German Car Zone

<<Gimme a few more days! The guy I emailed is in Spain having fun with the new CLC! He'll be back next week and he'll help me out in person.>>

Any progress?

Not yet. I'm going to go up there on Saturday and ask someone else.

RLE,

What color is your current interior, out of curiosity? I went to the dealership yesterday afternoon and there was only one salesman present and he was busy with quite a few customers. I'm going up there today again.

<<What color is your current interior, out of curiosity? >>

Cashmere Beige, which was the beginning of the whole question since the only color shown in the US parts database is black. But as you say, if a beige wood trimmed wheel is seen in a sales brochure, it must be available. Somewhere.>>

The next question is, what is the German dealer price for a beige wood trimmed wheel? In the US, dealer retail for a black one is $715.

Hi RLE,

Sorry for the late reply. Something came up today which prevented me from visiting the dealer and I'll be in Munich all day tomorrow. I PROMISE you I will have all the information for you on Wednesday by the latest.

The salesman I talked previously to was wondering what color your interior was because generally a beige interior will come with a beige-colored steering wheel. Either way I understood from him that a beige steering wheel with wood should be available, so I'll have the information for you on Wednesday hopefully.

Sorry for the delay, things are a bit hectic overhere.

<<Hi RLE,

Sorry for the late reply. Something came up today which prevented me from visiting the dealer and I'll be in Munich all day tomorrow. I PROMISE you I will have all the information for you on Wednesday by the latest.

The salesman I talked previously to was wondering what color your interior was because generally a beige interior will come with a beige-colored steering wheel. Either way I understood from him that a beige steering wheel with wood should be available, so I'll have the information for you on Wednesday hopefully.>>

Once again, thank you for all your efforts. Ideally, if the wood trimmed wheel is available, I should be able to communicate with their parts department and ask them to Fedex it to me. That way, I can pay for the wheel plus shipping with my Visa card.

If.

Hi RLE,

I was in Munich all day today but on the way home I still had about 15 minutes before the Mercedes-Benz dealer closed. As luck would have it the salesman I'm really close to was there (back from Spain, said the CLC was pretty sweet!) again.

Here's the deal. A Cashmere Beige Steering with Wood Trim is NOT even available in the options list in Germany. BUT it can be specially ordered from what the Mercedes-Benz Ersatzteillager, which in English translates into "spare parts camp". He said they have a special options list (Original Zubehör) which features this for the W204 in black. grey and cashmere beige leather, the latter being the color you're looking for.

There are however only two types of woods available though. The standard wood trim for the W204 steering wheel in cashmere beige is Eukalyptusholz (see W211 cockpit below) and the only other wood option is Wurzelnussholz. The dark Vogelahornholz trim is only available for Avantgarde models. Whichever steering wheel wood trim you want, it will cost 490 EUROS (VAT included).


Eukalyptusholz


Wurzelnussholz



Now, just to confirm, you have a C300 ELEGANCE, am I correct?


I was also told that Mercedes Designo could do this for you, but it might end up being much more expensive than the 490 Euros this dealership charges for this.

<<Hi RLE,

I was in Munich all day today but on the way home I still had about 15 minutes before the Mercedes-Benz dealer closed. As luck would have it the salesman I'm really close to was there (back from Spain, said the CLC was pretty sweet!) again.

Here's the deal. A Cashmere Beige Steering with Wood Trim is NOT even available in the options list in Germany. BUT it can be specially ordered from what the Mercedes-Benz Ersatzteillager, which in English translates into "spare parts camp". He said they have a special options list (Original Zubehör) which features this for the W204 in black. grey and cashmere beige leather, the latter being the color you're looking for.

There are however only two types of woods available though. The standard wood trim for the W204 steering wheel in cashmere beige is Eukalyptusholz (see W211 cockpit below) and the only other wood option is Wurzelnussholz. The dark Vogelahornholz trim is only available for Avantgarde models. Whichever steering wheel wood trim you want, it will cost 490 EUROS (VAT included).


Eukalyptusholz


Wurzelnussholz



Now, just to confirm, you have a C300 ELEGANCE, am I correct? >>
That is correct. The Elegance model is called Luxury in North America. Same car inside, exterior varies a bit. The Avantgarde is called "Sport" here.

490 Euros equals 718 US dollars today which is just about US dealer retail. I assume that VAT would not apply and the sales tax on a US purchase in my state (should it be available here) would be US $64 which would probably be close to the Fedex fees.

I now have to verify the name of the wood trim in my car.

Once again, Christian, I'm very appreciative for the time you have taken to research this for me.

Roger Ellingson

Anytime.