Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)The receiver hitch itself for my MB E320 is very well made and I would have rated it much higher except for the incredibly poor and misleading installation instructions. They listed 5 steps and suggested that it would take a mere 30 minutes for a pro and 60 minutes for a DIYer. I'm a very experienced guy with more than 50 years experience doing all the work on my cars up to and including bodywork, painting and rebuilding engines and automatic transmissions. So, I figured 60 minutes ought to do it.
The four steps to install the actual unit took me about 30 minutes including drilling two 3/8" holes into the side corners of the trunk box, but that one step that mentioned removing the fascia.......well that took me about 5 more hours.
What's a fascia? They mean the bumper cover. That flimsy, flexible plastic thing that wraps around the bottom of the car from wheel well to wheel well just below the trunk lid and tail lights. Believe me, if you're not familiar with this removal procedure, you will be in trouble. There are something like ten bolts that attach it to the body, and they are all hidden from sight.
So, now you have to figure out where they might be and determine just how much of the interior trunk panels need to removed to even see them. Both inside trim panels and the rear cover need to be removed and that means locating and removing some ingenious plastic rivets, Torx screws plus everything necessary to get to the spare tire. Also two of those screws are located hidden behind some plastic panels inside the wheel wells. It would still have taken about an extra hour or two even IF they indicated where and how the fasteners were located, but without any clues, it was a real challenge to do it at all. Shame on them for leaving one in the dark for something this important.
Replacing that nicely painted, wiggly bumper cover alone was another exciting endeavor not to be recommended without a second person to help.
Bottom line...this is not a DIYer installation. Get an estimate from a Mercedes body guy for the bumper cover R&R and hang on to your wallet.
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