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COST OF NEW CONVERTIBLE TOP ON CLK

36K views 44 replies 7 participants last post by  rudeney 
#1 ·
Has anyone had their convertible top replaced and what type of cost from the dealer? Also what type of cost from a upholsterer? 2006 CLK 500. Can I buy a top on line and then find someone to install or is it complicated. Any information on this would be appreciated.
 
#2 ·
Don't bother with the dealer - the cost of just the OE canvas is about 3x what you'll pay for the entire job at an indy/upholstery shop.

I purchased a Robbins top. It uses the same Haartz Sonnenland 3-layer fabric as OE. Cost was just under $1K. Normal price for labor is about $2K, but I had a local shop that was going to charge me $1200 for labor (friend of a friend). Unfortunately, their top guy quit, so I decided to tackle it myself. I do not recommend this unless you are really skilled in this sort of work. It took me an entire weekend, and was a major PITA. But i did get it done and it worked out well.
 
#3 ·
I went to an Indy shop today to get a price. They told me $2400. I have a glass window and they said they would have to call someone in for the window.. What I have is a split in the seam in the back and around the windows the tufting is starting to come out. This car is one thing after another lately but I like the car.. LOL and have had it for 7 years.. There are 2 more place I am going to call tomorrow for prices and see what they say. .I will let you know. I thought maybe the seam could be fixed.
 
#4 ·
Um, if they think they need to replace the glass window, then you need to find another shop. The glass comes off and is reused. All it needs is a new adhesive foam gasket.

The seam separating is a common problem. If the rest of the canvas is in good condition, I'd recommend finding a shop that will repair the seam. It really can't be repaired from the outside, but it can be repaired from underneath after folding the canvas back to gain access. The task of detaching the canvas back to the seam is much simpler than replacing the entire canvas. Tee really complex part of the canvas is working with all the straps and folds and attachment pints around the glass.

Like I said, find a good upholstery/canvas shop that can handle this. The best thing is for them to both glue and stitch the seam.

Here's a diagram I created showing a cross-section of the seam. The canvas from the front is rolled over on itself and then glued to the rear section. They need to stitch between the two canvas layers on that bottom glue line:



Here's my thread with a few photos where I rpelaced mine:

https://mbworld.org/forums/clk-class-w209/612609-new-soft-top-canvas.html
 
#6 ·
In the city of Van Nuys, there is RICH AND FAMOUS upholstery, he imports convertible tops[the outside skin], I live in the LA area and he did my convertible top on by 500clk. all good
Cost?
 
#7 ·
I am in Pennsylvania.. outside of Philadelphia.. I called 2 places and took it to one. They all want around the same price between $2400 and $2700.. I would like to get the seam just fixed for now. I am still looking and going to call a couple other places.
 
#11 ·
Was that labor and parts? If so, either that's the bargain of the century, or they used lesser quality canvas than OE. Even at wholesale prices, the Haarts Sonnenland fabric for a CLK top is close to $600. Add in the stitching, straps, zippers, etc. and you can see why it costs about $1000 for the read-to-install canvas. If I had to do this again, I could probably do it in about 12 hours. I figure a skilled installer who has done many W209s could do it in maybe 10.
 
#13 ·
That's what I figured, and that black outer shell is what I was talking about. The fabric used by MBZ (and many other German and luxury makes) is Haartz Sonnenland. It's a three-layer bonded material with an outer canvas layer, a middle waterproof layer, and an inner substrate for added stiffness and controlling stretch. When I was replacing mine, I called several installer shops and did some online research and hands-down, the recommendation was to buy the Robbins brand. Not only is it Sonnenland fabric, but the stitched-in straps, zippers, and other attachment points on theirs are the best fit.

There is no reason to replace the glass window unless it's broken. It comes off fairly easily. It's bolted to the frame and uses a seal around its perimeter that is basically just foam tape with adhesive on both sides.

I had WIS to guide me with the job and it was a fair help, but the photos are not always clear, partly because a lot of the work is done in tight areas where it's just impossible to get a good photo. There are series of canvas and elastic straps that hold the top in place, and the area on the C pillars, around the glass, is the most complex. An installer gave me some great advice: Start at the front, and once the last (rear) zipper is removed, cut the canvas in half longitudinally and then remove one side around the glass first, then install the new canvas on that side, using the other side as a reference. That was great advice, but that's easier said than done. I had to remove more of the "other" side to get to the "work" side, and I got "lost" at one point so I just had to do a lot of trial fitting to figure out how everything worked.
 
#15 ·
Has anyone else had the seam glued and what type of glue did they use and did it stay closed? I have called so many places and no one wants to glue it. They didnt even see it and say.. NO. .you have to replace the whole top.. I probably am not going to keep it for much longer and dont want to put a new top on it.. There has got to be someone that could fix this.. I am going to see if I can upload a picture of it.
 

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#17 ·
Removing the entire canvas will be expensive because it is very labor intensive. Here's the WIS doc explaining the process:

http://benzbits.com/w209/soft_top/Canvas.pdf

The bulk of the effort is all the work around the rear window - basically from the seam to the trunk.

