I posted this in teh diesel forum, but thought it might help to post in a couple of places. I have an 82 240D with door panels that are in excellent condition, except for the air bubbles that are starting to appear. I'm assuming either the adhesive is losing it's grip or the material is just stretched out from heat and age.

Anyway, I would like to "spruce" them up and tighten the MBtex if possible, so my questions are:

1. Can the door panels be removed and then re-wrapped or have the adhesive reapplied (I am totally relying on the assumption that there is, in fact, adhesive)?

2. I was thinking that maybe a low viscosity adhesive applied through a syringe might be injected into the voids and allow for re-application. Does this sound reasonable?

3. Does anyone have techniques and methods used to tighten the "fabric" up?

Thanks, again.

Pics are attached.

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I've worked on many Mercedes door panels, from older '70's sedans to my '86 560SL. They all seem to have similar construction techniques.
The vinyl covering is glued and stapled to a masonite/hardboard panel, with sections padded with thin foam. The foam seems to disintegrate with age. I know that on several of my '80's cars, there was lots of black dust on the inside of the door, at the bottom. That was the foam. The rest was washed out over time from moisture, out the slots at the bottom of the door.
I have no idea what the MB engineers were thinking, but there is a rubber gasket at the door jamb that appears to be there to allow heat or cool air to circulate inside the door, from the cabin climate control. The open cell foam would allow air to pass through the panels (?) for whatever reason, perhaps to keep them dry/warm or maybe warm the glass when the window is down...I don't know, but this foam falls apart and you're left with sagging vinyl/MB Tex. Some amount of wrinkling could be from heat, but I believe the missing foam padding is the main culprit.
To fix this, I you'll definately need to remove the panel. The cure will probably be to remove the vinyl from the hardboard and rebuild the sections where the foam is gone with new foam. Essentially, you'll need some upholstery skills and materials. It's not hard, just time consuming. And, there is always a small risk of tearing the vinyl.
The adhesive to use would be spray contact cement, and the foam is easily obtained from your local upholstery shop. 1/4" open or closed cell would probably work fine.

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1986 560SL
2002 Toyota Camry
1993 Lexus

Thanks, don.

I will go ahead and pull off a rear door panel to get a better look inside to check the foam.

I will follow up just in case that isn't the foam, or if it is, just an FYI for anyone else needing the same advice.

Thanks, again.

3M makes some stuff called headliner adhesive. I've used that before with prety good results. I believe it is made for use with open celled foam material.

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