melting steering buttons & headlight switch?
 

anybody experienced melting steering wheel buttons and headlight switch surrounds? mine has suddenly become sticky with my fingerprints indented on it.

I think what you will find is that its not the switch that melted but oil residue from your hand that builds up on these. Take a little windex on a rag or cloth and clean it up and it will look like new.

:confused:
How come ? Your fingers should have acetone residue when they touched the plastic things.
:zoom:

puzzles me too. first time to happen in all my cars. it seems the plastic material has "expired" and started to self destruct. Its both MFD steering buttons and the Rectangular Headlight knob surrounds thats melting. All other interiors bits look new and fresh! I have applied for MB's goodwill warranty though....hope it gets approved.

put the lotion in the basket
 

Do you...(hmm I think I'll reword this)

Does anybody that drives your vehicle use a lot of hand-cream or suntan lotion, or even worse, vaseline or other petroleum like products? Seriously. They can react with certain "soft" feel plastics. I know they definitely react with latex because I wear a latex-collared drytop when I kayak and the first season I used it I caused the latex to become gummy and break down because of the suntan lotion I was using on my neck.

Even other oils could react with the plastic. I use Olive oil or peanut butter to dissolve crude oil crud when I get it on me surfing, so they're not as benign as you might think.

Just a theory. I can see this thread going to heck now :)

nopes! my other car (bmw 7) previous car (c class) dont have this problem! its really melting as if the plastic has expired. the headlight switch knob itself is ok but the rectangular housing that holds it is the one thats melting...my horn pad isnt even worn out, i only have 15,000 miles since new.

nope... my does not do that.

Can you post some pics of this phenomena?

Get the sticky stuff off with GooGone
 

I had endured stickey buttons for two years...finally decided to 'clean them' with GooGone.

It was either that or buy new ones...so I took the risk.
It was not easy but in less than an hour I had cleaned all 4 steering wheel buttons. No more sticky..just smooth and hard...did not damage the color or function of anything.

Wish I had done it two years ago...

Have a Blast....I am....
BikerBob

i have cleaned mine as well, the one that melted is actually the clearcoating of the plastic surface. i just scrubbed it off with rubbing alcohol. now my buttons looks brandnew.

:y:D:y
:rolf::rolf:

Goo Gone works great. This also happened to my dads CLK... He only has 8900 mile on it and its always in the garage... I think its due to the south florida heat. On his I bought new ones and had my friends shop install them... on my ML i tried to clean and they came out perfect. So get some goo gone and a shop rag and go to town... they will look perfect after you are done.

Can someone please advise where I can buy the oem steering wheel buttons from web-site....?? Thanks.....!!

Take it to your stealership, I believe this is a known problem, I think its a protective layer that breaks down and reverts, I had the same problem and cleaned them myself.

WTF......, don't ever try to clean the clear-coating layer by using rubbing alcohol.
Yes, it can clean out the sticky layer, but unfortunately with a little bit more pressure while rubbing, the base-paint (black) also came off.....!!
Just came back from dealer and replaced a brand new set of control buttons. (Special request from dealer and they gave me 30% off discount....=USD$:500 including labour cost). :mercy:

WTF, you really Fd it up, I have seen them in eBay for a much better price.

Just cleaned up mine with Googone and rags. They came out just like new. Spray Googone in rag and wipe hard then use another section of the rag with googone as the residue stays in the last section used. 1 hour max to get it all done.

Unfortunately can't find Googone here in Taiwan, also they don't sell oversea or ship abroad....., SIGH~~!!
Thanks for your advise !!

Gummy headlight switch surround bezel
 

My headlight switch surrounding bezel completely deteriorated into a gummy gooey mess! The entire bezel is covered in a thick uniform sticky coating, not just places where your finger would touch. You can see in the pic where I started rolling it up in a ball with my fingertip. All other buttons in the car look excellent. I'm guessing the bezel around the glovebox keyhole is going to do it next as it looks like the same finish. I tried Goo Gone but it was not very effective. I'll try de-natured alcohol next. Wish me luck. Car is 2005 E500 with 49K miles. Garaged in Houston Tx.

500 USD? :confused::rolf:
You can buy two used steering wheels (with MF buttons and even with airbags) on Ebay Germany for that price.

You know what they say, you find one everyday.:y

Denatured alcohol = fair results
 

Pic attached before and after. After abut an hour of effort with denatured alcohol and a rag, most goo is gone, so is the stenciling... Some goo is still balled up in the seams. Pretty disappointing results actually.

2005 E500 49,000 miles garaged in Houston Texas.

Sticky Surround Mess
 

Does anyone know whether the triangular surround can be purchased independently of the switch? Cost? Mine too is a sticky mess; aggressive cleaning would seem to remove the white stenciling.

sticky melted
 

you may want to check out the youtude if there's a solution to treat sticky melted items

melting light switch and steering buttons
 

How do I resolve my problem. Does anybody know how to fix the melting light switch panel and steering buttons? Please help