Having sighted a number of posts sometime back concerning the installation of an armrest in Smartforfours, I noticed that they were mainly concerned with the unit available from Smart at a high cost of around 185 Pounds Sterling and apparently taking up to 3 hours to install. I wanted to acquire an armrest for my Smartforfour, but wasn't prepared to pay the amount in question for a Smart sourced unit. I then came across an armrest available from Amazon U.K. and other sites at varying prices, but considerably lower than the cost of a Smart sourced unit. I then decided to order an armrest from Amazon U.K. who were advertising the unit for around Pounds 89.00 plus postage, however I managed to purchase it for around Pounds 57.00 plus postage. I realised that this Amazon unit was not the same as the Smart unit, from the details given by one of the Forfour members in his post which included several photos of the installation process. The Amazon unit looked the same, in grey imitation leather, however the fixing mechanism on the Smart unit was obviously more stable and complicated. It took me 15 minutes to install the Amazon armrest which involved only 4 self tapping screws which held the armrest in place on top of the two space drinks unit behind the handbrake. It does allow the armrest to be moved upright out of the way if required and the top has a hinged lid for storage of small items. The armrest is not as stable as the Smart unit being held only by 4 screws on to the plastic cover over the handbrake mechanism, however the armrest doesn't get a lot of pressure and strain if it is not being moved up and down regularly. In fact I have fixed my armrest to not allow it to be moved up out of the way as I want it permanently in place. This post is submitted for the interest of members wishing to install an armrest, but not having the resources to purchase the expensive Smart sourced armrest.
