DFWdude

My 2016 E350 is now 4-1/2 years old. I bought it as an off-lease return at the 2-1/4 year mark. It had severely faded Burl Walnut trim. I purchased the car anyway, knowing from all the posts here on the subject indicated I would be able to have the trim replaced under warranty. The replacement trim has been in place since May, 2018, and there is no noticeable indication of further fading. Hooray.

Aside from the fact that the factory installed trim with inadequate UV protection, I am fairly convinced that the fading is caused by two factors after delivery: 1) Exposure to direct sunlight, 80% the cause, and 2) the remaining 20% due to excessive heat when parked outdoors on a parking lot under the sun.

The first two years, this car lived in sunny Southern Florida (Miami area). I’m certain the previous owner parked at her workplace on an uncovered parking lot. It may also have been parked outside a garage overnight. This explains why the dash trim faded in just 2 years, exposed to direct sunlight that also heated the interior to the usual 120-140° during the day.

She had the windows and rear glass heavily tinted right after purchase, 18% rear glass and 28% front windows. Nothing on the windshield. (I have the receipt.) The Burl Walnut on the rear doors has not faded since new, probably due to the tinting blocking the UV rays. But the forward 3-4 inches by the dash on the front doors was faded, due to the unprotected glass on the windshield. This is how it looked before...




In my possession, the car lives in sunny Texas (DFW area) which is just as hot as southern FL. So the environmental conditions between the two locations are the same.

The difference is that the car parks inside my garage every night. I’m retired, so it seldom sits on an exposed parking lot more than an hour at a time during the day. So, the interior doesn’t get terribly hot.

In addition, when it does sit on a parking lot, the interior is ALWAYS protected from direct sunlight on the dash. In part, I always park facing toward the sun to shade the dash naturally. In addition, I have installed extra items to shade the dash from sunlight:

I installed Limo Tint in the windshield header to block overhead sunlight.



I also installed “The Shade” from www.Dashdesigns.com, and use it whenever parked outside the garage. Opinions vary on the appearance of this pleaded dash cover. But IMO, it covers better than any other option. Its storage on the passenger side A-pillar means it is always handy to use… no fumbling for that folded windscreen shade on the (dirty) back seat floor or greasy seat rails.




Bottom line, the replacement Burl Walnut trim has not faded the last 2+ years. I doubt it will fade in the future, either.

Two years and counting with no fading...

I thought I'd summarize my experience with this for any of you going through the same issues.

LILBENZ230

Do you have more pics of the way the windshield sun shade integrates? My car has open pore ash wood, so no issues with it, but I'd like that just overall I think if it integrates well. I'd be interested for heat rejection, windshields block pretty much all UVA and UVB rays right from the factory.

ml3504matic____

My black ash wood has a problem with bubbling along the edges, a bit odd but i’m guessing the previous owner or dealer used some sort of cleaner.

DFWdude

Don't have any pics handy of "The Shade" in my E-Class, although you can see the bottom edge of it in pic #3 above. But here is a photo of my C320. All four of my cars have "The Shade." They are ordered in different lengths based on the rake and length of the glass, (24" to 28" IIRC). But I usually get the longest available, and work with it to get the most coverage. www.dashdesigns.com

The assembly mounts at 2 points on the glass at the RH A-Pillar, and does not block any view out the windshield. Grab the center hand-pull and draw it across to your side, where the nub at the hand-pull clips into a single mount on the driver's side. Installation takes mere minutes, once you are CERTAIN the windshield is perfectly clean where the mounts will be. The kit includes alcohol wipes to assist in cleaning the inside of the windshield edges. But I use these after using Windex and elbow grease first.

The Shade blocks the heat as well or better than any fold-up shade I've ever used. A bare windshield works like a magnifying glass to amplify the heat. But the Shade traps any heat buildup (between itself and windshield) to keep it from spreading throughout the cabin.




I take issue with this, and my car is a perfect example.

In fact, the fully tinted side/rear windows on my car have protected the wood in the car doors since new... not a hint of fading. In contrast, there is no tinting on the windshield, hence the extreme fading on the dash wood, and the first 2-3 inches of wood in the front doors. It's patently clear that the sun through the windshield does the damage. So, I am not convinced that the windshield blocks UVA and UVB rays at all, despite what MB says.

LILBENZ230

Study after study shows that windshields block over 90% - due to the plastic layer. Mercedes just has defective burl walnut wood. I don't think anyone has ever really figured out what is going on with it. Some people have had it fade even with all the protective attempts you're using. And some, like yourself, have not.

Side windows - well that's another story.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-h...-idUSKCN0Y32WI

DFWdude

Well, you can put all these wooden pieces in a box, close the lid, and place it in a closet for years... I can all but guarantee it will not fade. MB has been trotting out warranty replacement sets (from inside storage) since 2012 or so, and they arrive in pristine condition.

To be clear... I'm not suggesting the wood is perfect from the factory. I've read here -- among the many theories -- that the "sunlight protection" treatment from the wood supplier is inadequate. But the wood will not discolor by itself. Sunlight is the trigger.

