W203 Saloon Illuminated sills

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hiya, just got abck in...

sorry, brain is a little fried with work stuff at the moment, and will be till next tuesday at least ....

the sill on the coupe (ally section) is 800, and each EL is 200, so i figured if the Mercedes-Benz took up one EL, then the other text was unlikely to extend past the same amount, so a maximum of 400 for text plus a very small spave, i didn't think that was too much for the said 800 measurement

BTW - no need to rush for me, will try and have a look at the length thing tomorrow in the daylight
 
No problem mate, I have a few Els left that are 1.5 meters long. You can have text all the way along if you want it. As we were saying last night, might be just too much to look good.

Less is more as they say.
 
Here are guys, not sure how it will show here as a jp but youll get an idea.

Might be a bit big !!

Hope you like them.

(one each)
 
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ok, i have an idea .... be right back with some pics :D

EDIT :D

ok, 18 inch (455mm) Ruler placed on the Sill ... as you can see, provided the text is not too high and fill too much of the width of the ally plate, then the length will be ok and not be too long or look too big :)
 

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That set I did for somebody and I have to say I thought was stunning. It was very nice off also. You could easily see the contrast from steel to colour so visible and nice during the day even when unlit. However it was custom and as well as a blue el I played around with pigments to get that colour. Not sure I could ever get it exactly the same. But that adds to what makes them special.
 
Guys / girls if you have your cameras out. . .

I am working on making a couple of SLK sills for people. The later one (R171 I think ??)

These SLK's are a bit more trickier than others. They have a bend on the front side and the metal is much thinner for a start.

Would anyone with a STANDARD ie. with NON illuminated sills be willing to take some photos for me.

And ideally a couple of measurements, doesnt have to be precision accurate, I just need to confirm sizes - with height etc of metal plate. (not the plastic).

Much appreciated.
 
Hi, well your drawings done and resubmitted about 5 times. Down to me - apparently??
Had all sorts of problems with scale settings changing after emailing but all sorted now. I hope. However they've put prices up again. This is my third order and they've done the same each time??? I think they guess a price which depends if they got their leg over :). But at least this time with longer panels its a good reason. But dont worry - not that you have to, only about three quid extra per panel, and there still much cheaper than anywhere else I've got quotes from.

I'm ringing them again tomorrow as I need to add this slk I've been asked about. Was hoping to confirm the size before submitting the drawing. But otherwise about on track.
Is it weird driving with out the sills?
Have you thought any more about colours or sticking with white ?
 
How are you wiring these into the car? Any pictures of the wiring kit and driver? Thanks.
 
It does look a bit weird every time I open the door and not seeing anything there.

Definitely white please mate.
Whats your rough ETA?
I dont want to give you a time and not meet it. I should have sills by end next week or just after, and it will take just less than a week after I get them to finish up. Takes a few days for resin to cure properly or a good week to be proper hard.
say two - three weeks ? But I'll keep you updated.
 
Question:

I was thinking of wiring them as shown here: W203 Door Sill Install but I will go with what you recommend.

Can I just check when you say interior light are you talking about the main light in the overhead console or the footwell light?

Thanks.


Hi glad you got my reply. I've noticed that once I send something pm its gone in the ether. Nothing in sent folder ??

If you dont mind I'll stick this supply in the forum as well. Save me repeating it. I'll be happy for you to do the same with the last reply if you want. Might help others? Thanks for the link, I have read similar and stuff like that and it gives me the willies. Sure its probably the 'proper' way but so many concerns and all that work. Car dependant as well I guess. I read the other day about MB charging someone 5-6 hours labour to strip the car and fit. Ok my way probably isnt 'approved, but its safe and works and takes about an hour with far less hassle. You'll be glad you did.

Anyway, pleased you like my info. Dont feel bad about asking for bits. I've already said that Im happy to sell people bits if I have them. I'm not in the trade and so couldn't care less. This is just a hobby and a bit of fun. As long as costs get covered we're fine. Anyway the more bits I sell the more I can get cheaper. The wire is from rapid, a few connectors and the ELs are from a source in china I found through Alibaba.

If you have a footwell light that comes on with door open I would use that. If not its going to have to be the front light console with all the buttons and light switches.

I know it looks scary and complicated but really isnt. Well it is but you dont need to worry about it. Of course not sure if yours is the same but must be similar. Unfortunately there isnt anywhere else you can get a supply that's switched with the interior light- I know of, unless you go the can-bus route or use a constant live supply through the door switches. urrgh.

I've done a detailed help file I could send to you, but thats for the c class. I wont publish it as its my own work and took me ages.

I'm quite happy to sell you an EL driver made up and wired ready etc but I dont know your car. But basically you solder a cable to the main pins across the bulb. That supplies the driver, which feeds the els through wires that run down either side of the door pillars. Tucked neatly inside of course. Disadvantage this way is all Els come on with interior light. But as you can only see the ones with the door open anyway its hardly tragic. If we were talking about the c class I would sell to you for £20 plus about 2 for postage. That's for all wiring, EL driver and connectors fitted to connect up 4 sills. But no idea about your car. You could chance it and do a few measurements, and I'll make one up to suit, + (if you needed it )

Feel free to ask for whatever you need. I'll let you know if i have it .
 
someone here had a set of genuine MB illuminated sills for the coupe (got them from starpartz i think) .... maybe they will be kind enough to scan the instructiosn/guides to pdf file and upload them... or if they want to send them to me i'll do it !
 
it was on the other site, and i've asked him via pm if he'll scan them, also whitenemesis had his wirted at comand online and as a retro-fit so i am curious on the details of that and have asked him to explain a little more if he can
 
Might be useful thanks, but why do you need MB instructions ? I'm not sure they will be relevant as they require you to strip the car interior dont they ?
I have written some for my own which I'll send to you along with the sill plates. Also the wiring how I do it, is not how MB do it..

Do they also explain how to take apart there sills and refit the new inserts / plates?
 
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no idea, that's why i asked for a copy :) ... as close to real retro and standard MB fit is good, because that way no odd surprises await should you take the car to someone that is not familiar with the custom wiring, or a main dealer, who would expect it wired in a specific manner, it should not affect the operation, simply the connection method, although i am interested as to why they might be hooked into the sam module as standard !
 
I have some genuine MB illuminated sills for the W169 which I had not fitted yet due to the complexity in installing them using the MB wiring kit and thus the cost to get it done.

Reading this thread and other past threads on illuminated sills I saw they could be wired in easily using other methods so I decided to ditch the MB wiring kit, get some small 12v EL drivers to power the sills and wire them up to the puddle light or footwell light.

I messaged clever dicky to get some advice and info about how he was wiring them, and he provided me with some very usefull info and tips (thanks for all your help). I purchased two small 12v EL drivers and tested them with the MB sills and they worked fine, but the EL driver did seem to overpower the one sill so decided to test them running both sills off the one EL driver which was alot better.

The W169 has a footwell light on both sides which come on when the door is opened and fade out a set time after the door is shut so I decided to wire them to the footwell light.

Below are two videos of the sills in daylight and at night. Excuse the plastic on the sill, I have wrapped them in clingfilm to protect them untill installed. As you can see when they turn off they dont just switch off they fade out like the footwell lamps.

sill.mp4 video by nickp8 - Photobucket

sill2.mp4 video by nickp8 - Photobucket
 
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