Eaosdad

I have a 2010 E350. I bought the car in August 2010. After I had it for couple months. I noticed some of the wood trim had some white spot on it. Took it to the dealer and the did replace some of the wood pieces for me. It was fine until couple months ago I notice all the wood trim fading so badly. Specially the one located by the center control knob. It had a big white spot on it. The car only has 17000 miles on it and always park in the garage. I took it to the dealer three weeks ago. The service advicer looked at it and replaced that piece for me. The problem is the color is much darker. He did order another piece but it still much darker. He said only way is change all the wood trim but mercedes won't let them do it! I called MBUSA customer service center and they told me the will try to order another piece for me to try again. They just won't replace all the trims for me. He also said all the wood will fade. That is bull shxx! My 2001 ML' s wood trim color did not fade at all. My question is even they find one match the color. What about after the warranty expire. The wood trim looks terrible already. I can't imagine two years later. I was planning to get a 2013 ML350. But after I talked to MBUSA and the way they treat their customer. I think this is my last Mercedes. I don't know what can I do now? Anyone has same experience ?

Pntblnk

One of the service bulletins gives a serial number range of cars effected. The wood supplier didn't put the UV stabilizer in the resin resulting in fading when exposed to UV. Your dealer should have replaced the entire set as they did mine and many others on the board. I would print the service bulletin and take it in to the service manager and ask nicely that they replace every panel. They keep the entire set in stock for just such issues so not sure why your guy would piece meal it. If one is bad, they are all bad!

Found it:
LI68.10-P-050415 - 212 burl walnut trim that is fading or discoloring and VIN is between A000988 to A291888 cause inadequate UV protection dealer will replace all trim under warranty.

Eaosdad

Thanks for your help. Just wondering where can I find the detail service bulletin. So I can print it out and show them..

Pntblnk

Just give your Service Manager that number and ask him / her to pull it for you. They give you any issues find another dealership and call MBUSA to report them.

MoirJuli

The wood supplier didn't put the UV stabilizer in the resin resulting in fading when exposed to UV

DKN

I had the same issue and took the info provided to SD Mercedes in Kearny Mesa. I see you too are here in San Diego. They replaced ALL the wood trim.

Eaosdad

The problem is dealer said MBUSA won't let them replace it and I called MBUSA customer service. They said the will only replace the center piece. Will call them again after my vacation.

Live Oak

Is it possible you had some wood trim replaced early in the game, and now, when it fades, your serial number falls outside the official series for full wood replacement. (Your relplacement wood would have fallen in the serial range.)

So, now MBZ is focused on your serial when they should focus on the dates when your original wood was replaced??? THAT wood should carry the warranty of cars purchased in that era!!!

LOVE MB

Just purchased 2010 E350 last month and noticed that some of the wood in the car up front has faded. Some of the pieces look funny as they’re nice and dark on one end and horribly faded on the other or faded just in the middle.
Anyways, after reading posts about bulletin from MB regarding wood fading went to the dealer last Friday explained the situation and gave him the bulletin number. The manager looked at the wood asked the service advisor to print out the bulletin attach to the service order and told me to come back when the parts arrive. Additionally, he explained that they will replace all the pieces as replacing just faded ones will fix the issue temporarily since the other pieces still have inadequate UV protection and will fade sooner or later. I was really surprise that I didn’t have to fight to have them all replaced. It all depends on the dealer I guess.
Don’t let your dealer to replace just the faded pieces!

LOVE MB

https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...-new-e350.html

LOVE MB

Here's how mine looks like

K-A

Wow. That sucks. Mine doesn't look anything like that so hopefully I'm in the clear (though I have dark tints and rarely have my car sitting in the sun).

BM2BZ

holy crap ! i think i've seen this kind of fading on light color wood trims only. haven't seen it on dark black wood trims .

BenzV12

This is one of the reasons may be under conscious or whatever you name it ,I decided black ash wood trim because I have seen no faded neither discoloration issues associated with these
Actually, I would prefer burl over anything else

LOVE MB

Didn't have a choice as I bought my car used but, I'm glad it's only 2 years old and still under warranty. It would cost pretty penny to replace it on your own. Waiting for my new wood to arrive...

ImInPA

I think it depends on the dealer. I was getting a blown headlight replaced at my dealer. While there, I asked my service advisor if they have had any complaints on the wood fading on the E. He told me they had had none, but, they had heard about it. He called me later in the day and said he thinks that the rear wood panels on my car are darker than the fronts. I never noticed this myself. My service advisor left me a voice message that they reported it to MB, and, "just to be safe", will replace every panel. In fact, they said MB sent a complete kit. My Dealer is Sun Motor Cars in Mechanicsburg, PA, and they have just been fantastic.

LOVE MB

Less than a week later we’re back in business! Really dark and shiny no scratches and swirls J
Almost forgot how the real burl walnut looks like…
Best part, no more cracking noise behind the wood trim up front I’ve had before! LOVE IT!

BenzV12

WOW, this wood looks hot
I am happy for you and may you have no more wood trim issues

newyorktoLA

I had the same wood trim issue even though my car was built in July of last year, waaayy past the VIN range! The wood was starting to fade, so I took it to one dealer who said no, we wont replace all the trim just the faded ones. MBUSA said that they supported the dealer. I then took it to anther dealer in LA and they gladly replaced all $2,000 worth of wood trim, even though my car was outside the Vin range! I guess it really does depend on the dealer. The new wood is wayy darker than the original unfaded wood that originally came on the car! If you want to know the dealer in LA that will take car of this issue, PM me. I love my new trim!

ImInPA

Just got my Bluetec back from the dealer yesterday. New wood trim is beautiful. MB sent out a kit containing all of the trim pieces with instruction for the dealer to send the replaced panels back to MB. MB is certainly aware of this problem, and, my car is way past the VIN range posted in the bulletin. I never really noticed how faded the wood had become on my vehicle, but, holding one of the replaced panels next to the new stuff really shows how faded it was. Even faded, it looked good to me. My dealer has provided exceptional service. I am surprised that some of you are getting such poor service from your service departments.

konigstiger

If not within VIN range, speak with Service Manager referencing parts kit # 2126801293 and request MB rep covering dealership approve replacement.

ttab

Wow. I just bought my 2011 E350 with faded trims. I'm glad I read this. Thank you all.

ngerstman

I had the wood trim fade issue as well after about one year. Mercedes replaced the entire wood set under warranty. No problems since. That was about a year and a half ago. Thanks. Regards. Ned.

Tonycpa

What a joke. You buy a luxury car and you get wood that isn't fit for a Honda civic.

MBUSA is cheap cheap

ajaynsx

how does one find out if its fading? I cant tell thats why I ask. My eyes are not that great at picking up these details