If the goal is just to remove it enough to repair the seam, that's through about step #24, which is maybe a few hours of work. So let's say 4 hours of labor to remove and replace it, plus an hour to work on the seam, so 5 hours or so. At $100/hr, plus the cost of some shop supplies, cleanup, coffee in the waiting room, and a carwash, let's say $800 or less is probably fair.

Like Patton said, the repair is to re-glue and stitch it. It is "possible' to re-glue it from the outside, but I will tell you from experience, that (1) it won't look pretty and (2) it won't last as long as a proper repair from underneath. I knew I was going to replace my canvas, but I still had a separated seam to deal with until I had the time to do the job, so I used Goop Boot & Glove heavy duty contact cement. I opened the roof partially so to create slack in the canvas. I used a box covered with a soft towel to support the rear glass in just the right position.

I tore open the seam so I could get to the mating surfaces and taped off the canvas. I carefully applied the cement to both surfaces, let it dry slightly, then mated it and used office supply binder clips to hold the seam together overnight. The next days, I cleaned as much of the excess cement as possible. Also, I only glued the "lower" surfaces on my diagram from post #4 above. The front section of the canvas is folded over on itself and then glued to the rear section. I was not able to get adhesive in there, so the look of the seam was all wrong. The seam held for several months and was watertight, but it was ugly.
 
#18 ·
Rodney, What year is your car? I do want to keep this car. But I keep thinking if I put the money in the top and then things start to break internally.. I know have 70,000 miles on the 2006.. If it would only be ok then I wouldnt mind putting on a new top..
 
#19 ·
Why cant I partially lift it. Stop it. Glue that seam .. let it stand in the air a couple days and then put it back down. Or I seen on youtube they sew tops with some type of thread. .Is that seam originally sewed down. you dont take the window out where the seam is.
 
#20 ·
I no longer have a CLK, I traded for an SL last year, but mine was a MY2007 with about 80K miles when I replaced the top. I actually thought I'd have it for a few more years after that, but I was always looking at SLs and found the right one. :)

Unless you want to follow that WIS doc through about step #24, you won't be able to get to the underside of the seam to properly glue and stitch it. I would think that where you live in PA, there would be a lot of shops who would compete for your business to do this. If you want to DIY, it's not that hard to get to the point of exposing the seam. Of course then you'll need some sort of handheld sewing machine and a good contact adhesive. When re-installing the canvas, you'll need a riveter (you can get one at Home Depot) and a proper sized zipper slider to re-attached the zippers (which is a bit of a PITA), plus some clips to hold the ends of the zippers closed.
 
#21 ·
The seam split on my wife's '08 CLK550 with about 95K miles, I ended up finding a complete top (Canvas, glass, and frame) from a wrecked '06CLK on Ebay for $700 shipped. Spent one long day removing the canvas from that frame, and then the next entire weekend harvesting the split top from our car and installing the good used top onto the car. As Rudeney says, it was an enormous hassle but miraculously it all worked out. You will need to drill out about 20 rivets (and a rivet run to reinstall) along with a pretty decent collection of metric and E-torx tools.
 

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#24 ·
So I found a guy today that is going to glue it.No cost yet. .I will find out when he starts to work on it... We have to wait till it dries because its been raining here for 2 days and suppose to rain tomorrow.. He is someone that has worked on tops for 35 years.. I know its not going to last but if it works for a while I will be satisfied.. I wonder if I will be able to lower the top with the top being only glued. I am gonna mention the stitching to him. because he does seats too.. What exactly is the original top, new done with. Is it stitching or is it glue? I did mention to him that I will probably not keep it for much longer.. I guess I will see what happens. I do love this car though.. It only has 70,000 miles on it..
 
#25 ·
I also seen a video on Youtube with the exact roof and they glued it with some Boat glue. They cleaned it and primed it and then glued it. .It is under Mercedes convertible top glued. something like that. And it comes up.. Its only a minute long.. But it looks like the exact car.. Another youtube has a glue they use that is only $6.99 on Amazon.. ITs called Stormsure adhesive.
 
#27 ·
The seam on the original top is just glued. It's done in a factory using a special heat-activated adhesive that's supposed to last the life of the canvas. The Robbins top I bought was both glued and stitched.
 
#28 ·
I wonder what the name of the glue is that Mercedes uses or even what is the exact type of fabric they use on these tops. Because there might be another glue that would work on it.. I am still waiting for the guy to glue mine. He is having family problems ( mother is sick) right now. But I am biting at the bit to get this fixed because I am afraid to put my top down out of fear that it will rip more.. Its only about 12 inches on the seam.. Otherwise the roof is in good condition. I dont want to get a new top out of fear that the car is not gonna last another few years as different things have been braking on the car. This whole situation is so working on my last nerve.. I have been to several places that only want to replace ( I guess they don't want to be responsible for gluing that it will come apart after awhile) and I have also called places in surrounding state and all want to replace and all for the same price $2400.. I know thats what the book they are looking in tells them to charge. Its becoming ridiculous . If I knew exactly what glue to use I would do it myself. Its a matter of only putting the top up so high and gluing.. ( maybe cleaning first, with what, I dont know).
But its 80 degrees here. Weather out of the ordinary hot and I cant even put the top down. Very frustrating.
 
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