Heater Levers

[JamesL]

I've had a search around, and looked at the Wiki, and am struggling with this...

My heater/vent controls are black. I gather that this is not "correct" and they should be a clear plastic/acrylic. Yet I also read that the US had the "softer" black plastic ones to pass saftey regs...

So which cars should have what?
(Not that I am about to spend a week inside my dash changing them, you understand!)

[Jonny B]

The big changes came at 250 SL, VIN ending 2980. This was all the US safety stuff, including the change of the heater levers to the soft rubber for the control discs.

Will need a non-US comment on this as I know not all of the interior changes (hard pockets on the doors for example) were made on the non-US cars.

[stickandrudderman]

I can't tell you which cars should have what type, but i can tell you that the 250SL with ZF has the coloured ones!

[twistedtree]

It's perhaps a moot question since I believe only the colored ones are available at this point.

[66andBlue]

Here is a photo of the levers in a 1969 280SL German car - it has black levers.
Also note that the Euro version cars do not have the "defrost" decal between the levers and on the blower knob.

The original colored levers for the 230SL are NLA.  Currently available control disks all have black levers, such as shown in this auction on eBay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/150764029563

[Jonny B]

Check with SLS, I think they have the solid discs available (or at least did late last year). They do come up from time to time on ebay. Brief update - I did look at the SLS site, and they had the solid discs available, but the web site only showed them available as a set for ~200 Euros, plus shipping (I think that price did include the European VAT)

[Iconic]

Note of caution: I ordered mine (1970 USA style, not the solid disks) from one of the reputable dealers, but one came in sort of orange in color (I received 2 red, 1 blue, and one orangish-red).
When I disassembled my car, I found 2 red, 1 blue, and 1 grey. I assume this is the correct factory set up for my year.
The grey one is available from the Classic Center (at least a few weeks ago it was). I have it in hand.

[ja17]

Examine the grey lever carefully. Some have an extra " raised boss".  After the new grey disc and dash speaker are installed the "raised boss" contacts the speaker magnet preventing the grey lever from full travel.  If you examine the original grey lever that particular raised boss has been ground down. You can perform this modification yourself as long as you catch the problem in advance. Examine the grey lever closely compared to the original. I have run into this problem twice now, the levers were not from Mercedes but provided by one of the well known suppliers. Otherwise they looked original and performed the same.

[Iconic]

Yes, Joe, you are correct !!
The grey lever that I got from the Classic Center had the two large bosses that needed to be cut off.
And, admittedly, the orange one that came from the reputable dealer did not need the same surgery (the bosses were flat like the original).

So, it is interesting that the Classic Center sells one that does not fit perfect. I believe this to be a rare situation.

But, the grey one, from the Classic Center is the correct color and that is what I am using  (job not quite complete).