Be careful of Aftermarket products.

[Colinbentley]

Last week I needed a bonnet support strut for my 2003 SLK 320, and after being quoted $345 plus tax by Mercedes, I thought I was being smart by buying an Aftermarket online for $216 plus freight. But guess what.....right....it didn't fit.....it didn't even come close....ther was obviously a part missing. Fortunately the company has agreed to a refund, and a friendly Merc dealer has negotiated a genuine part for $275. Next time I think I will just go straight for the genuine part and save a lot of stuffing around.A trap for young players.

[r129sl]

In my quest to keep alive various ancient Mercs which really ought to have ascended the slip road to the great autobahn in the sky, I too have found that you have to be careful with aftermarket parts. I would not write them off altogether, though. If you buy parts from manufacturers who supply Mercedes-Benz, you will generally be OK. So recently, for instance, I have bought Hella headlight lenses (£60 each rather than £120 for the MB part), a Behr radiator (£120 rather than £400 for the MB part), Bilstein shock absorbers (£70 each rather than £120 for the MB part) and so on. Anything from Bosch and the ZF Group (Sachs, Boge, Lemfoerder, ZF) should be reliable. Likewise Bilstein. I'd be inclined to trust Beru and Febi Bilstein, too. I'm sure Brembo brake parts will be up to snuff as well although I have no experience (other than buying MB-branded stuff which they manufacture). There is a lot of cheap rubbish out there which is really disappointing when it arrives.

[Old Merc]

I agree with above,its important to get to know the "names".I`ve had a small independent workshop for over 25 years and say to my customers that I will fit the parts that Mercedes fit at the factory and the same with other makes.Its quite easy to get exactly the same part that`s in a Mercedes box at a Dealer, from a wholesaler at sometimes 50% less.