ildd

Last Saturday on the way to my graduation, I was going down the highway and I felt the steering wheel twitch. I turned down the music, listened, and could hear the front left tire making weird sounds- I thought it was going flat. Pulled off to the shoulder and apparently the little flap in front of the tire that guards the windshield wiper fluid and fog light is completely shredded. I don't know how, but the bottom come undone(wind caught it??) and I don't believe I would be able to reattach a new 1 because it took the parts that held the bolts with it.

TO ME, this doesn't seem like a very important piece of the car. My question, though, is do I need to replace this? I've put an additional 100 miles on the car without that thing and it feels the same with it. Miniscule MPG difference(.1 MPG coming back from where graduation was) and in the town it actually went up.
Thanks in advance.

phister

You don't need to replace it but the wires for the wiper fluid and fog lights are exposed now. I drove like that for away but eventually replaced it.

Gilgorm

These pieces typically are the ones that can be caught on a high curb or sidewalk you may have encountered while parking. On a retired BMW, a piece I snagged on a curb also ripped off on the highway but it was cheap to fix ($135 for a small piece installed)
As far as needing it you are probably OK without it as long as the wind isn't able to catch any further pieces and rip more off. In the age of dinosaurs and old cars these pieces didn't even exist so you should be good to go.
Check out the price and make your decision from there.

ildd

Thanks for the quick answers. According to mymercedesparts, its only $32...if I feel it going to ruin the wires I might buy a new one, but for now i'll hold off.