Lincoln

I have my father's SL for a few weeks while he is travelling.

He needs new plastic windows in his convertible top and one local shop wouldn't sew in new clear plastic on a car that old and recommended a new top. After close inspection of the current top I can say that it's in nearly new condition except for a crack in one of the plastic windows. This car is 7 years old (70K miles) but the top have very little UV exposure since it's always in a garage or the top is down. The only negative thing that happens to the top is weekly washings. So my question is: What is a good price on a new top (just the part, no labor)???

Second top question: How difficult is it for an experienced MB tech to diagnose and replace a bad sensor on the top. Everytime the top is up I get a red light on the switch and ding even though the top is in it's fully closed position and nothing is wrong??? Sometimes it will stop on it's own when driving, other times you must press the switch to close until it clicks and then the light goes out until you hit a bump in the road.

HVAC question: What do the two buttons on the center vents do??? Usually neither light is on and pressing the blue button doesn't seem to change anything???

Richard Gunter

Depending on youfrlocation, you can find top auto upholstery repair guys that will sew in new plastic windows that look like new. I know guys in Phoenix, and Denver.
These guys are in most major cities and charge about $400. It takes them about a half day.

The red and blue buttons on the vents actually increase cool air (blue), or hot air(red) temporarily while the system is getting the cabin air up to temp.
Goog luck. rg

bobterry99

Good prices range from $350 to $550 depending on whether the canvas is German or not.

This is very easy for an M-B tech and fairly easy for the rest of us.

Mercedes has never offered a clear explanation in an owner's manual of these buttons that I have found.

The blue and red buttons override the automatic control of the air flowing through the center vents. If you press the blue button, all of the air will bypass the heat exchanger (heater); similarly, if you press the red button all air passes through the heater.

Why would Mercedes include these buttons? If you abruptly change the temperature setting from cold to warm or vice versa, the automatic controls will gradually raise or lower the temperature of the air coming through the center vents by blending heated and un-heated air. For maximum heating/cooling, you may want to eliminate the transition period. The buttons allow this.