Hey guys, my Mom's SL is in for service right now because it was having some issues putting the top down (no jokes ). They decided it was the battery and replaced it on a Friday. They (the dealer) left it sitting over the weekend and came back to find it completely dead. They are now telling us that it was the illuminated door sills that are causing the problem. Two options were given to us:

1. Replace illuminated door sills for $1900
2. Remove illuminated door sills for $550

This seems completely ridiculous to me. I searched and found out that Mercedes wire the door sills in to be dimmed with the rest lights in a process that takes about 4-6 hours, but the car is still basically new.

Quick background on the car. It is a 2005 SL500 with 9,000 miles. Also, let me make it clear the door sills were installed by the factory.

Any advice on how to proceed? Shouldn't this be covered? Prices seem crazy.

I am far from an expert (I just got my first benz this month) but I have worked on a ton of cars over the years. I dont know if the illuminated doors sills are fused separately (from internal lighting for example), but if they are not, why cant you use pull the fuse so they dont draw any power and just call it a day.

I'm far from an expert so any reply helps.

I do know they are wired to dim with the rest of the lights and that might have something to do with it.

Disconnect the lights yourself and just pretend that it doesn't have that option.
Track down why the sills are draining the battery. Is it because they are staying on when the doors are closed? Depress the switch on the door to check which one of the 2 is causing it.
May be because the car is not going to sleep because something is staying on causing the battery drain. You may want to pull a fuse at a time to find out which circuit it is if you don't want to spend the money.

I think your best option is to get a quote from a reputable auto electrician.