rbf41000

Going to take the car in to the dealer and see what they say but thought I would ask if anyone else has seen this or had other leather defects fixed under warrantee?
2018 GT Roadster, on the dash just on the RHS of the instrument binnacle between the windshield and the binnacle and the display panel (hard to describe and take a picture of) the leather has shrunk and detached from the dash where it is a concave curve.
This is one of those things that once seen can't be unseen and is staring me in the face anytime I drive the car.

AMG 17GT

I’ve seen AMG Academy car dashes like this. On a hot track all day I guess.

Orcbolg

My buddy, with a 2016 GTS, is currently on month 2 of an expected 5 month wait, to get his dash replaced under warranty for the same thing. His car came from Arizona.

invictusmaneo

They will cover it under warranty. The wait will depend on what color combo you have.

ZephyrAMG

Do they remove the whole front console to repair bench top?

C280 Sport

If you live in a hot climate and your car is out in the sun all day then this will happen to cars with a leather dash.

BucsFan

Living in So FL, one of the first things I did was get a sunshade. I never park during the day without it. Weathertech makes a good one, but you have to order it as GTS even if you have a GTC or GTR. https://www.weathertech.com/mercedes...gt-s/sunshade/

It's easy to store. I can just roll it up and shove it behind one of the seats.

Even if you aren't in the sunbelt, over time the sun dries out and accelerates damage to the leather on the dash and elsewhere. Regardless of whether or not you use a sunshade, you still want to condition all of your leather surfaces to keep them supple and looking new and to prevent them from drying out and cracking.

invictusmaneo

a sunshade, conditionining or ceramic coating your leather, and a high-IR rejecting tint like crystalline 70-80% will be your best bet.

jakermc

South Florida car, had mine replaced under warranty. I believe the car was stored outside on the dealer lot before I purchased it. Black with silver stitching, they had 1 in stock in the US so only lost the car for a week while in service. The entire top half of the dash was replaced as a single unit and they move over your existing A/C vents and such.

AMG 17GT

Whenever I parked the car in Atlanta as hot as it is right now I always park in the *** in the sun to prevent this.

But having an all leather interior nap exclusive you have to treat it with a lot of oil because it was really dry from the factory.

rbf41000

Took the car in today so they could have a look, They said sorry this should not happen and ordered a new dash from Germany, 7 to 10 days so I set up an appointment for 2 weeks.
Going to have them tint the windows at the same time. I think a sun shade for the front windscreen will be on the books also.

503hp

Hi, I just bought a out-of-warranty 2016 AMG GT S with the leather dash. It appears to have shrunk too, because it is pulling away from the center speaker.

Also, the leather appears to be stretched without support (floating/unglued?) between the instrument cluster hump and the windscreen. It is not supposed to be like this, right? If I press my fingers down there, the leather flexes down like I am pressing down on a leather trampoline; there is air rather than solid dash under the leather.

Video of the floating leather: https://drive.google.com/file/d/10fd...ew?usp=sharing

Thanks!

big_willy

Yeah, that should not be that way.
Curious what a higher mileage 2016 GTS in that condition went for? Would you care to share what your price was? Thanks.

503hp

What should the leather dash be like when pressed? Firm and unmoving to the touch?

big_willy

Yes firm. Leather is tight and adhered to the dash. No spongy with air gaps. The adhesive has failed and leather has shrunk due to excessive heat most likely.

503hp

Thanks @big_willy !

UCIMBZ

A repaired dash after a front end collision can also show this kind of a sign so I might suspect that too.

503hp

Did the AMG GT come with MB Tex dashboards too? I wonder if replacing the shrunk leather dash with a MB Tex dashboard would prevent this issue from reoccurring. (I hear that the Ferrari guys sometimes use Alcantara in place leather when they fix their dashboards, because the synthetic Alcantara does not shrink under heat.)

503hp

I got quotes for fixing the dashboard. For the local skilled interior shop to refinish the in leather is about $2,800. A brand new dashboard from the Mercedes parts department is ~$6,300, and that's before tax and labor to install it!

The leather shop thought the idea of redoing the dashboard in Alcantara or MB Tex was ridiculous.

Skilly

heres a full dash for sale:

https://www.ebay.de/itm/Mercedes-AMG...AAAOSw7iZdtxBE

fuel007one

My 2016 dash is doing this as well. I cannot imagine mbz covering this under warranty however if anyone has any ideas how to make a repair to this kindly advise and thanks.

503hp

My understanding is that you'll need a professional automotive leather and upholstery shop to take your dash out, pull off the shrunk leathers and install fresh leather.

fuel007one

Thanks for the input. This isn't an easy fix apparently which is too bad since the car has been garaged since day 1.

Acta_Non_Verba

This "lifting" leather on the dash is a problem common on several other makes too. Astons, Audis, Bentleys, Corvettes, to name a few (models with which I am personally familiar).

The absolute best defense against this happening in the first place is a sun shade, used religiously. Leather treatments (treating leather especially with aftermarket products) is a whole debate unto itself and in the interest of forum peace, not a can of worms I want to open here.

Something interesting that I've observed directly from several years on Corvette forums across a number of different MYs where this topic is commonplace; and since the Corvette is mass produced and every MY has customer chosen interior options, one of which is always leather, the rest vinyl (or other man made derivatives), the lifting shrinking cases are always leather. I cannot cite a single example of the vinyl dashes ever lifting.

503hp

From your signature it looks like you are loyal MB customer. If you have a good relationship with your dealership, you might ask them if they'd do a goodwill repair on the dash. I don't know if this is a thing at Mercedes, but it was certainly a thing at BMW, and I got my M3 transmission seals repaired for 10% of the cost thanks to some BMW goodwill.