aowhaus

Importing my 2008 C300 to Canada was a bit of a pain, mostly due to the amount of paperwork and cost associated with it, but I finally completed my last round of inspections and my car is ready for registration and Ontario plates.
The only modification required to meet Canadian standards was the replacement of my instrument cluster to metric which also included the permanent DRL setting.

The instrument cluster took just a day to do at the dealership which included an inspection from a regional MB representative. Unfortunately all modification work must be performed at a MB dealership which I had to purchase all of the parts from (the cluster costed me $1,375, and with labour, taxes and fees my grand total was just over $2,800!).

I am still getting used to having my speedo with so many numbers (max speed 240!!! ...in Kph unfortunately) and the headlight indicator on the guages which I thought was annoying at first.
One thing I miss is the orange/silver needles which gives it a sportier look, my new gauges has black/silver needles (very minor though).

Other subtle differences which I appreciate:
- There is a low-tone 'bing' sound just before the 4 beeps when I start my car. This low-tone 'bing' sound is also used for the seatbelt warning, which is nicer sounding and not as loud as before.
- The center display remembers the last function used (stereo, trip, etc.) instead of reverting back to the odometer reading when you start the car.

Beyond the $2,800 I paid at the dealership, I paid almost $4,000 in taxes, duty and fees -- almost $7,000 is a lot of money, but better than going through the hassle and depreciation of selling it and then paying a lot more for another car in Canada. Also I love my C too much to sell it.

mrod81

that sucks dude i found one on ebay for 150...took less than an hour to put in myself

jctevere

Haha, way to rub it in to the OP's face... Congrats mrod, I remember when you posted asking for help about 2 months ago about this same exact thing. I am glad that you decided nto to sell your car and buy a new one. Too bad you had to do it at the dealership though, and got banged over the head... Enjoy!

aowhaus

Trust me, I have looked into it, but unfortunately, all conversion work must be done at a Mercedes-Benz authorized dealership and the dealership only uses new OEM parts (to preserve my warranty).
There's no way around it as there is so much paperwork involved to submit to the Registry of Imported Vehicles (RIV) and the Canadian Ministry of Transportation, which includes receipts and letters from MB to prove that the modifications were performed.

Anyone wants a U.S. instrumet cluster?
I am wondering if I could use the old orange needles in the new cluster (the floating speedometer needle could be a challenge).