i just got to work and was getting some things from my passenger side and reached over to lock the doors by the drives knob. in my effort, i placed my left hand on the flat, raised, rear portion of the console and my reward was to completely bust it. what year models are compatible to my '88?? it looks simple enough but, is the replacement 'idiot proof'?? it's dark blue and i'm finding this color to be difficult to find anythig for. i could go on ebay and other used parts sites but i want to know if anyone has a spare blue one that they would like to sell me?? (i would trust people from this site more than ebay or those used parts sites.)

86-93, depends on seat heater switches.

You can easily paint any plastic part like that to match the inside of the car.

Do the ones in your '86-'93 240s look like this? I have an '87 with this style, but I thought this kind came on the pre-'86 cars. Are there two different types?

They look the same, except all of my cars have seat heater switches in the console (on either side of the E-brake). The part of the console that flanks the E-brake is different, but the design is more or less the same. Basically that console doesn't have seat heater switches. The rest should be the same.

Also, in 90, the seat belts themselves were moved to the side of the seats because of the SRS system. The big hole in the middle was changed to include a little storage box. As far as I can tell, however, the fundamental fit of the console hasn't changed. A 93 console should fit an older model if you take out the storage box.

I don't remember seeing any 86-93 cars without seat heaters, but I'm sure they exist somewhere.

I recently had mine break on my 89 244. I checked with the local dealer and they sell the part for $54. Checked with the local salvage yard and they said that they are frequently broken on the cars they get and did not have any. I have checked ebay but everyone I found did not have the slots for heater switches. I would like to know if I will have to remove the seats to get to it?

The seats don't need to be removed. First, move both front seats as far forward as possible. On the rear, take the ashtray out, and the plastic insert that the ashtray goes into. Then disconnect the light for the seat belt light (if there is one) and remove the seat heater switches. Next, remove the screws on either side (near the rear) and you can lift up the rear and slide it forward and over the metal peg that holds down the front of the cover. Expect to find all kinds of weird things that have collected in the parking brake cover over the years.

Thanks for the advice, you saved me a lot of time trying to figure it out.

It's almost as easy as it looks. The only pain is getting the lights back in place for the rear part.

I think I have a spare for you, but I need to know if your car has seat heater switches.

Evan