noregret4life

Posts: 1,092

Country:

Thanks: 1

Thanked 17 Times in 11 Posts

Here is a pic of the cracked front lip.

One thing to keep in mind is that the previous owner ate some curb at one point on this side. This i was aware of and perhaps weakened the lip itself. So when i smaked whatever the hell it was on the road, it hit hard enough below to crack the front lip.

Dan, You said to drill... Where my friend? Just the thought of taking a drill to my front lip makes my hands shake

etyu

Posts: 5,306

Country:

Thanks: 381

Thanked 282 Times in 173 Posts

NG4L, OUCH! I think there's no metal behind the plastic as it is below the fog lamp area. You should be able to remove the black underside panels. Perhaps elevate the front of the car by driving up two small service ramps.

You can bring the edges of the crack closer by using masking tape, tape and burnish on one side of the crack, then pull to bring the edges together and lay down the taut masking tape on the other side of the crack and burnish the masking tape.

You can then reinforce from the backside using fiberglass strips and resin. Hopefully the crack will be reduced to a hairline and no further painting is required.

If not, it looks like a decent body shop will be able to fix and reinforce the crack, and take care of the scratches left by the previous owner. My sympathies.

__________________
Eddy

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Pewter/Beige, PIII package, Airscarf, Hands-Free Communication System, Lighting package
Designo Black Leather Cover on e-brake handle, (
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Bill T), SmartTop v1.0, Kleyman 3BFM (NoRegret Custom), Green Air Filters, Mod. R170 ant., EuroClear sidemarkers w/PIAA PlasmaIon lamps, chromed front & rear turn indicator lamps, PIAA SuperPlasmaGTX front parking lamps, bilateral rear fog lamps enabled.

ierax

Posts: 293

Country:

Thanks: 1

Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts

My best advice, find someone that manufactures/repairs "plastic" boats. They are higly skilled in the repairs of various composites materials and their work may shine compared to the work of a car bodyshop when dealing with bumpers..

-1-

Posts: 2,231

Country:

Thanks: 54

Thanked 57 Times in 41 Posts

The drilling process is referred to as "stop drill". You would drill a small hole at the end of the crack. Stress causes the crack to creep or spread as with a windshield. The hole should prevent the crack from spreading. I believe the damage you have can be repaired yourself with minimal cost as etyu stated unless you want it repaired professionally.

__________________

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

----------------1-----------------
--------SLK 55 ///AMG---------
THE MON55TER ON THE BLOCK

noregret4life

Posts: 1,092

Country:

Thanks: 1

Thanked 17 Times in 11 Posts

Thanks for the tips. I will attempt to fix this myself. The crack does line up perfectly so i will try to fiberglass it first. Not much experience there, but this would be a good time to learn...

Any tips or where i can get a good fiberglass tutorial (outside of just googling for one)

Ynot

Posts: 2,795

Country:

Thanks: 135

Thanked 35 Times in 30 Posts

Sorry to hear about it, it hurts just looking at those pics. Taking the bumper off isn't to hard, fgwinn had a tuturial on benzworld.org, check it out, he took it out a couple of times already to have it repainted. Check out some local body shops, it might be worth getting it fixed and resprayed. If you live in Colorado, I know a great bodyshop that'll fix it and restray it for $125 bucks if you take the front bumper to them. Good luck, I'm sure there's many cheap and good bodyshops in SoCal.

-1-

Posts: 2,231

Country:

Thanks: 54

Thanked 57 Times in 41 Posts

Ynot is right again. Chances are it can be professionally fixed and touched up inexpensively. However, SoCal will add to cost . NR4L is one of us, an East Coaster (NJ).

__________________

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

----------------1-----------------
--------SLK 55 ///AMG---------
THE MON55TER ON THE BLOCK

DansSlk

Posts: 6,794

Country:

Thanks: 96

Thanked 225 Times in 177 Posts

Exactly, noregret just follow what -1- has said here and that will stop the crack growing while you decide what to do exactly but i think this will be an easy job for somebody like you and most of the work will be done to the back of the lip anyways so a little mess wont be noticed.

You can of course take this to a bodyshop and get it sorted but for such slight damage i don't think its worth it it will take you like 5 minutes to do the repair if you remove the underbody cover behind the bumper you might not even have to remove it just like etyu said remove the cover and you should be fine.

