Need some advice on Removal/Replacement of W211 DS Rear door

[Mike/Mass]

Headers kinda says it, but here’s the story. Deer ran into the car only major damage is a dented door. Picked up a “000” near perfect black door for $175 at a local salvage yard, it’ll be cheaper to swap than have a shop repair/paint the door.

Just curious if I should remove the old door at the door or at the pillar? I know from the yard that the pillar has a fixed locating pin for the two hinges, don’t know if the door side also has a pin under the hinges.

Other question is about access to wire connectors inside the door. Does the harness have connectors at both ends for the airbag, window, and speakers?

Thanks in advance for any/all help!

[engatwork]

I have not done this job but suspect you will need to remove panel, disconnect all the electrical and feed it through the door to remove door. Also I would suggest unbolting the door at the b pillar.

[Clemson88]

I made out fine removing the hinge with the door. I removed the inside panel and disconnected the wiring and cut the vac lines. It's fairly easy to fish the wires out the port in the hinge side of the door if you pop the rubber accordion off the door.

I stacked wood to support the door's weight while I removed the hinge bolts from the frame. That made it easy to balance and didn't place too much weight on one hinge or one bolt.

Doors are not too hard to line up. You just have to get the feel of how loose the bolts need to be to move it a bit and just which direction it will move. Strangely enough, it only took me a couple bumps to set the margins top, and strike side and get the breaks in the sheet metal to match.