I think a bit of contrast looks better than the totally blacked out cars we see all over SoCal. Agree you should try an easily removable temporary solution before you commit.

 

Impressive.........!

 

I agree that on a black car too much black is often too much. As for the ease of application/removal I would opt for vinyl. I tried both back in 2014 when I got my car and plastidip is a PITA on the trims. It works best for badges. Plus vinyl finish matches the gloss of night package better. I used the shadowtrimline products.

 

If you're trying to black out the trim, I would highly advise against plasti dip for specifically the window trim. Every one of my customers who I have sold materials to have always unsuccessfully tried plasti dipping their trim previously.

Plasti dip for some reason works well on almost everything else except for window trims.

 

Hey David,
Thanks for the tip. I think it's probably good idea to have it checked out now that i think about it more. better safe than sorry, right?

 

Thanks!

 

Hey guys,

Thanks for the heads up. luckily my window trim is already black from the factory.
and Kart, i agree with you about not wanting my wagon being a giant black blob.
I do enjoy a little visual break here and there and the chrome trim and badge is part of that.
i might dip the badges for a week and see how I feel.
it's easy enough to take off. i woulnd't dare dipping anything bigger and more complex. i helped remove old palsti dip from my co worker's wheels and it sucked.

 

lol so true! my E55 was my first and last black car for that exact reason.... Looked soooo good when just washed and waxed, but shortly after looked like i parked in a lawn with sprinklers going followed by dust bunnies attacking it

 

My car has been at the dealer since yesterday getting a full service. They kinda scratch one of my front passenger side wheel and when they were doing the alignment, they notice the driver's front wheel was bent and I didn't even notice driving locally or on the freeway so that is why I suggested you have it looked at.

Thank god I have a rockstar SA director and he agreed to bring 2 wheels that had curb rashes and 1 bent wheel back to new free of charge.




Good luck. Hope I'm wrong.

 

Whoa. that's worrisome.
Your SA really took care of you there.
mind sending me the name of your dealer over PM?
i really like my SA but having options is good.
Thanks, man.

 

this thing is sick. Good luck with her my man.

 

Thanks stanley!
it's been a fun ride so far.

 

LOL Donger! love the user name haha!


and the car! beautiful!!
hope it stays clean, drive it well

 

hahah. thanks. it's one of my older nicknames.
trying to keep it clean! forgot how hard it is with black cars. yikes!

 

Donger,

Where in LA are you? I currently live in the Boston area but the military is relocating me to LA this summer. How are the roads in general.. besides the constant traffic? And what dealer are you using or do you recommend? I don't know where I'll be living yet, but work will be close to the airport.

Edward

 

Hey afaed,

I live on the west side which is just generally referring to west of 405.
I drive all around the city and roads are a crap shoot.
Pavement quality varies wildly even in nicer areas.
if you do want to go for fun drives, there are lots of canyon roads and some are better paved than others. Angeles Forest Highway is brilliantly well paved. Angeles Crest highway, however, has sections that feel like gravel from all the destroyed pavement.
you'll have to learn how to move about the city in ways to avoid traffic or just bear with it.
I've only had 2 experiences with dealer service depts.
I went to Mercedes of South Bay for my 1800 mile LSD fluid service. totally fine. nothing amazing but exactly what i expect from service department. prompt, courteous and clean.
I've also been to Downton LA Motors Mercedes to reset the Neck-Pro headrest. they have a brand new building and my service advisor is great. also the waiting area is larger so it doesn't feel as crowded. this doesn't affect the service but maybe it'll make a difference to you.
I would sincerely recommend either, although i'll probably stick with DTLA since I'm out in that area more often.
hope that helps

 

I am not really doing any mods to my wagon so I hadn't planned on having a journal or a "build thread."
But I thought this is the best place to just vent and document an on going silly repair.

