Hello, I posted a similar question in the new members thread but I figure I’d get more of R129 enthusiasts opinion on the matter. Two days ago a jeep backed up into my sweet baby. His jeep was raised and my car is lowered so I was out of sight when he decided to reverse full throttle in my grill and hood. Fortunately for him he had no damage since his tow hitch is what collided with my hood. He agreed to pay for repairs out of pocket and keep insurance out of it. Body shops are closed on the weekends so tomorrow I will be getting quotes on the repairs. I just wanted to see what other peoples opinions are on the matter. I know repairs could be more than the actual cars value. So I’m between getting a new car or fixing mine. I also have pretty good experience with cars hands on just not body damage. I was thinking I could buy a used hood and grill and install it myself to cut labor costs of going to a body shop. But I also don’t know how deep the damages as my hood latch is stuck and I can’t open the hood anymore. I don’t believe there’s any frame damage. I’ll attach some pictures. Please let me know how I should go about this. Thank you to all the







R129 heads in the forum I appreciate your consideration and comments.

 

Looking at those photos, I would safely say you'll be fine.
That hood can be repaired, or as you indicated, replaced.

The grill is available online, it's just a matter of how OEM you'd like the parts to be.

If you like the R129, fix it. Where there's a will, there's a way.

 

you know this car and he is paying to fix it so what is issue?

Keep it have it fixed properly

 

I spent all day getting quotes from multiple body shops, even went to the MB W.I. Simonson certified facility in Santa Monica, they all reported it as a total loss. Repairs are more than the cars value. I got estimates ranging from $5,800 - $15,000 since it is a preliminary estimate there’s indefinitely more work to be done ranging from $3,000 - $5,000 on top of every estimate once the tear down is done. There is a slight crack of the frame on the driver side. I’m still debating on whether I should fix it, or buy a whole new R129. Ideally I’d like to fix it with the place that gave me lowest estimate but I understand that could be just priced low to bring me in then once the tear down is inspected the price will spike significantly. Most places recommended I go to the insurance company for the repair instead out of pocket but unfortunately that would lead to me to registering as a salvage title which I wouldn’t want. Roughly a new hood from Germany would be $2,000 and a new grill from Germany would be $800. I know I can get a used hood bonnet and grill from eBay for around $1200 my only issue is i dont know how perfectly things would line up with they’re being damage to the engine bay support beam it’s dented and needs to be pulled. Also the passenger side fender isn’t exactly lining up correct, there’s a slight gap from the fender to the windshield pillar. Any advice? Thank you to everyone who commented prior.

 

find parts here:
Car-Part.com--Used Auto Parts Market

I found bunch of hoods for sale
BAsically find a junkyard with your car and tell contact them and give them a complete list of stuff you want.

 

Where are you located? What year is your SL? We have grilles and hoods. Many times the black color will match . My son has a large R129 business and has dismantled over 60 R129’s. We are located in Ohio .
You can check out my sons ebay store “thebenzgarage” thanks Bill