Headlight and tail light units

Worth knowing before you buy

• THIS IS WHERE USED MAKES THE MOST SENSE. A MULTIBEAM headlamp is one of the most expensive parts on a modern Mercedes, and a good used one is a fraction of it.
• Ask for photographs of the LENS in daylight and of the MOUNTING TABS. Hazing, crazing and snapped tabs are the two things that ruin an otherwise good unit, and both are easy to photograph.
• Check the type matches exactly — halogen, bi-xenon and LED are three different parts and they change within a generation at facelift and by trim.
• An LED or MULTIBEAM unit usually needs coding to the car.
• If only the tabs are broken on your existing lamp, a repair bracket costs almost nothing. Ask before buying a unit at all.

Rest of the commonly taken used

• Engines — complete, on exchange
• Gearboxes — complete, on exchange
• Turbochargers
• Body panels — doors, wings, bonnets, tailgates
• Bumpers and grilles
• Seats and interior trim
• Instrument clusters and modules
• Alloy wheels
• Steering racks and columns
• Differentials and transfer cases
• AIRMATIC struts and compressors