woofwoofz

The color of my W204 is black (040). But the handle color is Obsidian black (197). Could this be a mistake?

QuadBenz

I'm just curious as to how you found this out? Are they both listed somewhere? You'd think that they'd match even if they're similar colors. I wonder if they just ran out of regular black handles so instead used Obsidian?

len56

Can you see it in a picture? If so, post some

woofwoofz

My daughter noticed that. It is very noticeable under sunlight. I just want to know if this is common to all or just me.

woofwoofz

I hope the pictures come out ok. Note the color of the handle is lighter because the color is metallic black (obsidian black)

e1000

normal. They did this on the w203 as well.

Glyn M Ruck

Good heavens - so they are - Where was your car built? Black is not a popular colour in South Africa because they are hot. I will keep my eyes open & see what is normal here.

Glyn M Ruck

Ah! e1000 has replied - I think it looks good

Sportstick

The possibilities include an intentional complexity reduction (assembly plant end item count) at the plant, which they thought would not be noticed, or if both black colors are cross-loaded into the same plant, a possible error in line display. The manufacturer with which I was associated would not allow colors of that similarity in the same plant due to plant lighting increasing the chance of operator error and installing the wrong, but similarly colored, trim piece. Bottom line, if you don't like it, start with the dealer and work up through the MB rep to point out the mismatch. These are likely supplier-painted parts, so don't repaint current handles...find the part # for painted replacements.

woofwoofz

Mine is made in Bremen, Germany.

Derspeed

There is a guy on the C 63 forum with the same issue.

C300Kid

mines the same..

all black door handles are obsidian...it's normal.

joshg1001

you would think it would be the other way around since you have to pay money for obsidian. weird.

C300Kid

Yeah it is weird. Its not very obvious though so it's not a big deal. The pictures def exaggerate the color difference.

Petje

Its normal, by my 040 black car it's also obsian. I noticed it when my paint came of of one off the handles. They changed it for a new one, also obsian black.

woofwoofz

Folks, Thanks for checking this out for me!

ShoremNJ

I have the same, Obsidian shows less scratches....it is intentional

Diesel Benz

I'd like to look at this from EPC with a VIN. They have both black and obsidian black handles but it looks like after a certain date a black car got the obsidian black handle. It could be intentional from aesthetic point of view, or just the durability as was mentioned.

Sportstick

....or the door handle supplier had a quality spill with the matching handle and they did a temporary substitution......plants are a "dynamic" environment and judgment calls about what is acceptable vs. not, happen all the time....there may be a similar population, but the real intent will require someone at Mercedes-Benz to explain. For example, this could ultimately all trace back to one assembly manager and one design office/color studio person reaching an agreement to get 4 parts (if they are "handed") off the line.....very hard to know the real reason.....

Diesel Benz

No way it could be from a shortage of parts or quality spill or anything like that. MB has to be able to track parts from EPC to each individual car, without having a look at the actual car. And EPC does not show "random" parts for different serial numbers.

Of course if a wrong part was put in place of the correct one, EPC would not know that but that would not pass quality control, MB would be in trouble later on when supplying spare parts. It all needs to be intentional, the real reason is not straightforward, I agree.

Sportstick

Diesel Benz...I must respectfully differ. After a career working with plants, when a supplier issue occurs, the plant does not shut down...the team gets together and evaluates alternatives, and if necessary, issues a TSA (temporary substitution allowance, although the term may differ among companies) if the management decides an alternative is acceptable to allow the build to continue. The build period for a TSA may vary depending on the issue and the recovery may happen if the TSA condition is deemed acceptable if only temporary. TSAs can even impact wheels and tires, which are probably among the most regulated (TREAD Act) items on the vehicle for potential recall purposes (above and beyond the entire vehicle being trackable!). The TSA dirty point to clean point becomes part of the VIN coded history at the manufacturer, so even a population of vehicles with substituted parts can be later identified.

C300PO

Mine is similar to those posted...040 body, obsidian handles...never really noticed it...doesn't bother me at all...btw, mine is a SA build...

Ron Jr

All 040 blacks have obsidian door handles. It has been that way for awhile across the whole MB line. Th eCEO of the company I work for has an S550 in black and his door handles are obsidian.

Glyn M Ruck

Well you have both SA & Bremen built cars here with identical handles so I think we can consider this normal & intentional.

Diesel Benz

I agree to the point that they find alternative options to keep production rolling but if they did not have the correct handle colour, I would assume the solution would be to paint those available with the correct colour.

I've seen datacards explaining that the correct engine was not available and another one was used. But this means that it is an almost correct engine where the differing parts will be changed to make it exactly right for the car.

In this particular case we can see from EPC that it is intentional. Also the comment that cars have been coming like this from two factories supports this being intentional.

Tyres are anyway recorded to the datacard, you don't typically order certain tyre brand which gives the factory full freedom to adapt tyres according to their stock (as long as the type is correct for the intended market).

Is your experience from an MB factory? Can you give some datacard examples showing what kind of adaptation has been done?