Euro/Early 107 Interior Options?

[350SL4spd]

As I hunt down interior bits for my Euro '72 350SL I find myself in a bit of a quandry over what was available from the factory. Mine is a stick-shift/ manual windows car, so center console bits are hard to come by to begin with.

My car came to me with after-market (possible homemade) wood shift console & heater switch consoles (in very bad shape). In my search for replacement parts I have come across several varieties and am curious as to what was actually available originally.

Did most of the early and/or euro one come with the back plastic consoles (like the euro w123s I've owned) or did they come with colored vinyl to match the interior (pictured below in a '72 350SL currently on eBay)? What was actually available from the factory?

[hill]

Plastic console matching vinyl.

http://flickr.com/photos/mercebman/

[350SL4spd]

So the matching console panels were a factory option?

Is there anywhere on the ID tags to see what your car came w/? Is there a code for it on the order slip you can get from MB USA?

[meltedpanda]

I have a 72 450 SL that started its life in Germany and then here in 73
It has the matching center to the dash, no wood, crank handles. Mine is an automatic, black knob shifter. You can send the VIN to MB classic and they may be able to send you the build tag.
mine has factory AC, and front fogs, rear window defroster, but that is about it.
What parts are you looking for?

[350SL4spd]

melted,

I'm looking for the shifter console (hazard switch only), heater control surround, ashtray/door, and the entire vinyl center console; all in light tan (I think the same color in the pic above). Maybe in black? I'm not opposed to the two-tone look, but I'd rather go original if I knew what original was...

[meltedpanda]

I may be able to help, my buddy has a black center console, and the ash tray, he is parting out an old 450. I will see what he wants and let you know, give me a few days

[350SL4spd]

Yeah, Let me know.

Thanks.

[hill]

I have swapped out plastic pieces then just painted them to match.

[meltedpanda]

PM sent

[230/8]

Personal observations off my car...

Euro-spec early 107s may have had cloth, Tex, or leather interiors. US-spec cars were Tex or leather. Regardless, the consoles and other interior soft parts were color matched to the basic interior color; i.e. blue interiors had blue dash, consoles, facias, A-pillars etc. There was no wood option until much later in the series. Nice wood kits are available at reasonable cost and are a good idea because virtually none of the interior parts are available in the various colors. One exception is the consoles...these are available in black and tan but are the later style that use slip in side carpet panels rather than the glue-on carpet of the original 72. Knobs are black rubber on the shifter and facia controls.

The Tex interior was/is interesting in that it had two colors mixed up. The door panel insert and seat pleats were slightly darker and an open heavy texture as an accent. Quality control was an issue for color parts. My car has no less than four shades of red...two planned and two most likely due to sourcing from different suppliers.

Cheers,

230/8

[350SL4spd]

Thanks for the observations 230/8.

That was more or less what I thought. I have no idea how mine came originally, as it was all replaced or covered with homemade wood.

Most of the models that made it to the US were Automatics and so a lot of the colored vinyl/plastic consoles were replace by readily available aftermarket wood by their American owners as they aged (so as not to be outdone by their neighbors later models). Just before I saw the car noted above on ebay I received a "black" non-power window shift console that turned out to definitely be navy blue. (I paid too much for it, but it's perfectly mint if anyone needs a navy 107 shifter console w/ only the shifter hole & hazard switch punched out. I'll take a loss if anyone needed it for their manny 107.)

I would have no problem replacing it w/ a wood one, but try to find a wood console w/ power window delete. And I'm terrified of what the dealer would want for a new one, if they could even get it from Germany...

The search will continue. Now if only I can learn German to hunt eBay.de

[230/8]

Nice wood kits are available here:

http://www.capitolwest.com/

Don't know about whether the wood console plate can be cut for manual, or even if there is a difference.

230/8

[aublutiger]

I would highly recommend using the Classic Center. They were very helpful for me getting the true options and color names for my car.

On my car, most of the interior color is bamboo. The insets are all black (ash tray, vent control panel...and panel under shift control are all black)

A note on your navy blue panel....if you already have it, just grab some high quality vinyl spray paint at the auto parts store and take care of it!

[jas2wa]

350SL4spd-

If you don't end up painting your navy console, I may be interested in buying it and trying to paint it to match my red interior. I can't decide if that will be easier or harder to match than your light beige interior... Also, the attached pic agrees with everything stated in the thread about the console colors and etc- interior color with black shifter and wheel. JAS

[meltedpanda]

I have used the vinyl paint for the roof liner of my 220. I was amazed at the results, most folks thought I had put in a new one. Word of caution, don't get the paint where you don't want it, it does not come off!