17 year old steering wheel & gear knob restoration...

[stephenmercedes]

I recently acquired a 17 year old W293 C240, which has lead a hard life. Hopefully, she'll enjoy a few quiet retirement years now with some TLC. The steering wheel and gear knob both showed the full 135,000 miles she has covered looking very tired and scruffy. Rather than replacing, I decided to invest time instead (& by necessity!). I bought one of those 'dye' kits you get on Ebay fully expecting nothing great but for a tenner, not much to lose. I was pleasantly surprised.

Leather Steering Wheel Repair Fix Kit MERCEDES BENZ A C E CLK SLK SEL CLASS AMG 709311825790 | eBay

Firstly, the supplied 'sponge' is entirely inadequate for such a big job as the steering wheel, it's OK for the gear knob, but it's very small and disintegrates with use.

No problem though as one those inexpensive 'kitchen' type sponges makes a good applicator. I would suggest a 'dabbing' motion to apply the dye is best, then smooth it out a bit with gentle wiping. I ended up using the whole bottle with numerous coats. Once it was all fully dried, I applied a leather conditioner to them. The results are impressive, not back to 'new' but genuinely a big improvement. Definitely worth the price...

 

[General85]

Not bad! Can't complain for a tenner!

 

[Smart320]

Welcome, good results

 

[optimusprime]

Thanks for that tip Stephan . And looks like another job i can do As both parts on my car have just faded ,so it will make both look nice

 

[brucemillar]

Looks good. For a tenner it is good. Royal Steering Wheels is the place to go (not doing your splendid efforts down here) They will recover both in any finish you wish to the highest standards and at a decent price.

 

[C43AMG]

+1

 

[GLK]

+3

I had the steering wheel, gearshift and the armrest done by Jack @ Royal Steering Wheels, hence +3

Brilliant work, great value for money and thoroughly pleasant chap.

 

[clk320x]

+4

Here’s mine done by Jack @ Royal after much recommendation on here.

 

[stephenmercedes]

+4

Here’s mine done by Jack @ Royal after much recommendation on here.

I'm betting that was more than a tenner! LOL

 

[clk320x]

I'm betting that was more than a tenner! LOL

Haha indeed.

I think all in all, it ended up costing around £200 because I bought an extra steering wheel to have trimmed as I wanted to retain the original.

Hardly drive the CLK now, so when I do take it out it's a treat to have

 

[clk320x]

I'm betting that was more than a tenner! LOL

BTW, you managed to get an excellent result using the dye kit. I wonder if they do it in grey, I may have a go on the E class.

 

[AltonAnt]

Mine is the same age as yours OP and TBH it came up a treat with just a steam cleaner.
I did the whole interior when I got it.

 

[stephenmercedes]

Mine is the same age as yours OP and TBH it came up a treat with just a steam cleaner.
I did the whole interior when I got it.

That interior looks fabulous & mint, well done! Unfortunately, my beast had one careful owner, but about a dozen very uncareful ones! My leather could never come up like that just because of wear of 134,000 hard miles driven by some building contractors!

 

[Timok]

Nice work !

 

[Gadgetmaster]

BTW, you managed to get an excellent result using the dye kit. I wonder if they do it in grey, I may have a go on the E class.

If they do, I’ll be buying a kit for my CLK

 

[Mistergav]

+1 for Royal Steering wheels if you decide to go that route.

 

[stephenmercedes]

+1 for Royal Steering wheels if you decide to go that route.

Went 'that route' 6 months ago, but got a local firm to do the re trimming...

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

Excellent result, sir. It's amazing how much "wear" can be sorted out by cleaning and refinishing.

Here's some two "befores" and one "after" from my recent 10 year old (80k mile) 535d Touring purchase. (Sorry it's not an E500 estate but no one would sell me one !!!! )

BEFORE

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AFTER

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