The wood in my 124 was perfect, no cracking or fading, until my 2 year old grandson gouged the shift surround section with a toy pitched over the seat. I used the scratch removal tips for wood found here on the forum - #9 mequiars worked fairly well, plastic scratch remover worked better. I got most of the gouge out of the wood (actually out of the urethane coating on the wood) before I discovered that the urethane apparently either has a slight tint or aged to an amber color. At any rate, by the time the gouge was cleaned up, the wood was smooth and glossy, but was somewhat lighter than it had been, and no longer quite matched the other original sections. So if you are going to remove scratches with the polishing technique, be aware that the wood might be lighter color after you are done.

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John

2003 Firemist Red/grey leather SL 500
2015 Palladium Silver/black mbtex GLK 350
1987 Smoke Silver/burgundy mbtex 300E Sportline (SOLD)

Click to see 87 300E