KevinH2000

After almost 197,000 miles of service, the pedal covers on my 2005 C230 were nearing the end of their service life.

The clutch pedal had become a special problem as my foot would slip occasionally when I operated the clutch.

I searched on the part number for the clutch pedal cover (A 170 29002 82) and the only hits were for used items on eBay and for overseas sites. Some of the sellers showed that the item was out of stock and the used covers cost about $25. I didn't contact my local dealer, but I expect that the part would cost at least $25 if it was available. I was able to find a black rubber pedal cover, but I wanted to maintain the OEM look.

I found this set on eBay:

The cost was $18.77 including shipping. The item number is 155939252760.

Since the cost of the full set was less than what I was likely to pay for the clutch pedal cover, I decided to take the risk and order the set. The seller responded by requesting pictures of my pedals and providing the measurements of the pedal covers. The product seemed to be a good fit.

The quality is very close to OEM and the appearance is almost identical.


Comparison of eBay clutch pedal cover and OEM.

I'm pleased with the results.

The accelerator pedal cover mounts slightly differently than the OEM cover, but it seems to be on the pedal firmly.

Time will tell whether the replacements will endure as long as the OEM covers.

slammer111

Looking good.

FYI the pedals you have are part of the C7 (USA) package. Guessing this option package might've been standard for USA cars. For the non C7 cars (in Canada without the Evolution package), there are also a "basic" set of pedal pads (solid rubber, no metal), which is probably what you found online. They don't look as nice cosmetically, but they are way more durable I imagine.

I always wondered how long the C7 pedals would last because of the severely decreased contact area (rubber nubs vs. solid rubber). With that said, looks like they lasted a very long time on your car. The other thing that stopped me from potentially upgrading was that I imagine the C7 pedals provide way less grip.

Looking online, there are very few photos of the black rubber pedals. But they look exactly like the ones on my car.

KevinH2000

Thanks for the background information. I think the pedal covers in my car were intended to mimic the look of a drilled aluminum racing pedal. There is a least one debate regarding whether drilled pedals are worthwhile.

I think the Mercedes C7 option is better than a drilled pedal because the rubber nubs grip your foot fairly well. It seems to me that an all-aluminum pedal would be too slick for leather-soled shoes especially if your shoes were wet. However, I don't have experience with "real" aluminum pedals and that may be speculation on my part.

I alternate between my driving my C230 and a 2000 Porsche Boxster. The Boxster has all rubber pedals.

Boxster pedal covers after approximately 150,000 miles of use.

The pedals on my Boxster may need replacement by the time they reach the same mileage as my C230. There may not be a significant difference in durability. I haven't given it a lot of thought, but I think I have a slight preference for the pedal covers on the Mercedes. Before the rubber nubs wore off, they seemed slightly "grippier" than the rubber pedals. The clutch and brake pedals on the Mercedes have a different shape and seem slightly larger than the corresponding pedals on the Porsche. That my account for some of the perceived difference in performance.

One thing that is odd about the manual-transmission W203's is the use of a foot-operated emergency/parking brake. This is the only MT car I've seen with that set up. A hand operated parking brake is almost a necessity when you are teaching someone how to drive a stick.