It seems most people who've re-chromed their bumpers tend to leave the backside untreated. The pvevious owner of my SL did the same, so I recently removed my bumpers and gave them a diligent, once-every-couple-decades cleaning that included treating the start of any corrosion on the backside with a rust inhibitor and painting them with an almond-colored Rustoleum that's a good approximation to the factory primer. The chrome job was good, so I wanted to keep them looking good.
In the course of dismantling the various parts, I noticed something that I never knew -- though the gaskets for the bumper guards were the usual beige/gold color I've seen on most every Pagoda, the gaskets had actually faded. They were originally a bright silver. An examination of the backside of the gaskets made this very clear.
I cleaned the gaskets with Simple Green, glued any parts that were splitting, and promptly sprayed them with an aluminum paint that looks quite nice if I may say so. Frankly, I never cared for the look of the bumper guards, but a nice fresh set of anything chrome seems to breathe new life into a Pagoda. I highly recommend the exercise, particularly for people who have the new gaskets that Mercedes sells which, IMHO, stand out like a sore thumb since they're black.
Also, make sure your bumpers guards are protected from the inside out. Zap any rust in there and paint them with lots of good, rust-inhibiting paint. I used Rustoleum, but POR-15 would be even better. I think the guards are even more prone to rust than the bumpers, so you could say anyone with Euro bumpers has 4 fewer hassles than I do.
Here are a couple of pix of the finished product:
Download Attachment: 
guard.JPG48.1
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Download Attachment: guard2.JPG63.08
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And here's the front bumper before (too bad you can't see the backside):
Download Attachment: guard3.JPG69.01 KB
