Wookii

My wood trim is being replaced today. Took 4 months for those **** pieces to arrive.

amdE350

This is a copy of a post I made a few days ago on another thread regarding the wood.

My local dealer just replaced all my wood trim pieces last week. I am in the last month of factory warranty and then move into CPO coverage. The wood trim was badly faded when I purchased the wagon this past Christmas from a MB dealer south of Miami, but because of the holiday and being on vacation I opted to have it done closer to home. I did make a point of bringing it in while it was still under the factory warranty. When I brought it in for service I was told it would be about 6 months because of the backlog, but ended up only being around 4 weeks. They did a really nice job installing, and so far no squeaks or rattles from the process!

As a side note, I did yesterday have the windows tinted at the dealer with ceramic tint and also had the windshield done with the clear ceramic film. I live in Florida so let's hope that takes care of it...

resonator

Just a follow up from my prior posts. I ended up finding an eBay auction for the trim for $900 (kit 2126801293). It really does make a remarkable different.

I am just hoping, and I think it is a logical conclusion, that these replacement kits corrected the lack of UV protection lacking in the original material.

I am still miffed at MB however. $2500+ MSRP is clearly gouging us for a known defect.

timlippold

Does anyone know what model years this issue exists in? Also, has anyone experienced it with the Dark Ash?

jonUF02

Good find on that kit. You must be diligent on searching. I wish I could find a full kit of the dark ash wood. There is someone from Asia selling a nice custom laid CF kit for about $1400.

jonUF02

I just got a line on a black ash trim kit from a junk yard. I'll sell my light burlwood complete kit for really cheap right now. send me a message if anyone interested.

thefisch

I've seen a couple burl wood sets on ebay that had gone from sub $300. Hard to know if they are original wood (pulled for replacement or not). Buyer beware if you are not getting from a reputable parts source. Even then, folks have reported that replacement burl wood may fade again.

No issues with black ash IIRC.

james411

Hello Everyone and thanks for all of the input. I too have a CPO 2011 E350 Bluetec and did not pick up on the Faded Burlwood defect until i was out of the basic 4 year factory warranty. CPO warranty does not cover this defect nor does extended so you are left to fend for yourself. In my case i went all the way up to MBUSA and argued that the fading began and continued throughout the warranty period and just because it was not noticed by the customer (me) during that time period does not constitute a reason to deny the warranty repair. I argued that they should have caught this during the CPO process and also during my service visits - but they didn't and they dont wish to catch it - because it is cosmetic and not mechanical and an expensive fix. They did however offer me a 15% discount from the $3,800.00 price tag and i told them where they can put their 15%. So now I stop every E350 that I see and advise the owner that if they are still in warranty to quickly bring it in for replacement ( and not to forget to mention that vibration at start up - so they do your motor mounts as well ). So far 6 vehicles that i know of have taken my advise and had their burl wood replaced here in Miami. I hope everyone who reads this does the same to help out unknowing victims. One last note, the latest owner who i just helped had just received his vehicle back from service and do you think that anyone a Mercedes Benz of Miami mentioned anything to him --- NOPE. A week later after meeting me he had new Burlwood ( and motor mounts ). Good luck and if your dealer or MBUSA doesn't help then get revenge.

resonator

Yep. I did much the same. I even filed a grievance with the Attorney General here in Illinois. Nothing worked. I was not going for anything but a fair deal.

It's one thing to have made a non-safety related manufacturing mistake on an, otherwise, nice car. That happens. My problem was that it was clear that they avoiding being honest with customers while the vehicles were in warranty and the RIDICULOUS replacement cost that was clearly profiteering. My very best deal from MB was $2300.

So I eventually purchased a new set of the official replacements on eBay for a good deal - $700.

Side note: I'll remember how I was treated when they get around to this Tekata air bag issue - as well as if there is ANY findings on the diesel emissions investigation.

cetialpha5

The set I got was a used and also a little faded, I could tell from the piece that went under the comand knob, however it was way better than what was there before. Even if it fades again, it wasn't too bad replacing it, I guess I'm hoping that another set will also be in the sub $250 range when it fades again in 2-3 years or maybe I won't care at that point. We actually have some good used car laws in my state, but even the used car law excludes cosmetic issues so you wouldn't get coverage anywhere. Anyway, first world problems....

thefisch

after my faded wood got turn down for assistance (didn't consider 15% off assistance), I felt a little burned. Thought about trying to use social media to call them out and make a stink about it. But all I ended up doing was pointing out faded wood on the forum. I recall looking at another used W212 with faded wood at a used car place and pointing out the faded wood to them. They told me they didn't care and would leave it to the customer to figure it out.

resonator

One other thing: I sold my old set to a person that was going to send them somewhere for resurfacing. He said it was a deal. I never heard back from him so I do not know if it was a successful option.

Tank7

Has someone answered this question? Is there a cutoff date where this ceased to be a problem or are the newer models simply not old enough yet to have this happen.

On a side note, I read some where that the windows on both MB and BMW do not block UV. Can anyone confirm this?

resonator

All I know is that the replacement kit (2126801293) was supposed to fix the problem. I assume that's what they started putting in the new ones at that time. If I recall it was mid to late 2012.

cetialpha5

I think there are some threads that say that even after the replacement kit was put in, it still faded. Not sure at what point it was really fixed. I think I recall seeing some mention of some 2013 models too, but haven't seen mention of it with the 2014.

OkieBikerDude

I've been reading this thread as I purchased a clean, low-mileage 2010 E350 a couple of months ago and at that time the fading didn't seem too bad. Now it is starting to be a "burr under the saddle" with an otherwise sweet ride. Since I didn't purchase the car at the local M-B dealership, they won't even give me an accurate time of day. That's OK as I have no intention of ever taking my car to them since there is a great M-B, BMW specialist in Tulsa. It's sad that my 18 year old Lexus wood trim looks as good as new and the "old world" craftsmanship got lost in Germany.

Has anyone tried to refinish a piece of faded trim?

OBD

cetialpha5

Do a search for refinishing trim. Some say they've done it, costs around $200-$350 depending on what gets charged for labor, there's also mention of some DIY too, I guess the materials are pretty cheap, the issue is really how to take the finish off without damaging the wood underneath, it's very thin so it's easy to go too far. Only real issue is that I've gotten a few old pieces removed, but it's easy to break the clips/plastic on the trim.

belarus27

...nothing is easier than breaking those clips/pins on those trim parts lol

whoever is gonna do it , make sure you check how to take it apart (which i should of ) to not to break any.

cetialpha5

Even looking at the new part, it still snapped. There's some prying going on to get them out so if the angle is just off a little bit, they snap. They do go in easily enough though.