As we all know, the rear bumper end covers/inserts, which prevent the wheels from kicking wet/dirt/debris back into the wide crevice between the body and bumper are no longer available from Mercedes and are impossible to find used. Their part numbers are 124-885-15-23 left and 124-885-16-23 right.
500Estar started a thread around 15 months ago with a possible 3D printing solution to make new inserts from ABS plastic. Unfortunately, the ABS plastic is apparently not a strong and flexible as the OEM material, and must be glued to the bumper -- both non-starters for many owners. Additionally, I have PM'd 500Estar a number of times over 6 months with no reply.
So, I may have discovered a partial solution. I came across a new set of end covers/inserts for the 300 and 400 series cars (part numbers 124-885-05-23 left and 124-885-06-23 right) and bought them to see if I could somehow make them fit.
The car is in the shop. My mechanic inserted the left end cover into the space between the body and the bumper exactly where the notch on the bumper snaps/clips into the end cover but he didn't actually click it in, because we were just doing a quick loose test fitting.
The result was that the end cover actually covered around 85% or more of the space between the body and bumper and seems it would do a great job of keeping the majority of wet/dirt/debris out of that space. the gaps remaining were a sliver at the bottom of the end cover and a gap above the end cover of around an inch or two (I have not seen them inserted into a 300 or 400 series car, so I cannot compare the existence or size of the gaps on those cars).
Of course, we will have to do a proper fitting and make sure it doesn't fall out while driving, but it is looking quite positive, especially considering I paid only $30 for the end covers/inserts. Here are the photos:
500Estar started a thread around 15 months ago with a possible 3D printing solution to make new inserts from ABS plastic. Unfortunately, the ABS plastic is apparently not a strong and flexible as the OEM material, and must be glued to the bumper -- both non-starters for many owners. Additionally, I have PM'd 500Estar a number of times over 6 months with no reply.
So, I may have discovered a partial solution. I came across a new set of end covers/inserts for the 300 and 400 series cars (part numbers 124-885-05-23 left and 124-885-06-23 right) and bought them to see if I could somehow make them fit.
The car is in the shop. My mechanic inserted the left end cover into the space between the body and the bumper exactly where the notch on the bumper snaps/clips into the end cover but he didn't actually click it in, because we were just doing a quick loose test fitting.
The result was that the end cover actually covered around 85% or more of the space between the body and bumper and seems it would do a great job of keeping the majority of wet/dirt/debris out of that space. the gaps remaining were a sliver at the bottom of the end cover and a gap above the end cover of around an inch or two (I have not seen them inserted into a 300 or 400 series car, so I cannot compare the existence or size of the gaps on those cars).
Of course, we will have to do a proper fitting and make sure it doesn't fall out while driving, but it is looking quite positive, especially considering I paid only $30 for the end covers/inserts. Here are the photos:
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