Hey Guys,

I've had my 17 SL450 for a little over 2 years. Upon getting the car it became immediately apparent that I wasn't able to travel with my 3 small dogs in the car. I have 2 tiny Brussels Griffons (4lb & 8lb) and a Shih Tzu. The Griffons are happy as can be to get in the car and one sits up on the center glove box and the other goes to sleep on the passenger seat - irregardless if there is a passenger or not. But the Shih Tzu thinks she is the boss and is constantly moving around checking to make sure all is well in the world outside of Daddy's car.

It was our first trip with the dogs that we discovered that the interior designer/engineer for the SL didn't have a dog in the car when putting a great big "P" button flat on the center console. We didn't get 100' from the house and the dog shifted us into park. This has happened a few times. And even when I keep my hand over the "Park" button the Shih Tzu can create up to 3 new POI in the Nav system per mile by hitting the "Star" button as we drive along.

A quick trip to the car wash and on the way home every 200 yards the navigation beeps to let me know I passed a point of interest.... Please tell me how daft do I need to be to need an alarm to remind me I am ontop of someplace I like?

We tried placing a towel over the console, but that didn't work. For the past 10 months we put all the dogs miles on my wife's Corvette, but I miss driving the SL.

I'm a pretty creative guy and I finally decided to try to resolve the issue before going on a trip this weekend.

I took out a piece of paper, made a template, and then converted that to a vector image on the computer. For fun I build custom parts for big custom aquariums, and for those parts I have a small CNC machine.

I ran a quick file for the CNC and cut out a center console cover with less than 60 seconds of cut time on the CNC.


I took it for a test drive and it seems to work. I can still spin the dial wheel and I can still shift in and out of gears.


This is my proof on concept model. I upholstered it with a T-shirt so that the acylic doesn't scratch the Designo interior pieces.



I'll try this one on tomorrow's drive, with the dogs, and see how it works. If it works well I'm going to take it to our local cobbler and see if he can wrap it in a leather that matches the interior of the car.



If there is anyone else out there that has run into this issue and would like me to make you one of these just ask. It's just a few minutes for me. I use scrap material. I will only charge you for the shipping charges to get it to you (here in the states). If you live in So Cal you are welcome to save on the shipping and come pick it up from me directly.

Dave B

 

Will it work with my 120 pound Labrador in the passenger seat?

 

My only comment is you must really love your dogs and this is a good thing.

 

Yea ours is a 6kg poodle cross. Hates travelling in cars until he goes on my wife’s lap in the SL - loves it. I think it is a status thing.

I always worry about him (in the event of an accident) as he is not restrained in the SL (wife holds his harness) and I have toyed with the idea of somehow fitting a secure bed between the seats.

 

Lol this is a funny thread and it made me smile and shake my head no. Dogs won’t be in this Dawgs SL, Hilarious.

Not a chance.

 

Why? I think purple is a nice look. (Did you really have a purple t-shirt? I can see why you'd want to that up.)

 

& matching purple neckerchief on the dog!

 

There are people banned from my car....