MercedesSource

Earlier this year I brought my car to the garage to inspect for the upcoming maintenance and to see what parts to order. Amongst others I had in mind to replace the fuel pump system as I had seen on MercedesSource. From Ken Bergsma I have learned a lot about older Mercedes'es in general and the R107 in particular. You can check out his YouTube channel 'Mercedessource'. In particular his 'rolling restauration' of 'Cherry', his red R107 380SL is interesting to watch.

Anyway, when I discussed with the garage owner on ordering the fuel pump assembly, he started to calculate and stopped counting at 800 euros, when he had only listed the main parts and not the replacement tubes, etc.

My comment that I could get the whole package from MercedesSource website for 'only' $ 478, after seeing his videos he immediately told me to order it from Ken's shop. BTW: I see the parts are now sold for $ 496. Inflation, inflation, inflation...

Of course, living in Europe, this will not be the final price. Paying for postage and VAT and import taxes...

So, I decided to buy some more spare parts in order to reduce the postage costs slightly... Anyway, taking all costs in mind, the fuel delivery overhaul kit did cost me EUR 665,-, far lower than my garage could buy it for.

So, amongst others, I also ordered a new timing chain, shock absorbers, subframe mount kits, drive shaft flex disk joints. Maybe not required now, but always useful for the future: maybe more and more difficult to get or at least for higher prices. And in the unlikely case I would sell the car, I can sell the parts together with the car.

Also convenient with the spare parts ordered, the videos with instructions how to replace the ordered parts in your car as well as additional tips for free! So, you could do the replacements yourself if you want.

Everything arrived in pristine order within approx. 20 days after ordering, so no complaints!

The ordering process was slightly more complicated: via the webshop they cannot calculate the actual costs for shipping etc. So you have to order as it would be delivered to their own shop (again) and putting your international delivery address in the billing address field. Also select the most expensive delivery option: 'UPS Next Day Air'. As the shop is in the Washington state (WA), you also need to pay the WA sales tax. This way enough funds should have been paid to cover the international shipping costs via 'US postal Priority international'.

Indeed, I had paid (more than) enough this way, so after calculating shipping costs for the international order and the deduction of the WA sales tax, I had received a refund very quickly after I had placed my order. The interaction with Kaia Bergsma was really pleasant, so this process went very smooth in hindsight.

As expected, I had to pay the import taxes (approx. 3,5%) as well as the VAT (21%) over the full amount of value and shipping costs. In the end, overall I had to pay about 50% extra, on average, on top of the prices listed at the webshop of MercedesSource. Maybe not cheaper for all parts I have ordered, but definitely for the fuel delivery overhaul kit and the shock absorbers.

So, for me a good experience at MercedesSource. Maybe something for you to consider when you need some parts difficult to get in Europe?