Three days after pickup, my CLK55 shed it's antenna somewhere between a car wash and returning to Silicon Valley. I order a replacement rubber tip on Ebay, but found it was the wrong one, and after getting a dealer "quote" of $175, decided I was both smarter, and more crafty than the parts hustlers and engineers.

Started with this:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/boxeswithknobs/6290844807/http://www.flickr.com/photos/boxeswithknobs/6290844807/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/boxeswithknobs/, on Flickr

You can see the cone shape has a greater flare to it than the old version, which was only held in place by a lip on the inside - great for stress relief, but also a guarantee of flex breakage and possible damage + water infiltration into the antenna assembly and corrosion.

So, I took a Dremel grinder bit to the circular lip of the antenna pod base and *widened* the hole sufficiently to get the new rubber boot through to the 3rd "detent".

http://www.flickr.com/photos/boxeswithknobs/6290844875/http://www.flickr.com/photos/boxeswithknobs/6290844875/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/boxeswithknobs/, on Flickr

Then, I trimmed the fat base (actually, cut it with shears) to leave room for the antenna wire, and make sure there was no pressure keeping it from sealing when tightened down.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/boxeswithknobs/6290844945/http://www.flickr.com/photos/boxeswithknobs/6290844945/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/boxeswithknobs/, on Flickr

And, voila, a near-factory finish looking rubber tip, which won't get popped off in the car wash:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/boxeswithknobs/6293240327/http://www.flickr.com/photos/boxeswithknobs/6293240327/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/boxeswithknobs/, on Flickr

With the prices they ask for some of these cosmetic parts, we could open up a private CNC/3D-printing shop like http://www.shapeways.com/.

Hope this tip helps someone!

 

EuroParts Direct has the antenna for $25.

 

Yes, that would have been entirely feasible, but I had literally no time to re-order. The part arrived as I drove back to LA for a car show Saturday morning, so I had to make-do with what I had.

As I noted, the original part has a weaker section at the rubber lip, which is why they are prone to breakage at that point. Although there is some risk of additional stress on the base with this mod, the likelihood of the rubber part coming off is *greatly* reduced with this mod.