ReZzZ320

hey guys I was bored and I came across some crazy ideas to modyour W124's interior

Lately I've been reading many threads about people spilling coffee on their shifters so one cool idea that came across was using a shifter boot jus like the W203 C-class. Not only will it improve the car's interior appearance but it will also protect the electronics of the car


I know most of you will have negative replies ready for me but hey I guess I'm being the adventurous guy here willing to butcher his ride to discover new mods for our outdated cars (besides we should be thankful our cars are built to last if kept in proper condition)

Garfunkle_W124

Not a bad idea. Where can these be found? Just today I dropped 50 cents into the "grand canyon" as I like to call it.

ReZzZ320

like ur sense of humor

Garfunkle_W124

Thanks chief. I like your creativity

DarkHand

Had to go digging in mine after the few dimes that spilled from the ash tray.
So would be intrested in a "non-lethal" design idea to keep out the errant change, dustball, crumpled straw paper etc etc...

ZedStyle

did this on my previous car. it worked great, because on the dash it had a display of what gear i was in. on the w124 though, if you cover the area up with a boot you cover up the only way to see what gear you're in. not a huge problem since by now we know how many 'clicks' before you hit 'D', but something to keep in mind.

ReZzZ320

care to share more details???

Actually there is a simple way around it. Usually involves installing copper contacts on each gate to light up an external display.

I'm currently trying to get past the initial design stage and see how it should look.

Garfunkle_W124

Well i am interested as soon as someone gets all the details.

ZedStyle

okay, it looks crap in these pics, this was when i first started trying (i made the shift boot myself from scratch using a sheet of vinyl that was the same color as my leather), but sold the car soon after so don't have how it looks when it was totally done, but you'll get the idea:




also, the car came with a big double-din, so when i put in the new head unit instead of getting one of those cheap kits with a pocket underneath i retro-fitted cupholders from another car:




also routed a cable from the aux input to the ashtray for mp3 players etc.:




i cut out the space behind the arm rest and put my sub in there, used to sound sweet (of course this can never work in our cars with the fuel tank):








i'm all about doing this type of thing but so far haven't on the benz. your idea of the contacts will work, maybe one of these days when i get time i'll mess with doing something like that too... i've become very lazy these days!

ReZzZ320

that gearshift must be really cold to get this much cladding lol

I guess the interest in the W124 forum is more obvious but both have the same gearshift design

if anyone can help me source a used w203 gearshift controller I could get cracking

2PHAST

I have a W203 knob on a W202 shift shaft. I originally had the entire W203 shifter assembly, looked into trying to reto the entire setup, no go. Looked at a retro of just the shift boot, again, no go. These items are just too different to be usable on the W124. Other shift boots though, might be a better choice.




More pictures here on the retro-fit.

http://www.2phast.com/500e/interior.htm

ZorroAMG

No offense but I HATE the look of a leather shift boot on an auto...the simple factory design is MUCH nicer....that makes it look cluttered and bloated.

My $0.02

ReZzZ320

wow nice man what was the reason that didn't make the mod work???

and what other shifter boots do you reccomend that we can use instead??

2PHAST

The boot is tapered to fit the gear frame of the W203 and thus is not the right size for the W124. Plus, there is really no way to attach it.

The W203 gear frame is all electronic and no way to use it on our cars. Of course, where there is a will, there is a way, but it would not be a easy mod.

I don't have any suggestions for boots. With the W202 shift rod and W203 knob, there really isnt enough space for a boot.

ReZzZ320

that would be the challenge

ermal1

Hello!
I'm a new user here
please can you tell me where did you bought this set of gear cover for W203?
thanks