AMGfan

$650 per local dealer (6.5 hours @ $100/hr)...Any of you guys done aftermarket IS for your E55? What were you charged?

I guess the $406 option cost of the door sills straight from the factory is a bargain.

cschow

A friend and I installed four illuminated door sills I got from Harris at Harton Motorwerks for my C32 a few months back. Harris' estimated installation time was approximately 1 hour.

Due to lack of experience working on interior trim in general, and also on my C32 specifically, it took my friend and I about 5-6 hours to do the install. However, with the knowledge that install provided, I can do the same on any C class in about 1 hour. The hardest part once you know what to do is to access portions of the wiring bundle which is recessed in a wire channel in a C-class and then putting the bundle back. The W211 uses "flat wire" for many things, which will probably be a complication.

TCM

We have looked into installing these for clients and the labor charge is very high due to the time it requires. Aparently, you need to pull a lot of the side interior apart to do the installation. Most people decide not to do it at that point. It does look great though.

AMGfan

Chris,

I've already been to 2 car accessories shops and they won't touch the job, but then again I was referred to them by MB.

MB rep told me that the reason it took so long was they are "...meticulous in removing and replacing the trim pieces needed to wire the sills to the trunk compartment..."

2004 E55 Black/Charcoal(2004- )
2001 CLK430 Black/Red-Charcoal (2001- )
BMW M3 Dakar Yellow/Black (1996-2000)
NIssan 300ZX Silver/Black (1990-1995)
Porsche 911 Targa Guards Red/Black (1986-1990)
Nissan 300ZX Silver/Black (1984-1986)
Cadillac Brougham White/Red (1981-1984)

AMGfan

Too late now...the sills are already on the way to me...I may have to bite the bullet...

AMGfan

But is it 6.5 hours? I could (and probably will) keep looking around, but the liability issue with regard to the install being on MB if something goes wrong is a factor.

I just wish they could use some lubrication before I bent over.

Kev04C320

If you STFF before you order, you could have avoided this problem. Since the MB method calls for it, your stealership needs to tear out quite a bit of your interior in order to correctly route all the wiring harnesses or cables. That's why it's so expensive to install them the MB way. If you're not willing to spend the extra bucks, there is a simpler DIY method posted somewhere in this forum, which does not require taking apart the interior.

corgiman

It really is that much. If you look at AMG's price list they charge about 500 euros ($600) to do it at AMG in Germany....................

mogussin

It took us 3 hours just to figure the damn wireing in the car out. 650 installed in a good price.

J Lucas

Not worth it...

fazooley

Ray catena in NJ did my illumiated sill installation when I got my 04 e500. The charged me 680.00 which was with the installation. Now also which I wasnt too happy about was that when MB does it, its only the front sills They DO NOT replace the back ones with illuminated sills. This was very upsetting to me since all of the aftermarket ones come with all 4. I had all 4 on my 99 S320Lwb and for all that money, Im not sure it was worth it.

Fazooley

Harris

AMGfan: As Chris has mentioned, if you know what you are doing, it will be a pretty straight forward job. But if you dont have any electrical experience, you will find it a bit tough. The most important thing is you have to understand the wiring of it. The "MB way" to install the illuminated door sills does require 5-6 hrs of labor because the wires have to go through the rear trunk (with every panels taken apart), go across to the other side of the car and back to the front. It is very complex. Since you have ordered the kit already, better let the dealer do it.

Fazooley: MB used to make W211 illuminated door sills for front only. The rears were only available starting this year. I guess when you purchased the set for your car, the rears werent out yet.

p.s. I do offer custom-made illuminated door sills for the W211, if anyone is looking for an alternative, feel free to contact me.

BklynMarc

I noticed this post as I just got off the phone with my dealer (I'm located in Southern California). I've ordered an '05 with a build date in January and a delivery date in March. In going over the list of options, I told him that I wanted the illuminated sills for all four doors and asked him what this would cost. I was shocked by his response:

1) He claims that the '05 E55 (unlike the '04) is not pre-wired to handle this modification and thus, he would have to put in an entirely-new electrical harness in the car. (He claims that they just installed this option in another E55 last week).

2) Based on the amount of work to put the harness in, plus the costs of the sills, he claims that the work will cost in the neighborhood of $1,700 to $1,900 (including labor).

3) He claims that this is only a dealer-added option and that I should expect to pay the same amount at any other MB authorized dealer, especially in So. Cal.

My natural response to this was that I'm definitely not paying more for the sills than any other option (with certainly more functionality) on the car.

The question to the group:

A) What is a reasonable price for adding the illuminated sills to the car?

B) Has anyone gotten it done or have any references in the Southern California area?

C) Do you think it's just usurious MB dealer labor rates drving the price?

gmdebruyn

I paid $1200 for the parts (4 door sills), and the labor quote was $200-300. The car arrives in 10 days. I'll let you know if they underestimated or not.

Gareth

BklynMarc

Gareth,

I'll be very interested to hear how your situation works out. Our cars will have almost identical features and your input will be helpful should I add the illuminated sills. Right now, I'm leaning towards leaving them off the car.

Marc

gmdebruyn

the service guy here and the saleslady are pretty straight shooters. i hopefully get the car sometime during thanksgiving week. just remind me if i don't reply back (i'll probably be driving a bit is my guess) and i'll let you know the details.

but when i ordered, the reason why it cost so much is because the kit included the wiring harnesses. and the 4 door sills are hard to come by. you have to get them special ordered or from europe.

colinforte

Maybe I'm missing something, but it says On MB site that they are only $400 and change for 4 illuminated sills when you factory order them (allthough the photo shows them illuminated as 'Mercerdes Benz' and not AMG). If you have a build date of January, why dont you modify your order?

gmdebruyn

$400+ for the 2 door doorsills. Not 4. And that is a dealer added option after it arrives (or so I was told). To get 4 you have to special order. And you have to pay labor. Some dealerships are having a tough time installing them. But the 4 I ordered all came with wiring harnesses. Not sure if the 2005 is different from 2004. Will find out soon.

scorchie

Hmm, I believe on the "MB site" (mbusa.com?) the illuminated door sills are only "Mercedes-Benz" logo... AMG would cost more. Also, there are no "factory installed" illuminated door sills. All items listed as "accessories" are dealer installed and would require installation and related labor charge, even if ordered with the car. "Options" are items installed at the factory or VPC and include installation labor.

-s-

Nickerz

Does anyone have pics of their door sills lit up at night?

Thanks!
Nick

bluerascal

Hey Gmdebruyem-
When you get you car you think you could post the contact information for the dealer that was able to locate the full set of 4 Illuminated MB door sills. I recently purchased a 05 E500 and actually got the dealer to throw in a Wood/Leather Steering wheel and set of Illuminated Door Sills (after of about 3 Hours of haggling with them to give them up)

Anyway, both Sales and Parts department here in Laguna Niguel (socal store) SWORE up and down that only a front set was availible from MB and thats all I could get. But if you say your local dealer was able to special order all 4 then maybe you could post contact info for your parts manager and pass along the info to them to be expecting a call for someone looking for the same set you got.


Oh and as a side note spoke directly to the Service Department Manager here at MB of Laguna Niguel told me that the sills takes his guys about 1 hr per sill to install on the '05 W211.

Keep us updated

J-

gmdebruyn

stead motors of walnut creek. parts dept. 925-937-1655. ask for JR. he got my sills for me.

sills cost 1130, and i paid 1498 total, including install of all 4. so about 370 for all 4 to be installed.

they look great though. pics to be posted soon...

bluerascal

Thanks for the info. I am gonna call next week, see what they tell me.

J-