I've not read this anywhere on these forums. One cannot shade the wooden trim while driving the car. So some sunlight exposure is inevitable. An outside salesperson probably cannot shade the wood at all, because the car is in use all day long in short duration city driving. But as I've noted, my situation is different, as the car is garaged most days and always overnight. When I am out driving, I take precautions when I park. That's all.

Then I suppose it's something else in the sunlight that triggers the fading. Maybe its sunlight shining through residual Strontium 90 in the atmosphere from the March 1, 1954 Castle Bravo thermo-nuclear test on Bikini Atoll. I don't know. But it's definitely something in direct sunlight that is otherwise completely blocked by side and rear window tinting.

I've adopted some simple, easy habits that are now second nature to me. It's worth it to keep the wood looking as nice and luxurious as it does. YMMV

cadetdrivr

Personally, I like the idea of a built-in shade like this but I would not mount anything to the A-pillar on a W212 where an airbag lives.

DFWdude

I gave this considerable thought before installing The Shade 19 years ago on my C320.

The Shade is a straight-molded assembly, while the A-Pillar is concave, moreso on the E-Class than the C-Class pictured (post #4 above). So the Shade can't rest directly against the A-Pillar. In other words, there is ample space between the two for air bag deployment. See the new photo below. And of course, you decide how close to mount it... closer or farther away.



Further, my understanding is that the side curtain air bag deploys from the bottom/back edge of the the A-Pillar cover (between pillar and door window frame), the same way it deploys from above the side doors below the headliner. As you can see from the picture, that area is well behind the Shade mounted to the windshield. Picture in the E-Class shown below...




Finally, I've removed A-Pillar covers several times to route radar detector wires, etc behind the air bag. The bottom edge of the cover is securely jammed well into the dash itself, while the top of the cover is firmly attached to the A-Pillar frame with a substantial torx screw under the SRS badge. I believe this is designed to keep the cover in place (to avoid injuries from the cover itself) when the air bag deploys from the back edge. In a frontal accident, I assume (hope) the Shade will be trapped between the passenger front air bag and the windshield glass.

You see, I have thought about this a lot before proceeding. For me, the convenience of having a clean shade always found in the same place, by far outweighs the "what-ifs" of an accident. You pays your money and you takes your chances.

Not to mention that many auto brands now have side window curtain airbags, and DashDesigns sells them to all without known problems to date. As mentioned, all of my cars have them, and all are used daily, especially when any one of them is parked outside the garage.

-----------------------------------------

One of my high school buddies drove a hand-me-down '58-60 Buick with factory installed venetian blinds in the rear window. Imagine how that worked in an accident? Of course, we didn't have head rests or seat belts then, either.

DFWdude

I probably should add that I did treat the wood once with "Mercedes-Benz Interior Care" -- a Meguiar's product -- because it's label says it provides UV protection. This product has been in my autocare closet for 18 years, so I don't know how effective if might be today.

Nontheless, I shook the bottle for a good 40 seconds, then applied a layer, let it dry, then wiped off the haze. So far so good?



There are lots of commercial treatments that offer UV protection, including dedicated UV protectants used on outdoor furniture and ceramic decor, like SunGuard UV Protectant. I have not tried this product, yet. Haven't seen a need...

And another product, 303 Aerospace Protectant...

pierrejoliat

Mine still looks like new, I garage at home and at work though, and wax the interior wood once a year with Meguiars ultimate liquid. Don't know if this helps, with my limited sun exposure, probably only makes me feel good.

DFWdude

Bringing this thread forward after two additional years... to share that the replacement Burl Walnut trim in my 2016 E350 has NOT shown any signs of fading.

I searched for this thread because I wanted to verify the interior care product I used 2-years ago to treat my wood trim (see post #9 above). It's about time that I re-coat the trim, which I will do once the heat wave subsides a bit.

Since this MB product (privately labelled by Meguiar's) appears to have worked so well, I suspect that Meguiar's own Marine UV Protectant will work as well, if not better. Here is a link to it:

BenzV12

Thanks for sharing, it's interesting such a simple tint job could do the job rather than factory UV protective film .I like your shade as well, it looks like an OEM product as well

pierrejoliat

I'm still waxing both car trims, once a year, my '12 which still sees little sunlight is perfect and my '13 despite the MeGuires ultimate wax is fading, it does park outside at my wife's work five days a week though. I suppose I could ask her to close the sunshade on the sunroof and raise the rear sunshade, but I do ask her to close the center console and that never happens, it's also the most notable fade when It's closed.

nightspd

Does anyone have a color other than the Burl Walnut? I believe Mercedes offered a few different colors.

I've also seen some folks who have covered up the faded trim with Vinyl Wrap Film that looks pretty bad-a**. The Black Ash Wood Grain looks pretty awesome in our cars.

pierrejoliat

I have not heard of any issues with any other trim than the Burl Walnut, the wraps Ive seen are pretty awesome, I worry about longevity and my skill level of application, NotaAMG did his, it looked fantastic. One still has to get all trim out safely in one piece and reinstall.

retna7