I have tried over and over again to remove the sills on the C280. I am able to slide them to the left or the right, but canno get them off no matter how I move them or squeeze them. Can anyone help? Thanks in advance.

I can remove the rear ones, it's the front ones that are the problem.

I just pry them off, David. I usually use a door panel trim tool......Gilly

Gilly, they won't break? I think I already broke one end of the passenger side one. Should i start with the lip on the inside of the car?

David, I always take them off from the outside edge, not the inside. Using a door panel trim tool, insert it in as far as it will go, it will go in about 1/2 way, then TWIST the tool, don't actually "pry" it off, twist the trim tool to lift it. There are some pretty HD clips holding them on. After succeeding in beginning to lift off the plate in the first location, relocate the trim tool ahead 6 inches or so and twist the tool again.......Gilly

Thanks Gilly.
I was just curious when I originally asked the question. But now I ordered the sill plates!! There was an auction on e-bay for them, and somebody outbid me, then today when the auction ended, i got an e-mail saying that I had won them! I am still baffled on that one...
I planned on not ordering them... but was FORCED too once that e-mail came :) !! Oh well, just a little more credit card to pay off!
Anyway, I will try that Gilly. There are 2 clips per sill, correct? One of them is broken, so it shouldn't be too hard. Thanks a bunch.

David: Just curious, why are you wanting to replace them?
On the clips, I believe it is the same as a 210 chassis. They are metal clips, upside down "U" shaped, that have inner and outer prongs, the inner set hld the clip to the metal flange that is under the door sill plate, and the outer set keep the sill plate attached to the clip itself. Them prongs are SHARP! When you take the plates off, seems like half of them stay in the sill plate and half stay stuck to the flange. I am unsure how it is supposed to work. In a perfect world, the clips would stay in the flange. I am unsure, but I think there will be no clips coming with the new sill plates. You'll have to dig out the old clips from the old sill plates and reuse them. I use a rubber mallet to reinstall the plates.....Gilly

Hmm, Thanks for all the help Gilly.
I will let you know how it goes once I get the new ones and get them in.
But I have a question... How difficult is it to wire them? I do know there are many wires going under the passenger sill, but what about the drivers? They are illuminated, so they must get power from somewhere...
Thanks again.

I've quite fancied installing the illuminated door sills. Please let us know how you get on. In particular, whether the effect is as good-looking as in the accessories brochure and how difficult it is for a DIYer (I think the dealer would charge an arm and a leg for this work). They're for the front only, right? Do mind saying what you paid for them?

Rodger,
I actually got them on E-bay, I was the highest bid @ 207.50, plus 22 for shipping. I will definitly let you know how they look and how easy it was to install. I get 4; the front two say MERCEDES Benz and are illuminated. I know the rears are not illuminated and am not sure if they say anything.
I do know of another guy that sells them for 220, but they aren't illuminated. He will send you pictures and a little text about them. Let me know if you want his email address.
I really hope they are as good as they look in the pix!! I will let you all now how they end up.

David, the front door sills have three U shaped clips (like described by Gilly) and these are easy to take off.
I had a look in one of the accessory books at mercedes last week and saw that they sell the actual illuminated doorsills for the W202 C class.
The front door sills are illuminated and the rear are not (but they have mercedes benz printed in them). I think that the doorsills are actual not illuminated but retro reflecting (or however it is called in US language), so you probably don't need to wire them. If you do need to wire them, you should at least wire them separately with their own fuse (instead of hooking them up to a nearby powered wire).
Just be sure to take some pics (especially from the rear/bottom side).

greetingz,

I got the door sills today. They looked beautiful.
I practically took my car apart with a friend trying to figure it out. We had no clue, and there were panels and sills and wires everywhere; it was a disaster.

I decided to take it to Circuit City and see what they could do. THey said, $60, and to come back in 1 1/2 hours. Well I got back and they looked BEAUTIFUL, even in the sunlight.
But they do just press on to the old ones. I didn't know this. It's a good thing I didn't figure out how to install them otherwise I would have just used the new ones!

They light up this real pretty blue. It looks like the stock ones that come with the new Mercedes. The front two are illuminated, and the rear two are not.
They don't really seem worth the $230 I paid for them, but worth it to me nonetheless.

I was just downstairs in the garage looking at them in the dark... opening and closing the doors... and they look so damn nice. When I get my digital camera for my Birthday on the 27th (email me for my address for presents, jk ;) ), I will for sure post pictures!

That is what I suspected they would do. The OEM mercedes door sills that say ///AMG or DTM are stickable covers as well (which made me decide not to take the ones saying ///AMG).

LOL; that is the right spirit!

greetingz,

So am I right in thinking that you leave the existing door sill trim plates (the black and silver panels) on the car? That sounds strange: the new sill trim plates must be very thin?

And are the illuminated plates wired up to the car or are they, as MBenz suggested, some kind of "retro-reflective" or phosphorescent material? If they are wired up, how is this done?

Do they glow even in the Californian daylight? I agree, $230 seems a lot, but it's a detail I'd like to add to my car and one which would afford considerable satisfaction of a childish variety!

By the way, I'm fitting 4 new Continental ContiSportContact tyres to my car this week. I got what I think is a good price, 97GBP each including valves, fitting, and wheel balance (about US$150). The Dunlop SP9000s were just too expensive, 160GBP or $220 each.

The car is also getting its 48k miles (80k km) service next week. Any thoughts? (I mention this here as we seem to be this site's W202 fans).

Jonathan,
No, they do not glow, they actually light up.
They are wired into the car. I have no idea how they did it. I was at such a loss when I tried.

They are fairly thin, and there is a thin strip, paper thin, that is attached to the wires, that sits under the writing MERCEDES-BENZ; that is what makes it illuminate. In pitch black, it looks so good!
In daylight you can't even tell if they're on or not with the sun on them.

I was a little shocked they were just stick on to the old ones. I didn't want that. But whatever, they look good and I'm happy with them now.

But I heard (from Benzsport) that you will get a deal on them if you have 2 other people go in on a pair also?


JJ, I don't know much about tires, so I can't help you there.
As for the 48K mile service (80km), is that the same as the 45k service (for the US)?

[Edited by David C Klasse on 05-16-2001 at 12:05 PM]

I guess the 48k mile service in the UK is the same as the 45k US service. My car has got the ASSYST feature; however in the service manual it says that after 48k miles you have to have certain additional work done at the next service. This includes a coolant change, tighten some steering components, fuel filter changer, air filter change, and some other stuff. Yet more cash...(!)

BTW, what colour and trim level is your C280? As I've said before, I wish I'd spent an extra 50 quid a month to get a six cylinder. Duh. Maybe next year, when I'm a bit more insurable, I'll get a C43, prices are falling fast here.

Also, since you compared UK/US services, I think it's interesting to compare the UK/US Mercedes attitude and also the attitude to cars in general. Your US techs and dealers seem much, much better informed about very technical aspects of these cars. The range of products and services available is also impressively more extensive: the fact that you can show up at a car outfit (Circuit City) and they'll know how to fit your illuminated door sills and moreover will do so for just $60 is amazing: this just does not exist in the UK!

I'm a bit jealous about the Californian weather as well!! I spent a fortnight there two years back: what a place... you've got civilisation cracked there.

On a side note, I ran at speeds up to 130 in tow behind a Boxter at the weekend--he had the roof down. Car was rock solid on the twisting but smooth A1 in Yorkshire. Blew me away after 20 mins, my car was flat out (that little 2 litre just not up to it).