GrandPrix

Ok, the cubby hole below the radio started to tear and come apart today. The AC knobs also have peeling issues. The headliner is beginning to separate from the structure. The back of the front headrests plastic covers have completely snapped off. The back of the front seats cloth covering also is separating from the underlying structure. WTF?
The car is garaged and covered in said garage. Less than 50000 miles. The car is rarely driven and has spent it's entire life in Florida. An economy beater that is driven hard with no care given, than I could expect it, but a Benz that is babied, no freaking way. I will soon be in the market for one if not two new cars. MB will not be on my list due to quality issues.

tommy

That's happening on my 2002 as well, and the coupe I saw this past week. Hopefully, it makes you feel better that you're not alone. I do think that quality has only improved since our cars, but that doesn't get me warm and fuzzy about the marque in general, either.

DACHIGGA

Really? I've never seen those issues and I have 02 coupes..... Wonder why that is? Could it be the heat and humidity?

tifosiv122

It really depends. My coupe was black/black but had tinted windows and was garage kept. When I sold her in '11 with ~75,000 miles, the interior was perfect. If the car sits in the sun all day, she will start to fall apart.

Erik

GrandPrix

Mine has been garaged since I bought it off the showroom floor in 2002. Almost 90% of the miles are long distance highway miles. Never any stop and go. No kids either to do damage.
Just priced the dash cubby hole on ebay a used one was up for $95 and new at the dealer is $40. No brainer.

Carsy

What product over the years have you used to protect/clean the plastics?

Johnsct

You just never know. I sold my 03 Coupe last year with 160,000 miles on it. The interior was in excellent condition. The only sign of wear was around the door pull.

GrandPrix

A German product called Klasse and at other times Lexol vinyl, rubber, leather protectant.

GrandPrix

Still the headliner and cloth backing to the seats should not come apart. The car looks like a 1987 Chevy impala. I have a 92 Toyota pickup that never sees the garage and that thing is pristine on the inside. No problems whatsoever. Really disappointed at materials used by MB.

Glyn M Ruck

Benz went through a bad patch with quality in 2000, 01, 02, It was luck of the draw. This has been well publicised. W203 C Class & W211 E class were worst affected. By 2003 this was sorted on C, took a little longer on E (later launch date).

Sticky knobs were common especially in hot climates. (PVA painted parts). Dash & glove box issues were not common. Where was your car built? If Brazil it might explain it. Local content.

JDM_love

My 02 coupe has the same problem. It really does make it feel like a lower quality interior. My rsx never had any problem like this. However, my neighbors 01 dodge caravan had a similar problem with the headliner. His was a lot worse and with only 40k miles

GrandPrix

I'd expect it on a Dodge anything, including a Viper. Just disappointing on a MB built in Sindelfingen.

JDM_love

Yeah it is embarrassing to see this on a Benz. My passenger side door handle also broke, and the window regulator buttons broke out of place too.

tifosiv122

Ferrari's have this issue as well - as do many other high end vehicles.

Erik

tommy

It's an Italian car - that's a part of its charm.

The thing I'm most concerned about on the interior of my car is the seat belts not retracting anymore, which is a serious pain in the ***, and I've had two speaker covers go to heaven because of it. I know that Honda warranties the seatbelts for the life of the car (lots of crx owners have taken their cars to the dealers this past year to get the work done, if you can believe that - great of Honda to do so) - I guess it would be expecting too much to have Mercedes have the same kind of warranty?

tifosiv122

Pretty sure by law they have to fix the seat belt (if it's a safety issue) for life. That being said, I have a post here I think about the exact same thing on my old coupe - brand new they didn't retract well and cracked the speaker cover. They replaced it under warranty back then.

Erik

ildd

My '02 c240, which has spent it's entire life in Houston, hasn't had any interior damages, other than some cracked leather on the steering wheel. When it's not sitting in the garage, it's sitting in a parking lot. Silver ex., black int., tinted windows(though that was done on like December 27th of 2011)

Eau_Rouge

My 2002 coupe is no different. I've got the trim around the A pillar separating although the headliner looks to be alright. After 376,xxx km, I guess that's pretty good. I am planning on re-upholstering the pillar trim and headliner this summer anyway (mainly because it's very dirty) so no big loss.

MW_ATL

Interesting. I guess it is all in how you approach things too. My 2002 Coupe, in Atlanta, so similar heat and humidity had very few of these issues. After about 125,000 miles I did notice the cloth on the A-pillars starting to loosen, but I actually got that fixed before it became too bad. Headliner hadn't had a problem as of last week. Mine spent pretty much every working day spent in the sun with the windows up.

Tommy - my passenger side was doing the same thing. I found a service bulletin somewhere that mentioned cleaning the part that it slides through on the B-pillar with soap and water and cleaning the belt itself. The problem appears to usually be a light buildup of dirt and grime there that sticks and slows the belt. I tried it on mine and it seemed to do the trick.

tommy

Will have to try that, thanks.

TexFinn

How about those interior door pulls that come apart? Then again, I guess it's part of the MB charm since my 83 500SE had them come loose, too. Took about 25 years, though, and not 7 like on my daughter's 05 W203.