Every thing I have done on this car so far has been easier than on the W168, This includes the mud flaps which I consider an essential.
The filth on our roads at present January 2013 means your constantly washing the car and yes although that is still necessary it's under the wings of the car instead of all over it as has been the case while driving it without Mud Flaps. However as is usually the case they do not come cheap .
I purchased Mercedes-Benz purpose made W169 part number B6 6 52 8223 £66.00 for the set of 4 and they fit like a glove as well as being very easy indeed to fit , albeit you do have to remove the road wheels.
Even that is not a problem because while I'm fitting the Mud flaps I'll service the Brake callipers all-round, kill two birds with one stone as they say . both pairs of mud flaps front and rear do come with a full set of fitting instructions.
The numbers shown in the diagram wuill tie up with the instruction that come with the mud flaps .
The first thing to do is clean the inside of the wings and allow to dry over several days if possible , this is because on the rear flaps there is an adhesive strip that needs a dry surface to adhear to.
You then need to locate the various studs within the front wings and withdraw the pin from their centre , having done that you can withdraw the plug and then re-use them to part fit the flaps. I used to small flat bladed screw drivers to ease the centre pins from the plugs.
The position the flap and re-insert the plug through the material of the mud flap and the inner wing liner To do this the flap has to be held firmly in place to align the holes, when you have fitted the plug re-insert the pin, this action opens the plugs making the larger in diameter which is hold them firmly in position.
Now fit the two clamps the half round one at the top and the flat one down the side, the positions for these are indicated in the pattern of the flap.
The instructions say to use a fibra hammer to fit these, I used the hammer on the top one and a pair of large grips to fit the middle one .
The middle clip has yet to be closed, the large grips made the job easy The two screws fitted are of the self tapping type drill a only a very small guide hole.
When fully fitted they do look really smart and part of the car as well as being very practical.
When the mud flaps are fitted they look very neat and are an excellent fit. In this instance it is most certainly worth purchasing from Mercedes parts who have gone the extra mile to get the fitting of these right.
Fitting rear Mud Flaps
Fitting the rear flaps is as easy as the front, and the finished job is just as satisfying. They are secured in much the same way but in this case three half round clips each side plus two screws and two plastic plugs which spread when the centre pin is applied.
However before doing anything you have to remove the studs at the back and under the body work , the only way you can get these out is to push the centre pin through as the is no head to ease the pin out by .
These are replaced with new plastic plugs and pins so you do not need to recover the old pins, you can push or tap these out using a fine drift such as a 1/8"dia Nail
As can be seen the new plug and pin when secured look perfectly OK and secure the flap firmly .
Small pilot holes 1/8" approx are best drilled for the self tapping screws which go through the inner wing plastic shielding at the bottom on the rear flap. On the bottom edge of each rear flap there is a peel off adhesive strip, although fitted correctly it is difficult to say whether this does stick to the underside of the rear wing or not .
Another point worth noting is that the two sets of mud flaps I received from Mercedes Parts where according to the packaging old stock going back some years , this may well have an effect on the adhesive strip so if you intend fitting these to your car make Mercedes aware that you will not accept old stock at new prices.
