500E vs 400E Front End Differences, some observations...

[mcbear]

Well, this past few days I have been spending a bunch of time with a 92 500E and a 93 400E as we do a bit of work at the shop. Some free time, and one problem that popped up let me do some serious looking at the differences in the two. I took a couple of pics of the obvious but not the other.

Fenders. Everyone knows the OUTER fenders of the 500E are different, being one if its most identifiable traits. HOWEVER the Inner Fender has always been in question. NOT ANY MORE. Due to a customer and a guard rail, there ended up being some light damage to the left front fender of this 500E. The prospects of ordering a complete inner fender from Germany, at a cost of nearly $2,000 was more than needed so the decision was made to section in a 400E inner fender from a donor car. What We Found: While the general measurement are the same, the kids at Mercedes/Porsche modified the inner fender by 3/4 of an inch, strengthening it and raising it at the same time. We replicated the procedure done in manufacturing for two reasons. First to get the correct gaps and second, to insure that the pieces that mount to the inner fender [ABS Box, Ignition box, etc] were the correct height. So, if you are putting on 500E fenders on a 400 or 300, know that the inner fenders and the fender liners are not lining up correctly due to the expected changes.

Radiator Brackets: A very interesting difference that shows the beefed up 500E is the bottom Radiator bracket on the two cars. The 500E bracket is much like a 1X2 tubular steel piece with the indents for the radiator in the bracket. The 400 bracket is a 1/2 inch bar with the indents bolted to the side of the bar. See pics.