W124 crash repair – parts required
Back last year, my 300TE was in a minor accident. The rear bumper took nearly all the impact, other than some scratches to the paint on one side. Before I could get the car repaired, I had to source some parts for my repairer.
The most obvious part was the rear bumper. Mine was cracked in a few places. My repairer said worst case it could probably be repaired, but we would get a much better result with a good second hand bumper. The wagon bumper is different to the sedan. They are now no longer available new and not easy to find second hand.
After a few calls, I found a friend in Melbourne had one. It was in good shape, but missing the impact strip. This wasn’t a big deal for me, as the insert (called the rail, rear bumper in the EPC) is still available new from Mercedes-Benz (124 885 07 21) and cost USD$200. The cover from my existing bumper was good enough to repaired.
I also needed a few more parts. The right hand side rear quarter needed to be repainted. Therefore, I needed the seal for the rear fixed window to the cargo area. This was still available new (124 670 20 39) and cost USD$160. This is a very complicated seal which also holds a metal strip in place. The aftermarket seals don’t have the best reputation so I was very happy to be able to get it new.
Since I needed to have the rear quarter repainted as part of the repair, I also opted to pay my repairer extra to paint the roof and the left quarter. I therefore also purchased the left window seal (124 670 19 39) out of my own pocket. Interestingly it was no longer available new, but I managed to get a new one from one of those Benz parts sellers from Latvia. Due to this, It cost about USD$250.
I would encourage anyone who has a 124 wagon who has never removed the rear windows to get a set of those genuine seals while they are still available. The biggest design flaw in the 124 wagon is the rust traps behind the seals of these windows.
In addition, there was a small crack on one of my taillights. The wagon tail lights are also no longer available, but I managed to find a second hand unit for the right hand side. My left hand unit wasn’t that great, so I also purchased on myself for the left so they would match. The new old stock seal was more expensive than the actual light!
