cal1

The shiny black rear window side trim on my SL is starting to flake off leaving a faded blackish surface exposed below. I have tried a few things to try and make the surface black, even tire black, but nothing looks good. The dealer wants $636 to replace the trim. Anyone else dealing with this issue?

aluthman

Common issue. Forget the dealer, buy the pieces online and change em out yourself. $51 a piece at www.getmercedesparts.com
Click through the parts catalog as follows:

Mercedes-Benz - SL Class
Retractable top, Top and components, Trim cover, Trim cover Right

Same part for 2003-2009 and installation is simple and pretty self explanatory once you see the back of the new ones and how they attatch. I think there may be a how-to somewhere on the forum as well.

cal1

Thanks aluthman. I just placed the order.

jrmat1

I know this thread is old, but I'm in the same situation with these trim pieces and fixing to order them. I just want to verify the difficulty level of replacing them. I looked today and it appeared as if I have to remove some convertible top brackets to get to the bolts that hold it down. I'm sure I'm missing something though. Thanks for your help!

fxrs1955

I replaced mine last week. They slide off and slide back on, took less than five minutes. Open your top half way, I used a plastic trim tool and a small hammer, tapped the old ones from the top and it came off. Cleaned up the bracket and weatherstrip and pushed the new ones in from the bottom. It locks in place.


There are no bolts to remove.

carguyshu

on the 2003 I believe you also have to replace the bracket with the new design as the new trim pieces won't fit the old bracket and the 2003 style trim pieces aren't available anymore

cal1

I wonder if there are still a few of the 03 trim style still in some part shop's inventory? I just got a set to help out a member. I ordered from OEdiscountparts. they showed the correct part number and 03 SL55 which would be correct. I am sending an email to oediscount to verify right now.

thanks for the heads up.

latemodel21

The cutoff is chassis number 069513 ... as far as I can tell nobody has stock of the old style part. Curiously, there is a note associated with the old trim part number(s) that suggests the new numbers come with "adaptive hardware?" .... However, in the (EPC) notes associated with the new part numbers, it states you must use new trim mounting plates (as carguyshu indicated) when using the new number on cars built up to and including # 069513

the sucky part is the mounting pieces cost more (slightly) than the trim pieces GRRR

Chris

cal1

So could a newer 03 have a chassis number higher than the cut-off?

latemodel21

I just came across a 2004 with build number 65657 .... so .... I would have to answer
nope, sorry bud

Chris


P.S. so it would seem there are more than 3000 2004 R230's with the old trim

cal1

Thanks for the help Chris.

Last night, I purchased the trim parts from OEdiscount. Unless I missed it, I saw nothing about an adaptive hardware set. I sent them an email last night when I saw carguyshu's post.

I appreciate the help because I need to get this straight before shipping out of the country.

latemodel21

The note about "adaptive hardware" is something attached to the old part numbers in MBZ's internal inventory system .... I did not find that in the EPC, it was relayed to me by a mercedes parts counter guru.

all of drill-down MBZ parts finders will take you to the new part number for 2003 applications .... (without giving you a note about needing the new mounting part(s) in conjunction) .... in the EPC it gives the old part number and the new part number (cars with build numbers up to 69513) and there you will find an attached note saying you need to change the mounting plates at the same time.

it's not clear why there is no flag (particularly when you include the VIN while ordering) .... perhaps they just fell down on this one because there is some indication on the old parts "dispostion status" that the new part will work with included retrofit pieces (that were never created ... or were subsequently discontinued).

Chris

cal1

I just got a response for OEdiscount. They insist the parts they are sending me will work. I replaced my trim 3 or 4 years ago, but still remember what the trim tabs looked like. I am hoping I will be able to tell if we are going to have an issue as soon as I see the parts.

latemodel21

are they the old parts numbers (ending 115 and 215)? .... or the new ones ending 330 and 430?

if the parts are coming to you first , please do post the part numbers and pics.


Cheers,
Chris

latemodel21

here you can see in the WIS (steps 4 and 5) more of the same build-number specific info on this.

Cheers,
Chris

cal1

Well, this is getting curiouser and curiouser . The part numbers end in 330 and 430. I bought these same exact parts (and part numbers) in 2011 when I changed out my 03 trims no trouble whatsoever and certainly did not need any other part.

When I get the trims, I will post up the part numbers and pics.

latemodel21

[QUOTE=cal1;6490592]Well, this is getting curiouser and curiouser . The part numbers end in 330 and 430. I bought these same exact parts (and part numbers) in 2011 when I changed out my 03 trims no trouble whatsoever and certainly did not need any other part.

When I get the trims, I will post up the part numbers and pics.[/QUOTE

Do you suppose it's possible that the trim had been replaced once before and the mounts changed then?

cal1

[QUOTE=latemodel21;6490599]Could be. I think I am owner #3. Guy number 2 bought the car from a dealer. Maybe the dealer replaced the trim. But then again, owner number 2 only had the car for about a year until his wife made him sell it and the trim had signs of delamination when I bought it in 07.

latemodel21

... and another curious turn to this.

As it happens, I had a pair of the new part number waiting for me when I got to my shop this afternoon (to go on my 2003 SL55 build number 40469).

I removed one of the finish-failing pieces from my car and compared it to the new part .... essentially identical. The new part has improved gusseting on the forward catch .... and the cast-in build dates were the only differences. The cast-in part numbers were same ....

I did a thorough visual comparison, measured the tab (inner) heights, and left to right spacing at several duplicate-able intervals .... and found no differences at all.

so I installed them .... DONE

If I had to guess as to why mercedes thinks the mounting plates need to be updated .... perhaps the newer mounting plates have more tab-prealignment built in (getting all the tabs , particularly the last one to all go in as you snap the trim piece in place was a little dicey).

I've included a couple of (poorly shot) pics showing the part numbers and a picture of the only casting difference that I could find (added gusset).


I am confident that many have done this already with out all of the second guessing that went on here in this thread.... but i figured since I fueled the flame of doubt I better put it out the best i can with this follow up. ... I'm going to share this with my parts counter guru tomorrow for what its worth.

Cheers,
Chris

cal1

I think you may be on to something with the above statement. When I removed my old trim, I noticed one of the slots on the bracket that the tabs slide under was actually smashed in. There is no way I did that when removing the old part as that action would have bent the slots the other way or more likely snapped the plastic tab. This leads me to believe the car left the factory with one smashed slot. Maybe this was a fairly common occurrence and led to increased prealignment.

abiazis

is part ending in 330 the left driver's side and the 430 the passenger side?

cal1

Correct!

Vader1

question for those who have done this. Did you use the special tool to hold the top open? or how did you keep the top open while you worked on the side panel?

cal1

I did the replacement with the top in the fully up and locked position without trouble. Here is a link to a little DIY I did.

https://mbworld.org/forums/sl55-amg-...ement-diy.html

For some reason the links to the photos are all broken which is odd because I dropped the photos in an MBW photo album.

Here is a link to the album: https://mbworld.org/g/album/299171