I was just about to spend $66 each for just the door pull covers, cause of that problem with the covering that they use on the plastic, the stuff that comes off so easy. I was also going to get both a rear console ($650)and a glove compartment cover ($350). But they couldn't guaranty that these were improved over the old ones. I still may get both those, however I tried some "Forever black" I got from perfomance products on the pull covers and after three coats of dye they look good and it's tough. so if you don't mind black on charcoal it worked great. So what I'm going to do is get the glove compartment cover to see how durable it is and try the dye on the console to see how it stands up. I'll get the console later if it doesn't work as far as durablity or if I don't like a black console. I don't mind the covers being black at all. The dye goes into the plastic, not on it. You must clean every bit of the old material off. I used SOS pads. yes it is time consuming, elbow grease required. In case you're interested in a cheap repair. I don't know if other colors of dye or brands will give the same finish as forever black.

 

well tonight I pulled, stripped and dyed the console with the forever black. It worked very well. So I ordered in the glove compartment cover only. I will see if the replacement parts are better than the ones that came with the car. Now SOS pads will not cut it on something so large as the console and necessity being the mother of invention, I found a crimped wire wheel disk took off the coating, but didn't hurt the plastic. just be gentle and keep the disk moving. I kept it wet with soapy water while buffing the intire time. Total job took about 4 hrs. remember it must be clean before applying the dye.

 

well after a couple successes I thought I'd try to do my glove compartment cover to have an extra part. All was fine up to the last 3 or 4 square inches and somehow I accidentally reversed my hand drill. So with those wire bristles bending away from the surface while I was stripping before suddenly going the wrong direction kind of scratched up the plastic a bit. So be careful not to change direction if you choose to strip in this manner. luckily I'm replacing it anyway. If someone wants to take the console out to dye it, there are only four screws holding the console, two of which are under the shifter cover and it just pop out, the other two are at the back the storage compartment under the felt, pull up at the back of the felt. the console is hooked in the front, lift up and away, unplug a few connectors and presto. BTW if someone knows of a better way to get that junk off the plastic parts I sure would like to know. something fast without risk of a goof. I think I'm going to do it to the rest of those slk230 dash parts.

 

pictures?

 

right now I'm in the middle of redoing the whole dash. I'm also going to incorporate a dash kit in the project. the one I'm using is called a New England burl. It's called other names depending who's selling it. It's a dark grey/black simulated burl. Just go to ebay motors type in mercedes slk dash kits. I'm finding some flaws here and there in the plastic once I get the spray on vinyl goop off the dash parts. I just stripped the cluster cover tonight. I scraped the bulk of the junky goop off, then used alcohol to remove the remaining residue. I didn't want to damage it like I did on my glove compartment cover using the wire disk. I did get a disk that wasn't as coarse, although the more aggressive one would have been fine it I hadn't reversed the drill. I dyed the old glove compartment and covered the scratches with the dash kit part made for the cover and it looks good. I got in the new glove compartment in and it seems to be far better than the original, I can't peel the coating off using my fingernail. So now I have the extra one and I'm not sure which I'll end up using. I thought when I ordered it I was only going to get the cover, but got the whole compartment less the lock. When the project is finished I'll post the results.

 

I never used the wire disk again after I buggered the glove compartment cover. Instead I used alcohol. some of the spray on vinyl was on better than other spots. I laid rags over the parts to be stripped and poured alcohol over the rags and let them soak for a hour to four hours depending on how well it came off. I found the best scrapers were my fingernails when the rag wasn't good enough to just wipe the vinyl clean. some spots had something that looked like a hard glue, I originally thought were flaws, I carefully used a sharp wood chisel to srape it off. working till all hours it took me two days to do the intire job. be very careful in removing the dash parts because the plastic is very thin and brittle, especially around the screw tabs and the instrument cluster cover is the worst. They were already broken when I got in there, except when I over tighten one screw on that held on the light switch, that was the time I replaced a blub in the Instrument cluster. when reassembling make sure you use washers under the screws and don't over tighten, just up snug. I managed to repair some parts completely and wasn't possible on others, but made them work anyway. other than buying the new glove box cover, of which I'm not using, it cost about $150 including the dark grey/black burl dash kit. that burl on the black parts, I'm telling you, it turned out wonderful. why they didn't do something like this in the first place is beyond me. It's a little tricky getting the dash kit pieces on straight. once on there, they are a bear to get off to reposition. I will get some pictures up soon. I'm very happy with the results. another thing, if on a non textured surface the dye will appear to have some light streaks, but if you use a small amount of meguiar's fine scratch remover and it will clean up fine. after all this time the interior was my only big complaint about this otherwise great little roadster. now it's just a great fun little sweetheart roadster.

 

so here's the results.