drex. i really do like the 2005 bumper 10x more than i like the 02-04. though AMG would have been nice, this is going to be better than what i had.

Have them paint it off the car. It will look better, and you won't have to mask it. There's very few shops that will do it this way...most paint it on the car. That's not the best way to get a good paint job though. On the car you have difficulty seeing everything, tight access to certain panel sectioins, and runs are a big problem. Most are just lazy. The parts have to be fited first to check for any gapping or alignment issues. They don't want to do this twice. They won't have to put the panel back on after painting. Others don't want to risk a scrape during fitment. This basically says we don't trust our employees to do it right. Masking off the other areas also means you end with overspray and masking lines ....something a future used car buyer will look for an avoid like the plague. I don't care how good they think they are, youre going to have overspray on a back panel, a window, or a wheel. Normal crap work is OK for the average idiot in an Accord or Camry...I wouldn't accept it.

I disagree, stop in everyday. Make friends with the guys working on your car. Bring in Beer or donuts...they will understand youre an enthusiast whose passionate about the car. Do not act like a snob, or a 'gangster' . If they don't want you checking in on the car, tell them you don't want them touching your car and go somewhere else. Most work done in repair shops is so bad its laughable.

Yeah, big improvement. I never understood why they went with the cutesy little oval hole for the intercooler.