tommy

It's amazing how simple this stuff is when you actually take the time to look at it. The install was a piece of cake, though not as easy as unscrewing old, screwing in new (that would be too user-friendly).

Here's the pic:



Fits in nicely with the dash trim, and on my car, with the leather as well. Best part is that it sits a noticeable amount lower than stock, and it's easier to have your arm on the armrest and shift, for the ultimate in lazy.

If anyone needs a replacement C7 knob, let me know. As far as swapping in this knob for a non-C7 one, I don't think it would work too well. I think that the leather is glued to the shaft on the non-C7 cars.

Final word: do NOT rent "13 Ghosts"! Awful, awful. I really should have known.

Carter

wow! looks great!

sdcaclint

nice shift knob. but on a side note, that leather looks a bit custom. what does a setup like that set you back?
13 ghosts... friend brought it over 2 nights ago...i passed and came on the forum...lol

London AMG

As the **** queen said to her co-star "Nice knob Tommy!!"

tommy

Clint, I got it from Classic Soft Trim, like a handful of others here. It cost me $1600 and about 20 annoying posts on the forum, asking for opinions on colors.

Good call on the movie, btw.

sdcaclint

it sure looks good. it is quite a bit more expensive than the factory leather, but you have the ability to make exactly what you wanted. did you consider the factory leather? i was wondering how the quality compares. i asked my sales guy about the difference between the coupe leather,and the rest of the models, and he told me that they are all the same. i doubt that, i would be pissed if my s-class had the same leather as a c-coupe. but i ordered it too sight un seen.

young

that looks great! nice job.

btw, you like it cold inside the car?

Lynn

The leather in the coupe seems to be the same as that used in all other models except the CL600 which has Nappa leather as standard. Nappa is optional for the S. Nappa leather is not currently shown as an option for the SL500. I just checked the MBUSA web pabes for the various cars.

tommy

You know, I still haven't studied the manual enough to see if I have the settings down correctly. Just want outside air to blow - is that so difficult?

Clint - from my personal experience and what I've heard from others, the CST leather is softer than original, and it's only $200 more. Of course, since I ordered my car in July, there was no way to even get leather anyway, so I was stuck with the cloth (much like Young is now :p )

galaxygrrl

Clint, my friend has the stock leather and I CST leather. My leather is much softer, and a little looser fitting, and it was only $90 more than the factory.

Tommy, wow, you car looks great!

vadim

Tommy, now you need a blue shifter boot to match the seats

galaxygrrl

Geezz, I don't think Martha would even do that.

speedfrk

How much shorter is the new shifter than the old one? Is there a difference in the way it feels/shifts, or is it just a cool looking shift knob?

sdcaclint

the leather on my coupe was $1100. i was already getting the $600-bose and the $1000-sunroof, and the premium was $2700. i was so uninformed about this car. here is my short story. i had heard that mercedes had an affordable coupe, so the restaurant i eat breakfast at is down the street from the dealer. i was going to just go in and look at it. i saw the car realized it was a real mercedes, and not a cut rate bargain car, and just did it. it was the easiest car buying experience in the world. i wasn't even seriously looking when i walked in the door. they didn't have a great selection, so i looked at the option sheet, picked what looked good. they didn't have a bose model to listen to, but it sounded good in the ML, and the sales guy said it was the same. They didn't have a C7 with 6speed to drive, so i just thought it was the wheels.(bonus for me) anyway that is my story

jack230

How much is this shift knob? Can you order directly from Renntech? I couldn't find it on their website.

tommy

clint, you're doing apples to oranges a little by taking the discount on the leather cost in the c5 package only. You'd need to really apportion it out between all of the items in the package, based on relative costs, to get a "true" cost for the leather on the c5 pkg.

Having said that, I didn't like either color choice anyway, so even if I could have ordered it, I probably still wouldn't have. Small price to pay for getting what I want.

Jack, they don't list everything that's available on their website. There's also a $2000 interior trim package that, if anyone here buys, I will fly over to where they live, and slash their tires. That's a real ripoff. As it is, the knob is $195, which ain't much better. But, because of the way that it attaches, I don't think you can get away with a "normal" shift knob, so you're stuck with either the Brabus one (about same price) or the one that I got. If you're inventive, maybe you can get a standard one and modify it, but it would be pretty hard to do. If you're interested, contact Bob Brady at Renntech. I did have to wait about a month for mine, though, just to warn you.

Speedfrk - the knob is about 1/2 - 1" shorter than the stock one, and is smaller, which is why I said that I like the feel better.

Vadim - I WISH that I could do that. That would be really nice. I'm going to have to take the boot assembly off again to see how it attaches at the base. If it's just glued on or attached somehow, I might order a spare, and play around with it. Maybe take it to CST and see if they can stitch up some more smurf blood leather for it. Don't know if you were serious about the idea, but it got me thinkin', and that can be a dangerous thing.

gab

Tommy you may also consider the C7 shifter style wrapped with the blue leather wrapped like those offered in the SLK

sdcaclint

Tommy, you are right, but the leather did only cost me the $1100, due to the fact that i had already chosen all the other options of the c5 package individually. here is what happened. i went to the dealer, and selected the sunroof/rain sensor, bose, and C7. then on my way home i was thinking "this is my first new car, I want leather" so i called Craig my sales guy and added the c5 pkg.

vadim

Martha may not, but it's a part of a Designo package

http://www.mercedes-benz.de/mbd/t03/...C_2BD,00.html?

goalie_k

If you ever seen or felt the wood kit you would be impressed. It's all solid wood.. crash tested and temperature tested. The BEST stuff you can buy. Cheap, no. Outstanding quality, yes.

I have had some RENNtech wood kits on my cars and they look great.

vadim

I wouldn't let any wood in my car, period. Plain hate it. It inevitably associates with Cadillac in my perception. If I had a car of my dream with everything I'd want but with wood as an inevitable part of some package - I'd rip it out on the first day (Just to offset your statement).

DtS

It's really nice to see that not all people have the same preferences. It would be kinda boring if everyone drove around in identical looking cars

I think a good looking wood-trim can look really classy, and I do think it fits in a Mercedes. However I really hate those plastic fake wood panels that you find in almost every american and korean car.

goalie_k

Whoa....

What is considered "wood" is Carbon Fiber, Carbon Kelvar, Brushed Aluminium, not just walnut and burl.

I agree, on a Cadi, wood looks aweful, namely cause it is fake wood. Real wood in a CL look great, IMHO.

vadim

Huh??? Since when??? I DO like CF, BA, but it's NOT wood!

P.S. In no way am I trying to impose my view on others - this is just my opinion. If someone likes wood, it's perfectly fine with me. I just don't think wood becomes any car (except Cadillac )

speedfrk

My 73 Jag XJ12 has a burled walnut dash. It looks great in that car. Also has mahogany window sills, Wilton wool carpets, and Connelly leather. The car wouldn't look right without wood. But I agree-my C230 wouldn't look right with it, either. Maybe carbon, but carbon is so overdone now. I guess I like the aluminum it came with the best.