I feel different sitting in the driver seat after the accident, but couldn't tell what it was. Only after I have called the insurance agent to file a claim did I realize the headrest popped out. So, I have two questions - 1. is there anyway I can pop the headrest back in? 2. the rear bumper obviously needs to be replaced. Are there anything else (like the headrest, perhaps, safety feature) I need to inspect as part of the insurance claim? Thanks very much in advance!

 

Yikes see my post over in amg w211

 

Sorry to hear about this! If you have one in your area, take the car to a Mercedes-Benz Certified Collision Center. They will go over everything in your car and bring it back to factory specs (and bill the living daylights out of the insurance company of the car that hit you...)

 

Thanks! Since the insurance agent asked what was the damage when I filed the claim, thought I want to put together a thorough list. Good idea! I'll let the dealer put together that list.

 

Can you send me the link? Appreciate it!

 

Just for those who might be interested, I found this post about resetting the headrest after an accident - http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w211...ml#post3008305

 

FWIW, my reset tool was not in the glove compartment, but in the tool wrap in the trunk.

 

go through Mercedes body shop...they will find everything wrong from the accident. That is what I did

 

Who is your insurance co, who is the culprit's insurance company? This is important information to gauge things too. I just got rear ended and we are with Liberty Mutual, as was the person that hit us, so it was relatively easy. We still had to go to the insurance inspection garage before taking it to the Mercedes Benz dealer with in-house body shop. We were pushed into the car in front, and they painted and resprayed the front and rear numbers, very minor damage all of it, bill came out to $1800.00, including new bumper moldings all the way around. If you have to deal with another insurance co other then your own, it can be more challenging and frustrating sometimes...but you should get it all handled properly if taken to the right shop. Demand OEM parts!

 

Thank you for all the suggestions! I have Liberty Mutual as well. The other party has Trinity Universal (never heard of it). Got a call from the rep today, they are sending an adjuster to my home next week. We'll see ...

 

If you have any other boo boo's anywhere it is a good time to get it addressed. I had them paint a front quarter panel for $220.00, which is cheap, but there cost is less if they are painting other areas. Former owner had a small area where they performed a bad touchup paint job on a small scrape ...that was the only flaw on the vehicle, no longer!

 

It's not your job to put together any such list. Just tell the insurance company that you want the car fixed per Mercedes specs and that you will be dropping the car off at the repair shop you have identified and let the insurance company and the Mercedes Approved Collision Center deal with getting everything in order for your car.

I did have to stay on top of both of them to make sure no one was dragging their feet.

 

I made an appointment at the dealer's collision service today. will see what they find out. thanks!

 

There is alot with the bumper that can be affected even by a 5MPH crash. The energy absorbing material MUST be replaced no matter the speed of the impact.

 

Would this material be on a Mercedes Body Shop Invoice in some fashion? I just had mine fixed but there was no mention I recall of this, but it could very well have been addressed. I did ask the main guy how bad it was, and he said it was minimal, it was a 5 mph hit, pushed me 3 ft. No seat or airbags deployed, and almost invisible to the eye as far as damage.

 

I got an estimate from the dealer's body shop. just over $2000. (that's only for the damage that is visually apparent. Structural will need to wait until the bumper has been removed). I tried to get them to fix a few nicks here and there, but they said as small as the nicks were, because of the depth, the entire door panel had to be repainted ... I don't want to pay $500 for small nicks, I mainly worry about the new paint won't match exactly to the rest of the car, then, from a distance, or a certain angle, one can tell the door is slightly different from the rest of the car - I would be really kicking myself then

The adjuster moved the appointment to next week. Just found out the insurance is called Kemper (just became a public traded company on NYSE in August, 2011). Has anyone heard of them?

By the way, my front windshield has a crack, it's grown to about 1.5 feet long. I've been putting it off for a few months, not sure whoever doing the job would mess it up (breaking other things, not seal it right, etc). The reason for my worry is a bad taste in the mouth from an old experience (the side window wouldn't move smoothly after the replacement of my bimmer). Does anyone have experiences with front windshield replacement? Anything I should know before ordering the replacement? Many thanks!

 

I am not sure whether or not its just a dense foam pad or if its a corrugated plastic filler. Both of those items are meant to absorb low speed collisions. But they are a one time use. Check this link

http://www.motorweek.org/features/go...ccident_damage

 

My E500 has been rearended twice. (In 50+ yrs of driving I have had 6 accidents ALL REAREND. ) STUPID!

However I suggest you be sure to check the led stop/turn lights. ON one of my rearend events I picked the car up and only the bottom lights on both sides. The board had failed on the top light. There is a safety feature that if one light fails the other will take over the function.

The body shop insisted it was the bulb, but there are NO bulbs. The car had to go to the MB shop for total replacement of the boards on the car. This added another week to the delivery.

After repairs open the trunk lit look across the bottom lip and make sure it is straight. I recommend replace the rear trunk lid if it is damage. I think it is aluminum.


Check the trunk latch make sure it closes properly. Look at the gap between the trunk lid and fenders to be even AND check the weather strip.

Check both rear quarter panels behind the rear wheels between the bumper to be sure there is no bending of the panel. This is where damage occurs.

Also look at the panes just below the rear pillar of the top for any wave pattern to see if there is bending.

Good judgment comes from bad experience.

 

Thank you for the sound advices !!!

 

@anewbie : Dude if you put off your windshield repair for even longer, believe me it can cost you more. You may even have to get it replaced. Better have it ri8 before the damages spread man!

 

Thanks for the info.I emailed this to the guy working on my car at the bodyshop. Hopefully he will go through all of the stuff you advised. Initial estimate from appriaser was $2900 and once at the bodyshop is $4500 now.

 

Novae500 that is in the price range I would expect. Both of my rear end damage on my E500 was $4000 - $5000 to repair.