hi there, in my w140 s500 the wood trim on my center console and around the shifter is fading and has some cracks in it, however i think they are not cracks in the wood but sufrace cracks on the clear finish. how can one restore this wood? should remove the wood and sand it down and then coat it with home depot products? what do u recomend for restoring wood to new? thanks
Cracks in the clear go into the veneer, because the clear cracked all the way through including where it had soaked into the veneer when it was originally applied. The only way to completely get rid of the crack is to sand slightly into the veneer, and that changes the color of the veneer where you've sanded. So then you have to sand down the whole thing into the veneer to make the color uniform, and then it doesn't match the other pieces of wood around it. So then you have to do all the other pieces of wood in the car to get them all to match. And then you can re-clear the whole thing. Plan on about a 3 month project - longer if you have a day job.
It's just a different shade, but noticeably different. You can try painting the color back into on that spot, either with acrylic artists paints or stain pens. Better to get the clear at an automotive paint shop. The better the quality the better it will look and longer it will last. Two part catalyzed urethane catalyzed clear would be best. Air dryed rattle cans take a long time to really dry/harden and usually don't hold up very well. UPol #1 Clear is good in a spray can but expensive, around $20 a can. There's probably some others. A good automotive paint store can advise.
It's a pretty big job to do right. The veneer is exceedingly thin - maybe 1/42" today but on older models maybe 1/32". If you are not experienced sanding veneer (grits/pressure) it's easy to go thru to the plastic.
High end vehicles use nitrocellulous lacquer for a clear coat. Polyurethane varnish would probably look similar but as has been said you need to redo all the wood if you want it to match.
If you're here in the US, you might contact the MB Classic Center in Irvine, CA. You could probably arrange to send them all the pieces and have them refinished.
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