De-Brabus 'ing an R129 SL500

[gez]

Hi all, I have just purchased an '98 SL500 that had some Brabus mods applied in 1999 which consist of:-

- bonnet and boot centre Mercedes badges replaced with the 'B' round Brabus logo'd badge.
- SL500 has been moved to the right (offside) side of the boot lid and 'BRABUS' in the same chrome and font is on the left face of the boot lid.
- Small 'Brabus' logos have been placed between the air vents behind the front wheels.
- The door entrance kick plates have been replaced with Brabus logo chrome plates.
- The car has a Brabus 'Sports Exhaust' and a set of 18" Brabus monoblock V alloys.
- The engine is standard, no modifications or performance tuning.

I have discovered that being open and honest about mods seems to put the insurance cost up exponentially, so I would like to return the car close to standard spec. My questions are:-

- How easy is it to de-badge the Brabus logo's? (I've read a couple of threads on de-badging, but would like some feedback that relates to the R129 SL before I get to work with fishing wire etc)

- Am I right that a standard R129 has the SL500 logo on the LHS (nearside) and no logos on the RHS of the boot?

- How are the entrance kick plates removed? They fel like they are simply stuck on and will come off with a good tug.

- Are the Mercedes bonnet & boot round badges and Merc kick plates easy to acquire and refit? I've seen some badges on ebay but not sure if all are a common size?

- Anyone know if the Brabus exhaust would be classed as 'free flowing'? It is not at all loud and I can't imagine that it is adding power to the car. It has twin chrome exit pipes, side by side on the LHS. My insurance company are fine with this as long as it is not 'free flowing', but they could not define what this term means.

- They are happy to cover the wheels as long as they replaced original 18" Merc wheels. As the spare is a 17" I suspect not, but was the R129 available in 1998 with mercedes 18" alloys? If so, maybe they will accept them as the same size and I can find an 18" spare on ebay.

Thanks in advance for any answers, and if there is anyone that is interested in swapping standard for Brabus trims, let me know!

 

[stumpy]

Welcome to the forum. Assuming the Brabus badges are stuck on then a hairdrier and some fishing wire / dental floss are the way to remove them. Use some tar remover or similar to get the gunk off the paint and then polish. The 129 should have SL500 on the LHS as you rightly say. The other badges and trim pieces ought to be available from a decent MB breaker. As for the exhaust, I don't know if it is a free flow exhaust. You could try speaking to Brabus I guess, but I do think they look a bit ugly and would go back to stock personally on appearance alone. Stick the wheels and exhaust on theifbay and see what you get. Sounds like it could be a nice car. Pop some pics on here and I'm sure the 129 experts will be able to help.

 

[100%Bitch]

I'd be interested in the bonnet badge and kick plates if you replace them. I can't swap though.

 

[Pipemaster]

Hi all, I have just purchased an '98 SL500 that had some Brabus mods applied in 1999 which consist of:-


- They are happy to cover the wheels as long as they replaced original 18" Merc wheels. As the spare is a 17" I suspect not, but was the R129 available in 1998 with mercedes 18" alloys? If so, maybe they will accept them as the same size and I can find an 18" spare on ebay.

QUOTE]

I have looked into this for my own car and to my knowledge the 129 was not supplied with 18" from the factory. Obviously the 17" spare indicates that yours wasn't either! I don't undertsan why the insurance co would insiste that you retain the 18" wheels and if they get ansy about it I would consider changing my provider. You can check out the build specification on the russian site http://www.detali.ru/cat/oem_mb.asp by entering your vin number it will give you the original build spec for your car (not in Russian) on my list it specified that I had particular alloys (see pic for type) and a certain type of aerial for the mobile phone kit..

Hope this helps

 

[stats007]

All spare wheels on '99 MY cars were 17" black 'space savers'.

The kick plates are glued to a plastic housing. Aftermarket plates are usually just glued over the standard plates.

You can remove the whole unit by undoing a few screws. There are plastic expanding fasteners on the inside at the front and rear of the seat rail as well as a screw with a plastic cover near the footwell. The outer screws are behind the weather strip. You need to remove the rear outer trim panel (push fit) by the wheel arch - then you can slide the weather strip out and undo the screws. The whole unit is a clip fit and pulls off.

No photos I'm afraid but it's only a 10 minute job to get one off.

Presume this is the car?

 

[Pipemaster]

From memory .. which gets dimmer as time goes on.. by the look of the rear valance it has been modified to make way for the exhausts...

 

[stats007]

The standard bumper has an oval cut-out - this definitely looks like it's been modified.

I saw this car a while ago and thought then that the exhaust was a bit OTT!

 

[gez]

Just fyi, I talked to Brabus in Germany and the UK Mercedes Customer helpline.

Mercedes sent me a list of approved wheel and tyre sizes for the R129, which I am pleased to say included 245/40R18's on 8.5Jx18's. Brabus subsequently confirmed that the Monoblock V's are TUV certified for the R129 SL500.

Re the exhaust, Brabus also confirmed that the rear exhaust box is standard according to EU homologation.

While it makes me wonder what the guy in 1999 got for his £1525 exhaust upgrade, my insurance company are happy with the wheels and exhaust so at least I know I am fully legal and any claim would not be declined.

I still plan to change the bootlid and bonnet Brabus badges for standard Merc badges but this should be straightforward. Btw, the rear valance has not been altered and you have to look very closely to see that it has twin pipes across one cut-out.

I would also add that it's great to be back in a Merc (5 years since I sold my CLK cabrio and knew straight away that selling it was a mistake) and the 10 year old SL drives like a new car, not a single rattle or squeak!

 

[gez]

Yes, that is the car (but not the price!).