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453 - Sunglasses Holder / Grab Handle Swap

23K views 72 replies 17 participants last post by  gday 
#1 ·
I want to replace the useless sunglasses pocket over the passenger, and replace it with a standard pulldown handle + clothing hook. I've seen these in either a lower spec NA 453 or a euro spec 453.

Or if someone here is interested in a trade send me a PM.
 
#9 ·
The part numbers for other countries have been there. They may be slowly removing non-US parts. Before I could see the non-US floor mats, but they were gone last time I checked.... There's a legal reason, unintended acceleration comes to mind, to remove those, but mirror caps? I'm afraid I do not believe they exist. I will check and send you a message with what I find. Right now I should get my son ready for school...
 
#11 ·
No problem!!!!

Sorry if I looked at your location. We will be visiting your beautiful city this April I believe. My uncle and his family live there and we will get to stay with them. It's been a long time since I've been there and am excited to be going with my wife and son! (I haven't been there since quite some time before I was even married...) Maybe I'll get the chance to see your mod when I get there!

I hope you don't have trouble finding the part. smartonlineparts was great when I purchased stuff for my smart a few years ago. Now it seems their online catalog is down, but maybe they can sell to you directly somehow. Great prices on almost everything I've gotten for the smart....
 
#15 · (Edited)
12 days to Vancouver from Germany, approx $46 CDN including tax.


Hold off on ordering! After removing the sunglasses pocket part, I've noticed that they have different sized plug ends. The grab handle requires a larger opening then is provided with the sunglasses part. I'm not sure I want to use my nibbler tool to cut away some sheet metal, this might be a no go. I'll be messing around with it more after work.

Why can't these things ever be easy!
 
#16 ·
Here is what it looks like behind the Sunglasses holder.



Here is the Sunglasses holder side by side with the Grab Handle, you can see the grab handle has a much bigger piece that needs to get inserted into the holes.



I'm guessing the grab handle has larger attachment pieces due to the fact that it needs to support a bit of weight when people are using it. I'm not comfortable cutting away sheet metal in that area. So I guess this is a fail.
 
#21 ·
Well. My apologies for failing to help.

I do not have access to the EPC currently, but when I searched the part number of the handle these last couple of days, I found that EU site with pictures. If you look carefully at the picture there is no indication that the size of the attachment is different between the two. The "clips" look the same size.

I hope there is a different way to attach than to have to cut the metal...


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#25 ·
I sent my dad to get me a simple clamp at the dealer, and they called me and it seemed a waste of time for my W201 alternator replacement saga, so I decided to man up and pay $75 to Mercedes. Got the part numbers pretty quick, except I used my VIN...

So I am digging in EPC. 4 different headliners!

453 690 00 00
453 690 01 00
453 690 04 00
453 690 05 00

Haven't figured out which one is the proper one though...

Sorry I didn't catch this!!!
 
#31 ·
As stated by Matt 453, when you remove the glass case and the inserts you find the square holes are smaller than what is needed for the handle. Looks like Daimler actually stamped two different size holes in the metal piece depending on which market the car was being built for. A bit strange to me. If there aren't any inserts for the handle, just the larger square holes in the metal, it looks like you could enlarge the height of the holes by cutting a bit out of the bottom. Hole width seems fine. I had a firm in the U.K. do a search and they said there wasn't anything else that went into the hole, just the handle. Not certain that is correct.
 
#33 ·
In EPC there were very few SA codes for the handle. This is why I didn't worry/think there might be an issue.

When this issue was noted, and I renewed my subscription, I had to dig some, a lot longer than finding myself some clamp and grommet, to find that there are at least, from what I can see at least, different headliners. On the picture of the headliner there are two small holes where these items are to be inserted. There is no mention on the size, but there are SA codes as I mentioned, for example whether solid or glass roof, or whether there is some sort of side airbag....

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