dolucasi

JB WELD repair

Post repair Installation

I also had the glove box cover. Not installed just yet.

Process complete

If so, here is one solution. The frames are NLA of course and impossible to find. The last one I bought at the dealer had a 2014 sticker on it.
Still it cracked 8 years after installation. I do have one spare but I'm not sure if that will last either.

Long story short I evaluated 2 zebrano covers for the vents. One is from a company called Bamboli the other Performance Products.
Performance products only sold a full set including vents, glove box, and a bunch of other dash pieces for nearly $300. I convinced them to sell the vent covers individually and I was pleased that they decided to do so. You can now find them on their website now. They are less than $80 for the pair. Very reasonable.

Bamboli also has a good product and the material is thicker (both the metal substrate and the wood/varnish) but the part I received did not have the holes exactly lining up and hopefully they are fixing that problem now as I have sent them back some recommendations. I would say both products are factory finish.

-While installing I would recommend to take the plastic off first. You will need to as I had to slightly file the plastic for best fitment.
- Since the plastic is off I would recommend using JB weld to strengthen and repair the cracked areas and strengthen the weak spots as shown in the photo's

Hopefully some of you will find this info useful.

Cheers!

190Efan

I once had the plastic lever for the drivers side vent break off probably about 15 years ago. I had to buy the entire vent just to replace that lever. It was $100 at the time. I guess that would be play money in today's world. I've never otherwise had any type of cracking of the area around any of the vents. Nice tips for anyone who's dealing with this cracking around the vents.

LauraS

The driver vent lever broke on mine as well.

190Efan

I remember being horrified at the time by the price of the new vent but I now realize that that price would be considerably higher today if the vent is still even available. I have yet to come to grips with the cost of owning an MB despite years of MB ownership experience. Maybe someday I'll finally figure it out, lol.

LauraS

I forget how I patched the lever back on but it does work. I usually leave it open for the heat anyway. Mercedes Benz parts have never been cheap.

dolucasi

I've never had issues with the lever and was surprised how durable they are. Also have not seen very many in the JY's with broken levers. Perhaps most people do not operate them much, I do not.
A new center vent with matrix pricing was only $90 at the dealership back in 2016. Too bad they went NLA now. Well, I do not mind a little more wood in the dash to tie in with the center console, hope the wood/finish lasts.

- Cheers!

190Efan

I hadn't used the vent lever that broke much but oh well. The only reason that I spent the money to purchase the new side vent/lever was that I had the goal of eventually showing my car in the MBCA show class which I've now done. For some reason, I have yet to learn that the words cheap and Mercedes-Benz never go in the same sentence. I'm also holding out hope that the new emphasis by MB on the Heritage department will make the parts availability issue a little better for everyone.