Lord why did I buy a Mercedes Benz? C280 Collected - Headlining botching afoot

[EyesWeldedShut]

3 hours ago, rantingYoof said:

The paintwork on this is poor, and I will post photographs of it when I can.

You don’t look at the mantelpiece when you’re poking the fire? (As my granny used to say) 🙄

Plus there’s always the fact that there’s a hell of a lot less to go wrong in that era of MB?

[wesacosa]

I remember really disliking these when they came out but they look bloody great now.  congratulations 

[rantingYoof]

1 hour ago, wesacosa said:

I remember really disliking these when they came out but they look bloody great now.  congratulations 

I remember there being lots and lots of silver over black C180s around which looked underwhelming at the time.

Gotta love a boxy saloon in today's blobby SUV-dominated world, though.

[abir246]

On 20/06/2026 at 13:11, rantingYoof said:

Sorry. No more teasers. 

It's a C280. 

More details later. 

I bet you it makes squeaks less than my W204 C280

[rantingYoof]

Last minute MOT booked for today with no prep fluids checked or anything. 

👌

[Somerset Suffolk]

good luck ! 

[rantingYoof]

I will take that and run. 

[Somerset Suffolk]

1 hour ago, rantingYoof said:

I will take that and run. 

you're welcome ! (winning lottery numbers available on request ....😆)  well bought sir ! 

 

 

[rantingYoof]

The next job is to sort out the headlining. It's dropping a bit at the front near the windscreen, and a lot at the rear screen over the rear headrests. This has become noticeably worse in the recent heatwave as the glue used by the previous owner to try and keep it up, has melted. 

Today I bought carpet adhesive and double-sided tape.

It ain't gonna be a pretty job. I simply want it to be stuck up and out of the way to a degree that I do not have to worry about it.

After I've sorted that out, the car is going to be professionally valeted/detailed. The paintwork on the passenger side is beyond saving, but some of the green paintwork is still in excellent condition and will come up nicely. However, the valet/detail will be to deep clean the interior, which is hanging in places. Dark black muck/oil under the floor mats, grime and muck in corners etc. I am not going to be popping my kids in it until it is nice and clean.

Once it's valeted I'll need to buy a child seat which uses a seat belt instead of Isofix. Happy to take recommendations. @loserone do you have any suggestions? Both kids (7 and 5) are over 120cm so shouldn't need anything too fancy. Something simple to install and which can simply stay in place would be my preference. 

[loserone]

A car seat recommendation is the last thing I should be providing 😂

 

[rantingYoof]

You managed to fit two or three in the back of a 205 and this is at least 50% wider! 

[Peter C]

10 hours ago, rantingYoof said:

The next job is to sort out the headlining. It's dropping a bit at the front near the windscreen, and a lot at the rear screen over the rear headrests. This has become noticeably worse in the recent heatwave as the glue used by the previous owner to try and keep it up, has melted. 

Today I bought carpet adhesive and double-sided tape.

It ain't gonna be a pretty job. I simply want it to be stuck up and out of the way to a degree that I do not have to worry about it.

If the headlining material is foam backed, then you will need to remove the fabric and scape off as much of the foam as possible before applying any new adhesive. If you spray adhesive over the foam, it's just going to crumble and the headlining will drop again in no time.

[Matty]

4 hours ago, loserone said:

A car seat recommendation is the last thing I should be providing 😂

 

Back of the van and bolted through the floor. Never did us any harm 🤣

[loserone]

1 hour ago, rantingYoof said:

You managed to fit two or three in the back of a 205 and this is at least 50% wider! 

Yes, but that's mostly as a result of buying the cheapest possible car seats.  Plus second hand Britax Eclipse ones for lapbelts, which I'm guessing you don't need.

If you're only putting two in, I'd just get the lightest high backed booster you can.  Ours have lost their backs now to increase shoulder room, though technically the 5 year old should be 2CM taller before we do that.  The belt is in the right place on his chest, though.  He also has a no-back booster and goes in the front in the Express whenever he can, rather than three of them in lap belts in the back (which would still be perfectly legal)

 

I always fancied some of those ricaro ones, but I've no idea if they're any good.

[Datsuncog]

3 hours ago, loserone said:

If you're only putting two in, I'd just get the lightest high backed booster you can. 

Agreed - Graco makes perfectly decent cheap high-back boosters that fit a three-point belt - something like the Junior Maxi can be had for £40:

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/9020706?clickSR=slp:term:graco car seat:2:7:1

[Source: I used to be the store's Britax-trained child seat fitter back in my Halfords days.]

[loserone]

4 minutes ago, Datsuncog said:

Agreed - Graco makes perfectly decent cheap high-back boosters that fit a three-point belt - something like the Junior Maxi can be had for £40:

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/9020706?clickSR=slp:term:graco car seat:2:7:1

[Source: I used to be the store's Britax-trained child seat fitter back in my Halfords days.]

That is exactly the seat I have in 4/9 places where seats go.  It's slightly wider than the other britax I have but the cup holders are excellent for storing APPLE CORES, ORANGE PEEL, SHELLS, STONES, USED TISSUES and all sorts of other things which would otherwise be thrown around the car for in some cases months at a time.  Also, the back can be snapped off when you don't want it to be a high back booster anymore.

[rantingYoof]

Time to look at this headlining. 

[rantingYoof]

That foam backed adhesive stuff is horrible. Too much work scraping it all off, carpet adhesive and double sided tape had no chance, although the adhesive wasn't doing that badly on the test patch at the front. 

I broke out the site notice staple gun. 

Insulting bets on how many minutes this will last during the car's first drive are welcomed.