G463 side steps

PM norfolk66  Tim Sayer  he managed to source some that are identical to MB jobbies for reasonable money    

Regards Gordon Osgerby

Mark,

Side steps are all a matter of opinion but in mine they are great for getting in and out with bad footballers knees.....especially getting back in when the game goes into extra time.

I have purchased both the current eBay steps below :-

Ebay item number 390239041010 which were for my SWB....these were very practical and good quality but are not a copy of the originals but good for under £225 including postage.

Ebay item number 221544836175 which are currently on my LWB and are a very high quality copy of exact Mercedes ones. In fact you can't tell the difference side by side the originals and they simply bolt on once you take your grommet caps off your 463! They are from Romania and on at £569 which includes postage. I believe that these are LWB but they may have SWB ones? I can't find my ebay receipt but mine were less that £500 all in and look fantastic. I'm pretty sure I paid £450 plus £45 postage but think the price has slightly gone up because of the £ against the €. But still a great deal.

From the current listing it looks like they only have a single set of LWB which would need to be cut down to fit in yours. (Axel has cut a set down that went on the Jersey 606 monster)

Hope this helps.

Tim

I tried to purchase an SWB set from MB, last November. Price was around 900, but none available - not even in Germany.

Might be because SWB Gs are no longer in production ?

Well they fit my 463, mind you it is a 1991. Why not just give him a ring. I guess it's about fitting points which may have changed post '91. Sherlock will know.

Thank you for the info. Yes, I'd also contacted the sellers on ebay, with a similar reply that new holes would be required. I think those were really designed for the 460, not 463. Anyway, my wife has been asking for sidesteps on her G300 for quite a while, so I will probably need to get them. Only thing is that I am reluctant to remove the new exhaust, catalytic converter and heat-shields that I just fitted, for access to the fitting holes.

A couple more photos

Hello, Mark,

If you had to drill the holes, presumably it would be difficult to add a backing nut internally? Did you use a Riv-Nut or just large self-tapping screws to secure the brackets?

Thanks

Hello, Mark,

Thank you for the reply. The bolts are M10, so a 10.5 mm hole will make a good fit. Perhaps, I am  being a bit thick, but I don't understand how the bolts are fastened with nuts as the place which is drilled is a sealed cavity with no access to the inside to fit the nut?

On the later Gs the nuts are already welded on the inside of the cavity, on the inner side of the bolt hole. 

.. Unless of course you drill all the way through the door sill, behind the external rubber strip?

Ah! I think I understand what you're saying, now.  It seems that these steps are secured to the lateral / transverse underfloor struts, which can be drilled straight-through. That is a 460 step design, then. The 463 is supposed to have ready-prepared holes on the inside door-sills, running longitudinally, under the body, with a captive-nut already welded in the inside. (I have read that even early 463s should have these ready-prepared fixing holes, but don't have access to that car to check before buying the steps.)  That might be why the listing for these steps says they are up to 1990 and that holes need to be drilled to fit them.

Hello Norfolk,

Thank you for the reply and pictures. I had indeed noted the replica ones, which you'd mentioned and installed, but I needed to find out whether they could source them in SWB version - no reply. I also saw that 4x4-direct have them, again, LWB versions) for GBP 650.

This enquiry has been for my sister who has a 1991, 300GD and after seeing Mark's post, above, it seemed that early Gs perhaps did not come with factory-built-in mounting points on the inner sill. Therefore she bought the aluminium, eBay ones. However, It could be that these have a different mounting arrangement (designed for the 460) and hence perhaps Mark did not look in the correct place, when he said that there were NO pre-existing fitting points? This would mean, therefore, that it would be better to find 463 boards with the correct brackets, if the mounting points are there, as I'd rather not drill any new holes.

Seems that I  really need to find out first, whether the factory mounting holes are there on not.

I was templed to get the LWB ones and cut them, but they'd need to be cut at an angle and then some new holes drilled to affix the end-caps.

You're right-  yours look  exactly like the factory oines.

thanks.

hello, Gav,

That's  good news !

I bought some new, SWB steps from MB this week (ouch !) and fitted them yesterday without problems to my 1996, G300, but wasn't sure about earlier models having the fittings in place. However, if they are there, I guess, worst case would be to buy a set of genuine brackets from MB and use those to fit the eBay, aluminium, steps.

My SWB versions were around £ 900 for the pair incl some discount and VAT and so about 300 more than those from direct-4x4, but saved  time in cutting-down long versions to size.

They went on perfectly to the mm, and look great so I  don't regret the amount paid.