1999 E320 wagon tail gate exchange
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Junior Member
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 30
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From: Sacramento, CA
E320 1999 Station Wagon
1999 E320 wagon tail gate exchange
Hi all,
I have a question. I got rear ended a month ago and the local Body shop is replacing a tail gate on my 1999 wagon.
They replaced the steel door with the aluminum one and I am trying to figure out if I should be happy or not.
The very first thing I noticed is that the door is much lighter and does not close as easy as the steel one (e.g. I have to push it all the way down for the latch system to engage, the old one would fall down from about half the height due to its weight).
I plan to keep the car as long as it drives, so I am a little concern about how easy is it to fix aluminum door.
The damage to the door seemed minimum, but I was worried about the locking mechanism, but the body shop said, that there is no damage (BTW, they are Mercedes certified body shop).
I would appreciate any input on what I should be looking for or whether aluminum door is better or worse than steel one.
Thanks
Karel
I have a question. I got rear ended a month ago and the local Body shop is replacing a tail gate on my 1999 wagon.
They replaced the steel door with the aluminum one and I am trying to figure out if I should be happy or not.
The very first thing I noticed is that the door is much lighter and does not close as easy as the steel one (e.g. I have to push it all the way down for the latch system to engage, the old one would fall down from about half the height due to its weight).
I plan to keep the car as long as it drives, so I am a little concern about how easy is it to fix aluminum door.
The damage to the door seemed minimum, but I was worried about the locking mechanism, but the body shop said, that there is no damage (BTW, they are Mercedes certified body shop).
I would appreciate any input on what I should be looking for or whether aluminum door is better or worse than steel one.
Thanks
Karel
