mahunt

I have a 1997 SL600 with the Exclusive Leather interior and I always thought in addition to the visors, A- pillars, door panels, etc. that the roll bar and tonneau covers were also leather. After a few years of ownership, the lower parts of the windscreen attachment points on the roll bar began to deteriorate by pulling up the outer gray finish and leaving a white sub-layer exposed.


Deteriorating left side.


Deteriorating right side.

I read a wonderful thread on replacing the roll bar cover on BenzWorld by Macysum and contacted the supplier of his replacement roll bar (TopsOnline.com). I initially used Macysum's thread as a guide, but it turned out I needed a little more effort to complete the replacement.

https://www.benzworld.org/threads/ro...stery.2336937/

TopsOnline not only supplied a replacement cover in vinyl, but also in leather for extra cost. I was intrigued and just needed to select a color match for my interior. They sent me some leather swatches and I decided on 451 Grey.


New leather cover draped over the original vinyl covered roll bar.

I followed Macysum's thread to remove and strip the cover the roll bar from the vehicle. My roll bar foam was in perfect shape (unlike Macysum's) and I proceeded to install the new leather cover until I discovered a problem with the new leather cover. Both edges of the roll bar cover stuff into a channel that keeps the cover in place. The edges employ an interlocking design that wasn't replicated on the replacement upholstery. The original used 2 different edges, an "L" shaped edge and a straight edge that used the bottom of the "L" to keep the "L" side from pulling out. If both edges use straight inserts, the tucked edges just pull out. What to do?


The original "L" channel insert edge.

mahunt

Although Macysum is a contributor to the BenzWorld thread it was really started by Godabitibi. Mea culpa.

mahunt

I didn't notice the double straight edge issue until I went to install the new cover.

Everything went well enough at the thin part of the roll bar, but the moment I encountered one of the corners; that's when the difficulties began and I started to study the original cover and discovered that the new cover was different.


New cover with twin straight edge inserts.

Without the interlocking qualities of the original design, I would not get the cover to stay in the channel.

I contacted Vic at TopsOnline about the issue and to his credit he offered to take the cover back with a refund, but I really wanted that leather cover.

Time for the professionals.

I do a fair amount of work on my own cars which sometimes entails a knowledge curve, but I like to learn new things. I also (mostly) know when to quit and get help. Tampa is fortunate to have a few local automotive upholsterers and I brought the bar, the old cover and new cover to them for an opinion. I showed them the problem with the edges and left it with them for 5 days. I got a call to come and take a look and was presented with:


The corner looks good and the triangular straight side looks properly stuffed into the channel.

Nice corner too, but the triangular straight side has a slight ripple.

Left side top, nice straight seams.

Right side top, seams a tiny bit off, but acceptable.

The upholsterer didn't charge too much for their work, but they did mention how difficult it was to install the cover.

Tops Online was gracious enough to pick up the install tab and hopefully they will continue to offer the leather cover, but with the OEM style edge inserts.

My last interior upgrade will be to install the much easier leather tonneau cover from Tops Online. I can't tell you how wonderful the interior looks and smells with the new cover.