WEBSRFR

Does anyone know what would be the cost of replacing the interior wood color of the car from the dark/black wood to brown burl wood?

RSIKR

My burl walnut was replaced under warranty due to fading. I was told the kit from MB is $2300 and 5.5 hours of labor to install it. No prices on my paperwork as it was under warranty just a verbal price for the material. Multiply the 5.5 by the hourly rate of who does the work for you and whatever price you can get the kit for. Gives you a guesstimate.

WEBSRFR

$2300 + labor?!

W210

Would love to replace my ash with piano black from designo..

Johnny Mo

I'll trade ya

CEB

That's your best bet. Generally, many younger drivers prefer the black dash pieces.

$2300 plus labor sounds cheap. The wood for my 3 series BMW was $2800.

WEBSRFR

I don't get the black/dark wood because it blends in with the black dash and there is really no contrast. It might as well be plastic as it is tough to tell the difference. It seems popular enough though and I understand this is all very subjective so I don't mean to take anything away from those who like it.

I wonder if the majority of E class customers actually prefer the black wood or they are just importing a lot more cars with black wood because they assume that's what people want... Personally I love the distinct detail of burl wood.

Shifter

If I could get a set of replaced faded wood kit and the you could have it wrapped or modified would anyone be interested?

RSIKR

A faded set could probably be rubbed out, sprayed black followed by multiple clear coats by a competent painter. Then it would look like shiny plastic. It's a good idea if you want the look.

xolinlevh

Somewhat OT, anyone know the cost of a good set of CF inserts?

SolidGranite

WEBSRFR,

Someone posted on here a week ago or so asking if anyone wanted to trade kits. He's looking for what you have. I'd do a search ASAP!

Johnny Mo

For me I feel it is a sportier look than burl...not sure if it is a young guy's "look" - my wife tells me I am her 3rd child all the time anyway

It's funny my 350 had the black/black and when I got my 550 a few months ago, I was happy with majority of the options (it was a leftover) and assumed that the black/black would've been standard. When I oprdered my 350 black leather and sport package - black wood was auto loaded as the option (which I wanted anyway) - so fast forward to my 550 delivery and I saw Burl - I was disappointed (but it wouldn't have been a deal-breaker anyway.

WEBSRFR- As for a trade - I was serious - happy to discuss and figure out how we can do it.

SolidGranite

If looking for a trade see here: https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...black-ash.html

Johnny Mo

No help there - I am looking for Black Ash.

SolidGranite

Was intended for the OP. Good luck in your search. I searched all over the place before finding my 2011 with black ash. Burl seems to be the prevailing choice by dealers. I've even seen it frequently in the E63 and it makes me want to throw up every time.

WEBSRFR

Throw up? I guess we all have our own preferences If it makes you feel better from the research I've done, it seems most 550s are now shipped with black/dark wood.

This came up for a friend of mine who is looking to buy an E550. He's looking for a slightly used E550 and I am shocked to see that in the entire United States, there are only about 20 used E550s if you want silver and less than 50K miles. If you want CPO you are looking at maybe 10 cars in the entire United States! And only a couple of them have the burl wood. I was honestly shocked to see so many with black wood. I would have expected a lot of customers would have preferred a wood trim that shows some detail and grain in the wood. The black wood just looks like plastic IMHO. I was curious if they are now importing cars with black wood unless someone special orders it. That seems to be the case based on what I found available in the US -- unless 80-90% of E550 buyers just loves black wood...

He's set on burl wood, and I completely understand. I think burl has a more luxurious feel... I thought we can fix this easily by installing new wood trim but $2.5-3K seems like a lot to spend to change the wood color... He wants a couple of other options and it looks like he will have to wait and keep looking.

The good thing is it looks like if he gets a car with black wood he can likely swap it with someone on the forum...

God forbid I loose my car and need to replace the car it looks like unless I order a new one I am screwed as I will likely have to look for months to find one with the options I want along with burl wood and my preferred exterior color. Got to take good care of my baby...

If you are specific about the E550 you want to buy it is very difficult to find out as there are so few of them...

SolidGranite

Absolutely. When my 550 was totaled back in January I was forced to find one immediately and that still took me almost 2 months to do and still had to buy out of state.

I strongly feel the black wood has fantastic depth and detail to the grain. Especially when those gold flakes and ribbons show up. It just doesn't show up unless there is some decent natural light shining on it. The burl imo is just too old man looking and doesn't match the interiors. Yes, it has nice contrast but I feel that the color contrast is off.

BenzV12

I was a dark burl walnut fan until I saw an ash blackwood in a black MB and I am latched on it since then lol

xolinlevh

If it wasnt so pricy id switch mine out for black ash in an instant

Dema

Still can't decide to replaced faded wood, hate to drive a loaner.

W210

black ash is good but piano black better!