Oxygen

I was scratching around the garage late at night yesterday... I have some shelves all around the garage... was lifting a box and I had no idea there was a 15 pound marble vase on the top of the box... it rolled off and landed on my S-Class... I head it and I was scared to look at first.

It landed right on the edge of the hood where the hood meets the grill, a little off to the passenger side. It was wrapped in bubble wrap so the paint is undamaged but it made a nice crater on the lip of the hood and also one of the fins on the grill... I am so mad.

I took it to the dealership that instant to see if their collision shop could fix it, they normally charge $175/panel and do a spectacular job. Their guy looked at it and said he can't do anything on the spot, he said he has to bang it out, and even that would be hard because of the odd location and the curves that are in the hood. He said he will need to take the hood off, fix that, sand it and repaint it and also repaint both fenders and the bumper to match the color...

I am at work now, but here's a crappy picture of what it looks like, I'll get you a better one when I get home...

shadowgriffen

oh man...I feel your pain. Someone opened their door and slammed it right onto my driver side lower door panel, there is now a beautiful half-inch dent in that very same location....!

NJS430

From the picture, it looks to be in a really difficult place. The really good dent removal guys can handle this without re-painting. It just takes more time and you have to find the guy who handles the difficult jobs. I don't know how close you are to Leonia, NJ, but you might want to give the Dent Wizzard there a call and see if you can stop by and have the guy who handles the tough jobs take a look at it.

Oxygen

I kind of do want to repaint actually, my hood has had it's days getting hit will all sorts of **** it looks like, chip here, chip there, why in the world is the MB primer white/gray and not dark?!

I am about ~50 miles from Leonia, so I might very well check it out. If you can give me the address/contact, that would be cool. I am also going to check out Dentterminator in Brooklyn per someone's recommendation.

My only issue is that all these guys are weekday jobs, I'm a nine to five kinda kid (or more like 9 to 6 or 7 or 8 or 9 or...) so it's hard for me to get to these places on the weekdays.

AsianML

Would it be less painful just to get a new hood?

Oxygen

Some one else mentioned that... they said to go look around junk yards... but who really has an MY2003+ hood that's black and defect free? It would probably cost a boatload.

I got to get a new grill too, because of the crack in the fins, I want to get the S600 with the silver fins instead of the black ones... does any one know the part number and a possible price?

NJS430

Never saw a re-paint where the color match was not detectable. You can fill chips with touch-up paint and then use a product called LANKA to remove the blob - works really well.

The dent Wizzard in Leonia is open on Saturday. Their number is 201 461-5573. Just tell the person who answers the phone you have a big dent in a difficult spot and want to make sure one of their most experienced guys will be there. You may have to push them and pay a little extra, but I'm pretty sure it can be done. These guys are very proud of what they do so play to their ego.

Why buy the wrong grill for your car. I've seen a black S600 and thought it would look better if it had the black fins instead of the silver.

Oxygen

Thanks for the info.

I just think the silver grill looks a lot classier on the S-Class than the black one... check it out for your self.

Oxygen

Here is a better side by side... maybe we just have different taste.

Part numbers / Prices any one?

ajm0623

(a little off topic but) HEY ASIANML!!

take a look at the discussion above (from oxygen and njs430) -- they both discuss the s600 chrome fins (and not standard issue black fins from the s500) on the s600!! i knew we were right! damn!

[sorry to the rest of the group in this discussion. asianml and i were debating (on the same side of the issue) two other members of the 'other' benzo forum that the grille *is* in fact different on the s600 than it is on the s500,430,350. asianml and i thought it was different in that it is all chrome and no black. the two members (on the opposite side of the argument) from the other forum didn't think it was different at all. looks like we have confirmation that it *is* different (from this discussion above). sorry to hijack - just needed to draw asianml's attention to this!] cheers.

ajm0623

oxygen - i'm with you! love the all chrome grille. much classier and sets off the car from the others. i first noticed that a month or so back when a s600 was coming at me - and i thought - gee - that s class looks different for some reason! go with the all chrome if you can! looks better! damn!

Oxygen

I am looking around but all I can find is the stock OE chrome/black grill or those ugly grills with the big star in the middle...

If I can't find it online might have to go around some parking lots and pull one off...

Kidding!

ajm0623

oxygen - i just called my benzo dealer parts department; here's what i learned. there are two types of grilles: both have chrome surrounds and one has black slats and one has grey slats (this grey slatted one looks like chrome in the pix). they are both us$250.

Vader55

I love my uh-hm "ugly" grille.

Vader55

here is a chrome "black slat" 100.00 bucks

I have used these guys before

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/03-06...mZ130006657234

NJS430

It's black paint vs. metallic pewter paint. There is no difference in the quality of the grill itself. I think the pewter slats makes the vertical slats more visible. To me it makes the grill look more "Old Fashion".

Oxygen

You know what I mean, it's not always ugly... yours for example looks awesome...

My favorite is when people put in the CL grille AND keep the hood emblem...

Oxygen

Thanks buddy, I bought that.

Oxygen

Can the grill be taken apart? When my new grill comes in I am going to try to take apart my old one and paint the slats a metalic color.

Vader55

Cool They ship pretty quick from what I remember and your right, you have to get rid of the hood star with the cl grille.

Jayhawk

Are you saying that there is a difference in those two grills--other than the angle of the photo? I do not see it. I just went out and looked at mine and it is silver. No black that I can see! What am I missing here?

Jayhawk

I still think you are crazy...

Jayhawk

Is everyone crazy? My OEM grill IS silver. Not black! The underside of the grill bars may be black but they tilt downward so it's hard to tell. Is the 600 grill silver on the bottom too? Is that what you are talking about???

Oxygen

Oh boy, you are not crazy, and we are not either.

Confusion...

I guess by slants I meant the inside of the grill... see picture:

ajm0623

jayhawk - - i know you think i'm nuts. and that's okay. really! it doesn't bother me. however, the fact is - i called my benzo parts department today, and he confirmed there are two different grilles. one has black slats and one has grey slats. they both have a chrome surround and chrome horizontal leading edges for the slats (black or grey).