benzomonterey

I am thinking about installing this wood dash kit in my coupe and replacing the factory aluminum with wood from the dealer.

Any thoughts on this??

Lynn

I like it. What does it cost?

young

if you can imagine what it would look like w/ your interior and you like it, go for it!

i'll take your old aluminum pieces btw 'cause i want to see if i can take off the black pattern. thanks

benzomonterey

$288.00 plus tax and s&h

Vince

don't you have custom leather in your coupe. In my opinion, i don't think wood trim would match, or at least not the one shown in that picture. Have you seen the trim on the SL. It's like an ebony stained trim. that might me better. or i think renncpe was looking into a carbon fiber kit. That might me good too. Or one more idea. remove the pattern from the aluminum and/or have it brushed.

benzomonterey

If I do this young I will send the aluminum to you. Also I thought the wood would compliment my leather colors better than the aluminum. More of a big benz look. Oh god here comes the fall out from that statement.

benzomonterey

The current problem Vince is that we are limited to either the factory aluminum we have or the 240, 320 wood. If I go aftermarket for the radio ac surround, the option is the 1600 dollar kit. I don't want to pour that much money into it for that item.

Vince

what about the aluminum from the c sport package?

VoyagerDude

If you like "big benz" hardwood floor panels on your SportCoupe's dash, go ahead.

I was specifically happy that the coupe comes with aluminium trim, because I never liked wooden cars.

KWiK

too much wood...plus it looks like its just stick-on pieces not real wood replacements.

MarkL

I like the wood in my C240. It's used tastefully and sparingly. IMO, the picture you've shown is overkill -- too much of a good thing. Especially the thick horizontal pieces through the dash and glove compartment.

On a side note, why do some people "hate" wood trim in cars?

young

sweet! btw, i like aluminum trim better myself and i think the sedan's sport package trim is pretty good. i wonder how much that costs? i WAS interested in the renntech package but $2000 for 6 pieces is a ridiculous amount of money.

vadim

Wood to me is inevitably associated with older people and "cadillac"-type luxury... One of the things that drew my attention to the Coupe in the first place was this nice aluminum trim... I also like carbon fiber (test drove an S60 T5 MT that came stock with it - looked terrific).

Pete

I agree with Vince, in that I'm not sure that the "brown" wood would go well with your custom leather (which I like, by the way). The black birds-eye maple that's available on the CL (I think; if not, I've seen it on some other car) would complement your two-tone leather well, but as you've said, that would be custom and thus cost-prohibitive.

MB-BOB

I agree vadim, but it's never that simple... For me, I like the wood, which is tasteful and underdone. In contrast, it's the upright hood ornament that reminds me of my dad's cadillac land barge. So, while I'm keeping the wood, I've switched the upright hood ornament for the flat badge.

I think the wood kit in question is overkill. But, of course, I'm 50, so what do I know?

benzomonterey

How nice to get respectful opinions without horrible comments. We are on the road to recovery

I am beginning to think the kit is overkill also. I still might trade out my console but not sure. I am going to spend some time in a 320 at the dealer and make my decision.

vadim

MB-BOB, that' perfectly fine with me I personally wouldn't want a car with any wood in it, but that's me... I know people who have all options imaginable in their cars but no leather 'cause they hate it...

vadim

That's 'cause wood is on the inside

MB-BOB

Benzo, the difference between the factory wood and the applique kits is that the aftermarket kit parts "sit up" and say to me, "look at me, I'm tacked on," while the factory parts look like they're part of the car. I have a friend with a VW Passat, and he has the dash kit. The wood looks OK, but the applied look is hard to miss.

This is especially true if you don't have all the options (like memory seat controls in the doors, and headlight washer in the dash.) In these cases, the holes in the wood appliques and the original dash that shows through just accentuate that you don't have the options on the car.

Also, I wonder if the appliques are designed to let the dash illumination shine through (all those backlit insignias around the Light switch in the dash, for example). I like the fact that everyting is well-lit, and would be disappointed if the appliques covered those lights. Just look at the light switch area in the pix you posted.

Finally, the appliques are made of plastic, and eventually they start to shrink. I think that's what I don't really like about my buddy's Passat... after a few years on the car, the parts don't really look like they fit anymore, and the "sit-up" look is even more pronounced.

Just some thoughts to consider. Peace.

greg230

designo charcoal maple wood = good
wood dash kit from pep boys = bad

seems pretty simple

greg