My Grey '84 300D has a black leather interior, and I live here in Texas, where the summer heat is evil. My poor A/C has to struggle to keep the interior cool, though I take measures to disallow heat to build up too much. My dash (black, of course) acts like a veritable radiator, even though I use a silver reflector while parked, and crack the windows a bit as well. I was wondering if any of you use a carpeted dash cover, and if so, does it help to reduce the interior heat? Where can I get one? Any and all responses welcome...so let's hear 'em!

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Matt
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1995 E300 Diesel (Die Blau Frau)

I ordered one from Kragen. The company "DashMat" custom makes them for your car. At first, it didn't fit as nicely as I hoped, but after a couple weeks, it settled in, and it looks great now. Not bad for only 25 bucks. I might get one to cover the rear package shelf too. I don't know if the dash cover helps to reduce heat in the interior, but I know it will prevent the dash from cracking. You may also consider tinting your windows.

Hi All,

I have a small crack in my dash as a result of the intense heat where I live. I'm considering my options to get rid of the crack. I've seen "dash repair kits" as well as a dash board snap in cover made of plastic, or replacing the whole dash. Can anyone give me the pros and cons of these options? I'm thinking the snap in cover would be the easiest, but I'm concerned as to how well they actually fit to the dash.

Comments would be appreciated.

tnx,
jeric

I thought of something dumb, slap me if im wrong, but i've beent thinking of wrapping the dash with leather once it starts cracking...

if you properly protect the dash with armol all etc it shouldn't ever crack. Using a sunblocker while parked helps also.
R

Holson, Covering the dash in leather would be very expensive. Consider all the curves to a W123 dash. Also, leather over time will "warp", as is common in Ferraris like some 308s and Testarossas. I would avoid any "protectant" that have silicone in them like Armor-All. Armor-All also has water in it which only intensifies the suns rays. Porsche used to put small bottles of Armor-All in the cars tool kit, but quickly stopped because of this reason. This was many years ago. There is a product called Vinylex that's made by Lexol, that is very good and doesn't leave any slippery film on the dash.

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1999 MB SL500 (110,000 mi)
2004 Volvo V70 2.5T (220,000 mi)
2014 Tesla Model S 85 (136,000 mi)
MBCA member