C32 - Worn gear knob fix?

[calgonis]

Hiyas,

The AMG gearknob in my C32 is worn. When I bought the car approximately 25% of the aluminum on the knob has worn away (leather is still A1 though). After looking round the web I can only seem to find none original replacements that cost too much.

As I think I will be waiting a long time until a good clean second hand one comes up I have wondered about reconditioning my existing one. I have now removed about 75% of the aluminum convering and plan to finish it off this weekend.

Now the question does anyone know of a metallic wrap that I could place over the cream plastic that would look good and last a while? Mabey heat shrink to deal with the curve?

Or I have toyed with the thought of removing the gear knob and having it chrome or silver plated in that section presuming it is possible. Would need to find a local specialist to do this for me.

Anyone had a go at doing something similar?

Thanks

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

IIRC they're £175 from MB parts counters.

My gut feel is mask and spray silver - the standard item feels little more than that to me.

 

[Charmer]

I agree with Bobby Dazzler. £175 for a new part seems a bit of an extravagence. Masking tape, silver paint and a bit of patience and it should be sorted.

Personally I wouldn't bother with the C32 lettering as I think it looks a bit naff!

 

[calgonis]

Thanks for the input. I think you are probably right so I think I will get it off the car and do a full primer / paint / lacquer finish to make it (hopefully) last a long time. Im torn between going silver in it's original colour or going for a nice shiny chrome finish Hmmm.

One of my friends is a pro sprayer so I may have to ask a favour. Im all thumbs when it comes to spraying.

 

[H13BS M]

yeah mine was slightly worn but i think they look tacky.I bought the one that comes in the new c63 AMG.Looks alot more up to date!

 

[Swozza]

yeah mine was slightly worn but i think they look tacky.I bought the one that comes in the new c63 AMG.Looks alot more up to date!

Where from mate. Do you have a link.

 

[calgonis]

I have tracked down some replacement covers for my gear knob. I have also emailed the company and they have confirmed that they will fit onto the existing gear knob. Im going to have to trust them on this as obviously I cannot confirm that until one arrives! Only downside is I will be ordering from Australia.

Im going to go for the AMG one. I will not order just yet so if anyone else is interested maybe we could get a bulk buy going and save lots on postage. Prices are 35 AUD for the plate and 30 AUD for shipment to UK (hence making a group purchase very attractive). This works out at £35.92 at todays conversion rate.

If anyone is interested just post on this thread.. again I only have their word that they fit so please bear that in mind when deciding. To quote the reply I got from them.

"Good Morning Andrew
Thanks for the email in regards to the G/Knob caps.
The caps are made to replace the factory caps.
The cost of freight to the UK is $30-AUD.
Thanks
Craig."

The website is here: Car Shine "fashion for cars" - Australia's Leading Car Styling Specialists

Cheers

Andrew

 

[precious786]

i'll be interested in one if it fits onto my gear knob

 

[calgonis]

I have already ordered mine via the website via the international orders link. I paid £37 ($65 AU) in total inc delivery via paypal.

They wont have them available to ship for 2-5 weeks. When I get mine I will take some pictures and update this thread.

 

[precious786]

cheers mate, seems a pretty fair price, i was going to get a replacement gear knob from fleabay, but i doubt they fit properly

 

[Dazzler]

Watching with great interest indeed

 

[Dizwen]

Very interesting...

 

[Howard]

Seems a good price for the insert , but $30 to ship a tiny piece of plastic is a joke. It's doubling the cost of the item.

 

[calgonis]

***WARNING DO NOT TRADE WITH CARSHINE***

This all ended in disaster!!!

After waiting 5 weeks (The maximum time they list for the workshop to have the new items for posting) Nothing had arrived and no communication so I emailed my contact.

Nothing.. Then 1 and a half weeks later I get an email from someone claiming to be the admin of the website saying my email had been flagged as spam and he was just sending it off to the correct person. He also told me that they 'might' hear from the workshop next week when the item was ready. Thats right after 6 and a half weeks they might hear when it might be ready in another weeks time!!!!

After 8 weeks and no further responses I wrote another email pointing out how overdue the item was and if they were having trouble getting an AMG embossed item I would be quite happy to have a plain one instead as it was showing as in stock on the website.

No further responses have been received and I have emailed them from several email addresses I own to make sure they are not all sitting in a spam folder somewhere.

The last email I said I was going to do a paypal dispute if they had not responded by the 27th Jan. Unfortunately paypal have been no help at all.
We Have Registered Your Dispute



Thank you for registering your complaint about this transaction. Unfortunately, this type of transaction is not eligible for PayPal dispute resolution. We encourage you to continue to work directly with your seller, as we have found that many misunderstandings reach amicable solutions through communication.

So it looks like they have pocketed my cash and decided to ignore me.

If anyone has any suggestions im all ears!

Cheers

Andrew

 

[calgonis]

To update this thread..

They eventually got sick of my pestering and sent me the none embossed part. It's all metal with a chrome finish and fits perfectly to my car - feels quality and substantial. The existing plastic gearknob cover came off with some light persuasion and the new one fits snuggly.

It came supplied with some 3M double sided tape on the back which I then added some of my own 3M tape to bulk it up slightly. It's now been on the car over a month and sits firmly in place.

I have been holding off updating this thread as I have got photos but I haven’t got round to uploading them. I shall try to get round to it and add some links.

It's a shame that a company with such a fine product has such woeful customer services and therefore I cannot recommend them unless you have a few months to spare.

Andy