Mud flaps on the w116?

[arman]

Hi peoples I'm a happy man! I finally mounted the (original?) rear mud flaps which have been lying in the trunk besides the spare wheel, and the result is shown below. I've searched in the gallery but there aren't too many w116's with mud flaps?
The one I saw in the gallery had a more distinct and 'thinner' star logo on them. Are mines older, my car is from 1974? Or aren't they original? I think the star is a little fat but that may have been normal in the early days?

Please vote if you like, but it would also be nice if you reply and write down your thoughts.










And if you want to see what the car looked like before, follow: http://gallery.w116.org/v/show_room/Armans450sel/


Regards,

[KenM]

They look fine Arman, I've got mud flaps on my 450 se, they seem to be quite common here in Oz. Don't know about the star on yours though, it is much fatter than all the ones I've seen here, may be because they are old as you say but you would think MB would have the specs for their star the same the world over, don't know if there's any way you can tell whether your mudguards are original or not.

Ken

[flutes]

I'd like to hijack this thread to again discuss how fantastic w116's look in black.  Lovely looking car Arman (what's with your aerial though?).

[oscar]

I'm siding with the hijackers  Your car looks amazing in black.  The hubcaps look magic too.

But onto the mudflaps, I'm not sure what to think arman.  Back in 1990 when I was 17 our 350 looked naked without them because every other car on the road seemed to have them so I begged my dad to get some mudflaps which he did months later.  Fast forward to 2004 when I became the owner of the 350, all of a sudden I wasn't too fond of them and I removed them.  Give it time and I'm sure I'll find them attractive again and will put them on again.  It's a bit like bundts versus hubcaps.  I never used to like bundts, until I got some and my collection of 10 or so hubcaps were hung from nails on the shed wall.  Seeing your car now makes me want to try them again.

I took some pics some time ago of the mudflaps I have.  The first lot were from the 350 but all have 123 part numbers.  Not full part numbers, just the '123' then the words 'front' etc.  So whilst I thought they were 116 original types they're not and the white stars and cricles appear thinner then yours arman.

The second photo is from the brown 280 with these striped mudflaps and chromed logo inserts.  I was really fond of these types (when they're clean) and none have any part numbers.  I don't know if they were mercedes supplied or purely aftermarket and I'm not about to guess.  The mountings are much more professionally done then the 1st lot.  The 1st lot had  three clamps gripping the rubber flap and the body work.  The 2nd lot have metal brackets extending the length of the top edge of the flaps




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[koan]

My car had mud flaps when I bought it but I thought they looked ugly and binned them. Seem to recall they were ribbed but had a smaller M-B logo, about 1/2 size of the ones shown, possibly not OEM.

Should have kept them shouldn't I.

koan

[WGB]

When the cars were new in New Zealand in the 70's most "country duty" 116's had the ribbed type fitted with the M-B logo.

Most country cars were also optioned with alloy wheels as well as the hubcaps didn't last long on gravel roads - either chipped or came off.

The city cars rarely had mudflaps so it was part of the city/rural divide.

Bill

[arman]

My car has since I've owned it had the front mud flaps mounted. They also have a star on them but not in white. They are the same sort of 6-7mm thick rubber and I really have to be careful not to damage anything because the material is too stiff/strong in my opinion.

Front mud flap


Rear mud flap with metall bracket

Then I thought of my rubber floor mats and they also have the Mercedes logo on them, just as fat as on the mud flaps! Are those fake or is it just the way things looked in the early seventies?

Floor mat

The mud flaps have a number: ts234 (left hand) and ts235 (right hand)

The floor mat has a number tg234.

I found one picture of a mud flap on the internet with a MB logo, just as fat as mines as it seems, and that is from a much older model:
http://www.mbzponton.org/valueadded/maintenance/webasto/mb_webasto_deflector1.jpg

Back in the seventies a lot of roads in Sweden were unsealed but nowadays the most are sealed. I don't like to drive on unsealed roads and try always to avoid that. Moreover my car is black and if it is raining the rear area behind the rear wheels gets a bit messy. I hope to avoid that with these mud flaps.

[benzjarr]

looks like a tacky 1980's add on

[sannerud]

This type is mounted on my -75 280S. I thought this was the original since it's very common on old Mercedes here in Norway...

[KenM]

For my 2 cents worth the mudflaps in Oscars second picture are the real thing, I've got the same ones as Oscars first pic and I don't think these are original parts, all the flat rubber ones look too tacked on to me, the ribbed ones with the chrome logo look much more solid, more like Teutonic thinking there I reckon.

Ken

[arman]

I'd like to hijack this thread to again discuss how fantastic w116's look in black.  Lovely looking car Arman (what's with your aerial though?).

Flutes it's quit a unique solution and sort of a heavy-duty one. I don't know anyone who has the same type. You are the first commenting this  It makes FM sort of high-end sounding over my old Blaupunkt.
Normally it goes all the way down when I take the key out of the ignition but it's broken now. Very practical though during a drive in dark nights where street illumination is missing and nobody has tried to brake up the locks since it broke down . Although I can't park as easy anymore let alone drive into my garage... 

[arman]

Don't you guys agree that the mud flap/splash guard on this MB Ponton has the same sort of 'fat' star?
http://www.mbzponton.org/valueadded/maintenance/webasto/webasto2.htm

The writer also comments this mud flap as a very popular OEM asseccory... I like to think mine are some how original -maybe not for the W116- but I think the previous owner took them away because some work had to be done behind the rear wheels probably due to rust. The mud flaps are so stiff that I have to back out of the drive way to avoid them hitting the pavement after the rear wheel has rolled off the pavement. I think they can damage the body work or at least the screw holes.

Sannerud yours are attached differently aren't they? Mine are partially bolted to a narrow piece of metall (bracket) behind the rear wheels. Yours are hanging under the body? My front flaps are just screwed to the body work. Of course this introduced many rust problems after 10 years or so.

But I like yours Oscar especially the ones with the star centered and I absolutely agree with KenM that MB would have a set of specs of how the star should look like but after I saw this Ponton image in the above link I assume they are just very old/early models. It is the only picture I've found of that 'fat' star.

[sannerud]

Janse yours are attached differently aren't they? Mine are partially bolted to a narrow piece of metall (bracket) behind the rear wheels. Yours are hanging under the body? My front flaps are just screwed to the body work. Of course this introduced many rust problems after 10 years or so.

I don't know about janse, but I guess you mean me...?

Yes they are attached differently. It's not easy to see at the pictures below because of the rust... (the car have been driven 407330km on salted Norwegian roads )

[arman]

Janse yours are attached differently aren't they? Mine are partially bolted to a narrow piece of metall (bracket) behind the rear wheels. Yours are hanging under the body? My front flaps are just screwed to the body work. Of course this introduced many rust problems after 10 years or so.

I don't know about janse, but I guess you mean me...?

Sorry I meant you Sannerud. I mixed up you 2 Norwegian members.

I see that you don't have the thin metall brackets which I have on mine. Weren't these standard for the W116 body even if you didn't order mud flaps? Or do you think yours have rusted away? Your mud flap looks genuine MB but maybe as they didn't want to stay put because of rust issues, the previous owner could have cut them and put them on again under the body? Yours are probably also quite stiff and the farther they sit behind the rear wheels the more they will suffer from impacts.

I found an image of another 1977 280SE here in Sweden with a somewhat 'thicker' star on the splash guards. These are not the same as mine because they have a thicker rubber frame following the outer contours. Mines are solid with only the star embossed.

[flutes]

Sannerud those shots are making me glad a live in warm climate away from the ocean!