Ynot also has a point about getting a shop to do the work but i really don't think he repair bill for this will run into the hundreds should you do the work yourself because the shop as to make a profit on the job but its up to you and the end of the day mate.

Sorry about the damage but at least it can be fixed hey mate.

Dan

__________________

noregret4life

Posts: 1,092

Country:

Thanks: 1

Thanked 17 Times in 11 Posts

Oh how i wish i was in SoCal ....

I think i will opt for fixing it myself. I would really like to get some experience with fiberglass. And this seems small enough of a job to do it.

I think paying $120+ (as around here its a lot more expensive) is a bit much considering an aftermarket front lip (AMG style) is $600+Paint. I am going to repair this one and down the road i think i will opt for the AMG body styling... as i'm totaly in love with it

Drilling the hole... if i drill through it will obviouly be noticeable. I take it i would use some of the fiberglass to fill it from the other side and paint over with touchup paint... am i correct here?

I will try to find a link to how to remove the front lip. If anyone remembers where they saw the link. It would save some search time.

And tips on fiberglass would be great too

Ynot

Posts: 2,795

Country:

Thanks: 135

Thanked 35 Times in 30 Posts

For some strange reason, I keep thinking you reside in SoCal, it's seems everyone's resides in SoCal.

Anyway, here's the link http://www.benzworld.org/forums/r171...ghlight=bumper

Look in the r171 gallery, I think there's some pics for removal of the front bumper. IIRC.

For me, it would be worth paying $125 to get it resprayed and looking brand new again. Fgwinn got his restrayed for $150.

DansSlk

Posts: 6,794

Country:

Thanks: 96

Thanked 225 Times in 177 Posts

noregret mate i think if you are going to opt for the AMG style pack in the future i would repair it myself the damage is so slight that even normal touch up paint will make it invisible with a bit of care i think even $100 is too much for a job like this i think that would be overkill like getting the hood resprayed for a single stone chip rather than just touching it up.

With the holes one at the top of the split and one at the bottom they only have to be slightly bigger than the crack itself then yeah fill them with the stuff and paint over them and you wont know there are there

__________________

etyu

Posts: 5,306

Country:

Thanks: 381

Thanked 282 Times in 173 Posts

NG4L, check out a nearby marina and ask where the boat owners go to have minor fixes on their boats. They may have fiberglass kits for sale for DIY. Or you may be able to trade services. Fix my lower lip (on the car, I mean) and I'll help with with the KVM install, or Kleyman 1 module, puddle lights, LED light replacement,or LCD monitor, or .....

There has to be a boat owner out there with an SLK, or a boat repair shop owner with an SLK.

__________________
Eddy

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Pewter/Beige, PIII package, Airscarf, Hands-Free Communication System, Lighting package
Designo Black Leather Cover on e-brake handle, (
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Bill T), SmartTop v1.0, Kleyman 3BFM (NoRegret Custom), Green Air Filters, Mod. R170 ant., EuroClear sidemarkers w/PIAA PlasmaIon lamps, chromed front & rear turn indicator lamps, PIAA SuperPlasmaGTX front parking lamps, bilateral rear fog lamps enabled.

noregret4life

Posts: 1,092

Country:

Thanks: 1

Thanked 17 Times in 11 Posts

Ynot... Thanks for the link.

Dan... I agree, since i plan an upgrade in the future, this minor repair is not worth the extra $

etyu... Thanks for the tip. I will head down to the local marina and talk to them there. Perhaps there is a DIY kit i can find online.


Thanks for all the help everyone. Will keep you posted on progress

Charlie

Posts: 50

Country:

Thanks: 5

Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post

I'm sorry this happened to your car... I had something VERY similar happen to mine about a month ago when my wife ran into a parking bumper while parking without noticing. I debated the same way you are at the moment. In the end I sent the car to a shop and they fixed the fracture and repainted the whole front spoiler for $150.00. The problem is that if you only paint the hairline fracture you will see it... I must say that nobody can tell it ever happened.

Regards,

Charlie

-1-

Posts: 2,231

Country:

Thanks: 54

Thanked 57 Times in 41 Posts

Solid advice here.

__________________

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

----------------1-----------------
--------SLK 55 ///AMG---------
THE MON55TER ON THE BLOCK