WARNING: this is mostly just whining and complaining and ranting. Don't read further unless you have time to burn. hahah

My wagon came to me with a slightly wobbly, drooping sun visor on the driver's side.
I did notice it early on but I was so happy with the car and the fact that it took over a month to locate and transfer it meant I was hesitant to let the car out of my sight.
A couple of months ago, I noticed that it had finally gotten to a point where it would not close complete and dropped about 2 inches off the ceiling. It made contact with with my hat or my hair every time I tried to get in and out of the car.
No big deal right?
Visit 1.
Dealer ordered part and I dropped the car off and left with a loaner.
Day later, I get a call saying that the part that arrived seemed to be the wrong part and asked if I can just keep driving it as is until they get a new part. Sure. no problem.
Visit 2.
About 2 weeks later dealer calls to say the part is in stock. I dropped off my car and get an oil change and alignment while i'm at it.
I pick up the car next day and before i drive off, I notice the visor looked/sat weird.
You guessed it. Wrong part again. except that this time, the tech put it on and called it good.
It seems like a silly thing to get hung up on, but the part is obviously wrong and doesn't fit in the car.
the post/hinge about half inch shorter than the original part. it does not extend along the rod to help cover more area when it's swung out.
it shuts flush on one side but has a 3/4" gap on one side. when I unclip it from the inner hinge, it hangs about a inch away from it.
causing me to muscle it in every time i want to use it. the internal hinge that goes in the the ceiling is missing the cradle that holds the secondary visor, causing it to rattle around.
It is also rubbing and wearing out little secondary visor.
The dealer says that's the part their computer gives them when they type in my VIN and that Mercedes doesn't have any other visor for my car.
huh? My S/A is appalled to but he can't/doesn't really do much. I spend more time than it's worth arguing with his boss.
It was clear all he cared about was getting me out the door and closing the case.

This was in JUNE.

After the second visit, my SA did escalate this to "the factory" whatever that means. they just answered saying to use part numbers they provide in the system.
just running in circles.
I get no resolution. just a lot of "we're sorry." I don't want anyone to be sorry. I don't want to waste anyone's time. I just want the right visor. is that too much?
am i crazy?
I wonder if i should just live with it, but it's such an ill fitting replacement that I get annoyed everyday that i use it. not to mention that it's also ruining the secondary visor by rubbing against it each time.

I decided to call MB USA for a part number and it ends up getting escalated as a CS issue and they call the dealer. not what i want. just want a part number.
Which then led the dealer to call me back and asked me to come in again. for what?
to measure the part, document it, so they can send the info back to germany.
We are now in September. 4 months for them to decide that this is their best course of action.

I can't believe that MB can't supply a sun visor for a current model of car that they sell.
being the sucker that i am, i brave traffic jams to get there, thinking I can just wait while they document and make the report.
Nope. had to leave with a loaner to get back to work which means i have to take another trip down there this week to pick up my car that is still missing a visor because at this point, they've broken my original part.

I am now determined to set some sort of a record for lengthiest repair the most minor part.
yay..

 

Sorry to hear your challenges. I totally get how you're feeling and we don't expect these kind of issues with cars of this caliber. A drooping visor would bug the s--- out of me every time I got in the car. You mentioned you were up in LA, but I've had good experiences with the MB of Foothill Ranch service department in case you head down to OC. Good luck on getting this fixed!

 

Thanks David,

So it got resolved. i have a proper functioning sun visor now.
it's so much smoother than the one i had, or the one that's on the passenger side.
my guess is that the service dept foreman went ahead and ordered just every black visor he can, and one of them was the right one.
they are creating a case to get MB to update their parts matrix.

only took 4 months... ha!

it's fixed and i'm happy. just ignoring the passenger side visor that's starting to droop.

 

Beautiful ride man. Must have set you back some but very worth it

 

Beautiful, congrats and enjoy!
Your small issues keep me from getting a 2014-15-16 W212 E63 and I may wait for the W213 43/63 whichever makes more sense to me in the future.

 

By the way, I'd just use some double-sided velcro tape to keep the visor in place..

 

it was resolved! they found the right part. I do feel a little silly as it got fixed within the day of my complain on here. but it did take 4 months total.
oh well.

Also, there is no way i'm putting velcro on the alcantara in this car.
i would rather just rip the whole thing out.hahah

luckily, i won't have to since it's under warranty and they ended up taking care of it. I'm pretty sure i'm the only person who needed a visor replaced with a designo interior at this dealership.

 

Good things come to those who wait. These issue serve as great personal development tools
I'm pretty sure you were the only one with this unique problem.
I'm happy for you it worked out finally