Illuminated door sills - control box

[AMGry Man]

Hi,

Has anyone been able to source the control boxes for illuminated door sills? Apparently the tend to blow but I hear that they are not available seperately from the complete kit.

 

[Howard]

You mean the step up transformers for the EL strips ?

I got a pair from Ebay US for about £20 , they aren't OEM , but worked fine .

They step the voltage up from 12v to 120v which makes the strips glow.

12 volt inverter for A6 size EL panel/sheet/tape/wire on eBay (end time 28-Jan-10 04:07:25 GMT)

 

[AMGry Man]

Howard, perfect, many thanks.

You are a friendly lot!

 

[Howard]

No problem.

Incidentally , you can buy different coloured EL strips from that seller , so if you fancied making your sills glow green or purple , you can do it cheaply !

The strips on their own are £100+ each from MB !!

 

[AMGry Man]

Yeouch!

Have already contacted him asking for a more reasonable postage cost ($16!!)

I presume thaey are a direct replacement for the OEM or am I going to have to contact my local engineer to fit (I am ac omplete buffoon and am likely to break someting if I try it and it will be expensive!)

Love the 430CLKs; I had a 230CLK Avantegarde in black with AMG 5 spokes; great car, built like a tank, better build quality than the C32 I would say. Always been fond of the CLK55AMG of this era; what do you reckon (other than even less MPG!!)

 

[Howard]

The boxes should be an easy replacement , you might have to put some bullet connectors on , i'm not sure , should be easy though. make sure you get the polarity correct.

Love the 55's , one day i'll have one.

Both of the 430's have CLK55 backboxes and the red one has hi flow cats , you want to hear it !!

The blue one has a set of 18 inch BBS splitties , and the red one has the 17 inch AMG 5 spokes.

The red one also has a designo interior ... not everyone likes it , but i do.

http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/members-gallery/59922-my-new-car-v8-raspberry-clk-430-a.html

 

[AMGry Man]

Wow, that's a nice old bird, good rasp, think mine sounds similar but never got round the back end for a listen; must be an AMG exhaust thing.

I know where I am going when my exhaust falls off:

YouTube - Mercedes C32 AMG MIJ Performance Stainless Steel Exhaust

The rasberry, its cool if a little 'German' if you know what I mean. It would certainly not put me off buying it.

 

[Diesel Benz]

There is a UK shop that seems to be an expert on this topic. I actually ordered two inverters for a small LCD screen, by their mistake I only got one (they had only one available and probably forgot to wait for another one becoming available). Anyone who wants to try, I'm expecting they would send "my second one" to the UK instead for free.
Lcdinverter.co.uk, Lcd, lcd inverter, lcd control board, lcd choke, etc. site, for all lcd inverter problems

 

[AMGry Man]

OK, 2 invertors ordered; they did it direct for $30 inc shipping.

Will keep you posted!

 

[Howard]

If we don't hear from you we'll assume ...

a) the car went on fire
b) you were electrocuted
c) a combination of the above

 

[AMGry Man]

Hey Howard,

I found these installation instructions on the net; with your experience, would you concurr?

 

[AMGry Man]

Doh!

W203 Door Sill Install

 

[Howard]

Yep , looks the same ( roughly ) as the W208 and w124 takes about 2 hours ..

Just be careful with all the clips.

 

[stats007]

I still have some inverters and EL panels / String if anyone needs them.

 

[Howard]

OT , but nice to see you back Stats .... you still down south ?

 

[stats007]

Thanks. Am down in the New Forest - a world away from Kingston!

 

[AMGry Man]

Hey Howard,

I found these installation instructions on the net; with your experience, would you concurr?

W203 Door Sill Install

 

[Howard]

Think i've replied to this on the previous page

 

[AMGry Man]

Thanks Howard

 

[AMGry Man]

Hi,

Well had a big service by indepedent; invertors apparently do not work and indy told me the panels were shot too, most likely caiused by bodyshop baking the car when MB paid the £4k to have the rust taken away.

Can'y have it all I guess but stats007 seems like he might have a solution for me! can't PM him as I am still a virgin; could somebody get him to PM me with contact details?