I'm planning to repaint the sills on the 116 I'm buying. Currently they're black, but this 1976 brochure shows body colour on one or two cars, apparently black on others.
Did M-B use a mixture in production?
https://flic.kr/p/2jZmzk4
rocker panels, trunk Until 20.03.1982 tiefdunkelgrau matt 7164 000-986-67-33
That's also what I know, but in the pic that sure looks like a genuine MB catalog to me.
Why would they be printing W116 pics in catalogs during the W126 era? Interesting find!
I have that exact catalogue (my 350SE is a '76 UK-market car, so I bought the correct catalogue on eBay a few years ago), and that particular image is re-touched from an indoor, studio-shot photo, to change the paint colour and (I presume) whoever did the re-touching wasn't an MB employee, so didn't realise that the sills/rockers are dark grey matt, as rumb mentions above.
All of the other pictures in the catalogue (which are outdoor, action photos), and all of the pics of original cars that I've seen, show the sills in the correct colour.
Black/very dark grey sills give the W116 a lighter, more agile look - here's one with body-coloured sills - looks a bit flabby and heavy, compared to the correctly-painted one below it:
(https://www.theslshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/dsc_3700-1200x800.jpg)
(https://images.honestjohn.co.uk/imagecache/file/width/640/media/5536386/Mercedes-Benz%20280S%20(1).jpg)
Update on these colors.
I found some info that indicates the sills are DB7167 - deep dark gray, and the trunk interior is DB7164. I just purchased both. They are @$300 per quart now! The rockers have less white in the mix.
DB7164 - trunk
quart
black 572.7
str white 108.5
light red 14.9
matt base 387.5
mix: 5 pts paint, 2 pts reducer 1 pt special hardener
DB7167 - Rockers
Pint
black 262.1
str white 40.1
light red 5.7
violet 4.4
matt base 166.1
mix: 6 pts paint, 2 pts reducer 1 pt special hardener