Fuzzo

My friend wants to buy a sedan used (despite my warnings) and he has found one in his price range but doesn't have the moon roof...anyone know how much it would cost to do it aftermarket??


is it advisable?

tommy

No, no, and NO!

I wouldn't recommend it to anyone; there are enough sunroof problems when they're from the factory, and I've heard enough horror stories about leaks, roof rust, and so on to never want to do it.

Tell them to keep shopping.

timorgan

That would be crazy expensive!

galaxygrrl

I agree with Tommy (now there is a surprise!)

After market sun roofs are bad news. They leak. I had one my Geo and it was replaced under warrenty 3 times and it would still leak in a hard rain.

Tell your friend to keep shopping!

Beth

BlackC230Coupe

or if he wants the car that bad u can tell him to f*ck the sunroof, if he wants fresh air he can open the windows it will save him time, money, and problems.

revstriker

I had a car in the 80s that I had an after market sunroof installed. It was just a manual pop-up kind, but you could remove the glass if you wanted to have it "open". I think the sunroof itself with installation was about $200 or so. It came out good too. Never leaked one drop.

Now would I do this to a mercedes?? NO WAY!

Buellwinkle

There are 3 ways I know of to get a functioning hole in your roof. The cheapest is to go to Pep Boy and get a glass pop up for under $100. There's also a power ragtop sunroof and sliding glass sunroofs from Street Beat Customs, http://www.streetbeatcustoms.com/ (602)254-4332, that's kinda neat looking. The best and second choice is to go to a salvage yard that has a crashed MB (may not even have to be a W203 but a W203 sunroof would require the least amount of retrofitting), have them cut it out for you. Then go to a body shop and have them weld it into the new car and do the bodywork to make it fit. My guess is that you can do it for about $1,500 but it will look factory. The wiring is probably already there. The last choice is find a place that does sunroofs in your area but my guess is that it's going to be about $1,500 and look aftermarket.

benzomonterey

A full featured sunroof will run between 900-1500. It requires a new headliner to be installed which doesn't always come out perfect. There is no Rust problems with the new roofs as they are designed for the specific vehicle.

The reason I know all this, is that I worked for a sunroof leather installer a few years back. We did mostly lincolns and caddy's but they go in the same.

Here is a link

Webasto

Webasto is the supplier to MB for their sunroofs and they also do aftermarket.

Fuzzo

well after i sent him this thread.. he has changed his mind and will keep looking...

Duffer

From what I understand, you will decrease your resale value with an aftermarket roof - specially in a Benz.

So, tell your friend to keep on looking. Not only will the roof cost him now, but it will cost him later. And it won't look like a Benz roof.

Tell him it is foolish and to have patience

TimmyC230boy

about 50


Oh my bad I thought you were talking about his IQ if he does it

FrankW

hmm...how much would it cost?....

if will probably cost 2/3 the price of your car because you will ended up selling your car for 1/3 the price you've paid after you install the aftermarket moonroof

Spyke

I had a friend who had one put in his car. it wasn't the typical HORRIBLE pop-up glass piece of junk you see at the stores, it was a powered sunroof that looked at least as nice as a factory part.

If I remember right, it cost him around $1200, but for some reason he had gotten a deal on it... normal price was a lot higher than that.

And the one thing I've failed to mention is, this was done around 20 years ago, to a Monte Carlo with a 454 in it.

Point is, you can have it done right, but it's probably not worth the cost.

Mark08859

A wise decision. Wouldn't have been worth the risk.

MB-BOB

Even if you had the very best sunroof installation, you wouldn't have a "C2 Package" equivalent, unless you added the rain sensing wipers and rear retractable sunshade, too.

I'm glad he thinks it's a bad idea all-round. There's nothing wrong with a steel roof Sedan...