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I'm sure this topic has been done to death but I really could use some advice. Today I woke up and walked out to my car to find that someone hit it and destroyed my bumper. No information left behind, not even some half *** apology on a note, nothing! So now I'm fu**ing pissed beyond belief and ready to murder someone. Only a few hours ago did I try to look on the bright side "This might be an opportunity to convert to CLK63 AMG front bumper." I know alot of you have done it, I would love it of any of you who have done the conversion could chime in and tell me how difficult it's going to be, if it's worth it, how I can go about doing it without spending an outrageous amount of money or is it possible that my insurance might be ok with replacing the bumper with something non OEM? Please help as I just had my fu**ing baby ruined in my eyes.
Ha man relax. This is the best opportunity to do this. Insurance will pay for the bumper. Just have them come appraise the total damage and then tell me to right you a check and you can get a body shop to order the parts or you can do it yourself. I hit a driveshaft on the hwy two years ago and it crack the bumper and a rim. Total cost was about $1000-1500 out of pocket. Best upgrade to my car since I did the clk63 brakes.
It is bolt on since no modifications have to be made and all the parts simply bolt on since after all it's a w209 front end. And you didn't do enough research if you sourced $4k. You can find used parts and depending on what was damaged insurance should pay for a decent chunk.
It is bolt on since no modifications have to be made and all the parts simply bolt on since after all it's a w209 front end. And you didn't do enough research if you sourced $4k. You can find used parts and depending on what was damaged insurance should pay for a decent chunk.
well, I have a w209 and I got a quote from my body shop AND a full list of required parts from a member here to do the full conversion and, it was about 3800$ ... so yes, did do my research
mind you the 3-4k was with paint included - insurance will only cover the oem bumper cost
Well lucky me I guess. I paid $350 cash to a local approved body shop to paint the bumper (which insurance covers) and the clk bumper was the same price as the C55 bumper. And like I said I had it all appraised and they simply wrote me a check when I asked because I wanted to do the work myself. I also bought several parts off eBay used and in excellent condition. Saving several dollar bills! Aka what I meant by research. Not simply getting someone else to put a parts list together.
So if you take the $1500 I mentioned before and add the $1000-1200 for the insurance and a few hundred for paint that sounds like we are saying the same thing $3000 ish
Thanks for all the replies guys. Regardless of the cost I am doing this conversion, I honestly hate that the US spec C55 has the exact same bumper as any cheap little 230 or 240/280 sport. I wish I could find the F1 C55 pace car bumper but it seems non existent now days. So the CLK conversion is next best thing, as I hate gawdy things like Brabus and Lorinser. Attached is a photo of the damage, it's not extreme so I highly doubt Ill need any new energy absorbers or anything major like that. I'm getting an estimate today. Hopefully there's no more bad news, yesterday as I was getting my brand spanking new Potenza's on the car I found a deep crack in my rim. So just more out of pocket BS
By the way Maverick, how hard and costly was it for the CLK63 brake upgrade? I would kill to have my rear calipers looking as sharp as the front, and I could definitely use the stopping power too. Not as though the C55 brakes are chopped liver though.
Well I did it. And It completely ruined my car, completely misaligned, they screwed my fogs in sideways and that actually caused the little chrome bezel around the left fog light to crack off. Now my nice AMG looks like dog sh** all thanks to me.
From what I saw, your bumper looked like it could have been saved. Seriously if you say it looks krap then tell the people who did the job that you aren't happy with workmanship and repair and redo it for you. Sadly insurance companies resort to paying asses to do the job and make a botch of things.
you got the clk63 bumper installed? and they messed it up? you shoulda just done it yourself. Super easy. Once I had all the pieces, I got the bumper painted with all the additional pieces that need painting to match (head light washers, tow cover, screw covers etc) I attached to the bumper. then one afternoon I lifted the car from the engine and then took old bumper off and put new one on in like an hour from start to finish.
also the clk63 upgrade was easy. It's all in my thread. The most difficult part was getting some tin snips and cutting the rear dust shields to fit and I also didn't wanna pay $1000 on rotors for the front only so I had some 2.5mm washers custom made and used them to raise the calipers off the hub to fit OEM C55 rotors. They have worked perfectly going on 40,000 miles.
I'd have to agree with Khan, but I completely understand your side too. It's like being violated, and the MF had the nerve to going. Pics of the CLK 63 bumper?