US bumper tuck

[1980sdga]

Stock photo:



I think it's a huge improvement.

[KenM]

I agree Jon, much less obtrusive and looks more in proportion, I imagine you obviously negate the original purpose of the thing by doing this but that won't concern you, however would a mod such as this also affect the registerability of a car from a vehicle inspection viewpoint? Unauthorised mods etc?

[Squiggle Dog]

I wonder if the bumper side pieces from a R107 like a 450SL are shorter and would fit. Then they might not protrude back into the wheel well so far. Still, it doesn't look bad as-is.

[Casey]

The next person who wants to do this, please contact me.  I've got a set of drilled/drained front bumper shocks to send your way so you don't have to sacrifice yet another perfectly good set irreversibly.  They are coming on the 450SE I'm picking up this Saturday...  Fortunately, I found a perfect set of shocks at the local junkyard, so I can have proper bumpers.

Re: Squiggle Dog:

If you actually wanted to shorten your bumpers properly, look into how it's done on the W123.  They're not any shorter...  The mounting frame for the shocks is partway up the shock, rather than on the very base, and thus there is a hole in the chassis for the base of the shock to slide into, then allowing the mounting frame to bolt to the chassis.  So you still have fully-functional bumper shocks, which sit back further.  As a side bonus, it's a hell of a lot easier to mount/unmount bumpers by yourself with this design as you slide the bumper in, and it stays there level with all the holes lined up for you while you then go hunt for your bolt and ratchet.

[Casey]

Apparently even W123 bumpers are too long for some people...


when tucked:


*sadface*

On the bright side, here's a good picture of the W123 bumper shock design:

[Casey]

For the record, here are R107 bumper shocks, which do not appear to be at all compatible with an unmodified W116:

[Squiggle Dog]

I'm happy with my bumpers sticking out. The only way I would be happier is if I had the badge bar kit. I meant the molded rubber side pieces from the R107. I think they may be shorter. I have a few bumper shocks that are compressed and I was going to throw them out, but maybe someone could use them?

[1980sdga]

Both of my cars had collapsed shocks on one side. Same side on each car    Weird huh?  No damage to anything else just crooked bumpers.  It actually gave me a good idea about what the bumpers would look like tucked, so I went ahead and did both.

Now I sort of wish I had saved the 2 good shocks and swapped someone for collapsed ones.  I like the idea of the long shocks on the stock setup but the gap between the bumper and the plastic filler makes the car look thrown together to me. Drives me crazy!

Ken, no inspections of any sort here    It varies from state to state and some places here in Ga. require an annual emissions check. We're just required to have no-fault insurance. It's good in a way but it leads to some real POS cars on the road...

[Casey]

Now I sort of wish I had saved the 2 good shocks and swapped someone for collapsed ones.  I like the idea of the long shocks on the stock setup but the gap between the bumper and the plastic filler makes the car look thrown together to me. Drives me crazy!

It would be nice if they had (or some aftermarket company did) made some black trim that extended farther.  MB certainly pulled off a better appearance while retaining the shock functionality on the W123's IMHO.

Ken, no inspections of any sort here    It varies from state to state and some places here in Ga. require an annual emissions check. We're just required to have no-fault insurance. It's good in a way but it leads to some real POS cars on the road...

I've lived in a lot of states - either diesel exempts you from inspections, or the age of the car does (possibly requiring historic plates as I have now), everywhere I've lived.

Maryland is pretty crazy - they say that historic tags are for something you only drive on rare occasion, not daily, but who's checking?  The inspection process is rather in-depth, and requires things like working door windows and a working odometer that  I don't have right now anyways.

[Hemersam]

Perhaps my eyesight is dimming, but I fail to see why this is some kind of big deal???
Hemersam