210 dashboards bad ?
 

Customer was in today with his 99 E320 and showed me the dash. This thing is cracked everywhere, even almost completely around the airbag. Anyone else seen this ? This is a low mile car that has not been in the sun much at all.

They are a weak spot on the W210 definitely. I wonder how expensive the replacements are? Mine has a couple cracks but I'm sure more are around the corner. Makes the old W124 and W126 dashes look bulletproof in comparison.

Common with the W210s. Mine is in good shape actually, black too. I've read posts where guys have fixed the crack with putty and then painted with a latex paint tinted to match the dash. ;)

If a crack starts, you could probably stop it from further expanding by sealing the edges with clear nail polish or something similar.

I just bought a used '98 W210, with a black interior. It's got two of three small cracks in the dash, mostly around the vents and one on the passenger airbag cover. I don't know if the car was garaged in its past life or not.

By contrast, my mother has a '99 that she bought new with a tan interior, and has always been garaged from Texas sun. The interior is as good as the day it was new.

Cheers, John

Ive Replaced several W210 dash pads...Its a Known Problem...Cracks around the passenger airbag and the center defroster vent ...

Are the replacement pads upgraded so as not to crack in the same fashion?

My mom's '99 E430 had cracked badly in those two spots.

My 2000 E430 is just starting to crack in the same locations.

My '99 has a cracked dash cover, just like my 85 did. I think my '95 didn't, but I'm sure it would have if I had kept it longer. Based on my experience, 2/3 of all Mercedes have cracked dashes:wacky:.

Yikes,,, another reason to stick with the 124's. I doubt that the replacement dashes are any better, unlike the new wiring harnesses for the 124's.

Yep, if you have all of the "kinks" worked out of your W124's, like the wiring harnesses, head gasket on the M104, and possibly the throttle actuators, I'd say stick with 'em.

Mine has it, but it's not that bad.

Yep they all do it, I think a new one is like $500.

Don't feel bad a W126's dash runs $700 last I heard.:eek: