420SL Soft top

[barney99]

I have a short split in my 420SL soft top between the centre window and the offside quarter window. I'm told that a 'near invisible' repair will not be possible so looking at buying a new hood.
There are many on the market all claiming excellence. I'm planning on keeping the car so want to go for good quality. As I live in Scotland I realise I may have to travel for this.
Any suggestions or experiences about the different brands and quality levels gratefully received!

 

[Kersidan]

I would initially ask the SL Shop http://www.theslshop.com/ for advice. A long way from you but they could advise.

Mark

 

[barney99]

Thanks Kersidan. Thats a good suggestion but unfortunately they have said that they are unable to help.
Tom

 

[mikestrivens]

combine a trip to Germany and go to KHM:

https://www.cabrio.de/khm/en/

 

[barney99]

Thanks Mike - the KHM factory looks impressive. Maybe a bit far tho!
I re-tried Kersidan's suggestion but this time to the Parts Dept and have received a very helpful reply. Thanks.

 

[gramey]

I'm replacing the soft top on my R129 with a hood supplied by KHM but having it fitted locally by an experienced fitter, I would be interested to know how the SL Shop roof compares quality wise before I place my order?

 

[LostKiwi]

I'm replacing the soft top on my R129 with a hood supplied by KHM but having it fitted locally by an experienced fitter, I would be interested to know how the SL Shop roof compares quality wise before I place my order?

I'm very interested to see how you get on as I intend to replace my soft top this year too. Are you going for the more expensive option on the hoods?

 

[gramey]

I'm very interested to see how you get on as I intend to replace my soft top this year too. Are you going for the more expensive option on the hoods?

LostKiwi having looked at the offerings available here in the UK from numerous soft top companies I decided I would source a hood from Europe. I fully intended to, and probably still will, go for the original material hood from KHM which with new rubber spoiler, Bowden cables and postage worked out at £1064 Euros.

I booked my car in at the end of January and the earliest the chap who is doing it could fit it in was 31st May which gave me time to get bored and start looking round to see if there were any alternatives. Now it's always been a disaster giving an indecisive person such as myself time to see what else is out there.

Given the guy who's fitting my hood has previous positive experience with hoods from KHM I'm a little loathe to sway away from them unless there is a reasonable saving, although I have to make a decision soon to ensure it arrives in time.

I have ruled out the offering from The SL Shop as they were unable to provide me with the specifics of the material their supplier used other than it's from the US.

There are three options I appear to have bearing in mind I want to keep it as close to original as possible, these are,

Plan A - KHM - https://www.cabrio.de/en/softtops/c...fttop-280-600-sl-129-original-material-detail - 1064 Euros all in inc. p&p, cables and new rubber spoiler.

Plan B - https://translate.google.co.uk/tran...ttps://www.der-autoausstatter.de/&prev=search 665 euros but not including rubber roof spoiler or tension cables but Markus Huber, the proprietor, has confirmed he uses Sonnenland Classic Plus material with Renolit windows in the original 1.25/1.5mm thickness.

Plan C - http://www.ck-cabrio.de/verdecke/cabrioverdecke-von-a-z/mercedes-sl-r129-verdeck-1989-2001/ - 789 Euros exc. postage, cables and spoiler

I'm actually quite liking the look of the CK-Cabrio Acoustic roof with no side windows but it would detract from the originality of the looks.

Decisions, decisions?? I've got to have it ready to be fitted on 31/05/2017 so I'll be ordering very soon so anyone with any thoughts on the respective merits of the above three your thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[LostKiwi]

My only comment would be the KHM ones use Wopavin for the windows whereas the other one (not counting the last one as its not based on the original) uses Renolit Flexglas. While the Renolit may be fine we don't know what its longevity is compared to Wopavin (which is the original glass).