After only six weeks of ownership, my wife has already cracked-up her GLA. (See picture.) Backed into a beater of course. (Note to self - remind her it has a back-up camera.) Anyway, I am wondering what is this lower rear bumper part called in case it needs replaced? Is it aluminum? Will it crack further? Can it be buffed out with any success?
What is this part my wife cracked-up called?
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It appears to be surface cracks, not scratches. Maybe just not all the way through. Strange, but there is no dent at that spot so that is a good thing. BTW, it is not aluminum. A magnet will stick to it. Maybe stainless? I like the valence terminology. The mod shops (Carlsson, Brabus) may be calling it a diffuser. I cannot find a genuine MB parts list to know what they call it. Any links to MB body parts? Just curious as I may need to replace it if it cracks all the way out.
Well, an auto parts outfit out of West Palm Beach calls it a "Rear Bumper Trim Valance Cover" and wants $90 with free shipping for a used one they say has some scratches. They also list the part number (which when put into a Google search suggests there may be plenty available in what appears to be Russia). There is also one on eBay for $100 plus ~$90 shipping for a used one they say has some scratches. Not sure I will be any better off with either but at least I have options. Guess I will just have to wait and see it this one cracks further.
A magnet won't stick to stainless either, its probably injection molded plastic, smc, or something along those lines. Diffuser used to be reserved for the part that actually does the diffusing but that is getting kinda blurred nowadays with cars adding stylized diffusers with large surrounds like you see on the GLA. Valence used to mean the piece that ran from below the bumper down to the bottom of the car or at least that's what I understood it was, another one that had become blurred nowadays with bumpers embedded underneath the pretty stuff and the pretty stuff not having that defined break line between the lower and upper body panels.
I'm not very helpful I guess...
I'm not very helpful I guess...
OK, this seems to be my best option if replacement is needed: mercedespartscenter.com prices the part - new I presume - at $114.31 (MSRP $184) with $10.95 shipping. They call it a "Trim Bumper."
The eBay sellers are way off base on this one.
Anyway, would still appreciate hearing of any experience with or suggestions on remedying surface imperfections on this piece.
And trying not to be a disagreeable jerk crabman, but stainless can become magnetic depending on how much it is worked, if I understand correctly. But looking at the rear of the part on an eBay picture, it does not look metallic at all. Maybe the magnet was sticking to steel behind the cover.
The eBay sellers are way off base on this one.
Anyway, would still appreciate hearing of any experience with or suggestions on remedying surface imperfections on this piece.
And trying not to be a disagreeable jerk crabman, but stainless can become magnetic depending on how much it is worked, if I understand correctly. But looking at the rear of the part on an eBay picture, it does not look metallic at all. Maybe the magnet was sticking to steel behind the cover.
I was rear ended last winter within 4 days of owning my GLA. Cracked very similar to yours. Good news is at that speed nothing was likely damaged underneath it (I think it's just foam anyways). That Bumper Trim (pretty sure that's what it was called on the parts sheet) definitely plastic, and the dealership had to remove the entire rear bumper to swap it out.
HTH
HTH
lol, yes, if it was your preference to be disagreeable and you wanted to for the sake of argument you could correctly say stainless can be magnetic.
Stainless alloys of poor quality most commonly found in in the form of cheap foreign fasteners can be slightly magnetic. We call those "sorta stainless" fasteners because they will rust somewhat despite the stainless moniker. There are also uncommon stainless alloys that can be slightly magnetic and by slightly I mean when running a magnet across it you may have to give it a couple passes to decide if it is or isn't magnetic. There are a smattering of rarer stainless alloys that can be strongly magnetic out there in the wild but as they're rare the average Joe isn't going to put a magnet to them. In industry magnets are deployed to sort ordinary steels from stainless, aluminum, magnesium, and other non magnetic metals/alloys, probably because the vast majority of all stainless is non magnetic and it works.
The real world is it would be very unusual for stainless to be used to make such a part but if it had been used a magnet would not stick to it because it would not be magnetic. But if you're feeling ornery go ahead and beat me up. I'm old, we need to be kicked around every once in a while when we get too uppity.
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