Carpet Dash Cover
 

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.

Zoon,

I just got the black velour dash cover from Dash Designs for my 190E. Also have one in my 4Runner for over 7 years. Dash still looks brand new. No cracks...nada. The black dash on the MB used to get soooo hot! But not anymore. The interior is not any cooler with just a dash cover. You're better off getting your windows tinted.

Jeff

P.S. It's hot over here in Hawaii also.

I concur...window tinting would be far more effective than the dash cover. I too, struggle with Texas temps, and have found the window tint to be a major improvement! The A/C cools much faster upon startup, and isn't nearly as taxed during operation.

Make sure you don't go overboard on the degree of tint color. There are laws regarding what is legal, and too much tint will fail your car during the annual inspections.