I'm wanting to swap out my rear speakers. The procedure in the FSM looks pretty simple:

http://w124-zone.com/downloads/MB%20CD/W124/w124CD2/Program/Chassis/82-7836.pdf

However, it's not clear to me how initially to get the grill off. Do I just try to pry it off with a butter knife or something? I don't want to break anything.

Thanks!

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14 E250 Bluetec "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 153k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 171k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver, 142k mi, wastegate conversion

19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

Yeah, it looks like just gently pry those tabs back.

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83 SD

84 CD

I guess that's my problem: I don't see any tabs. The grill is simply flush with the part it's connected to.

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14 E250 Bluetec "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 153k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 171k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver, 142k mi, wastegate conversion

19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

edit: Crap.. wrong platform

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1991 560 SEL / 185k miles
1992 750il / 17k miles - project car

I don't know of any way to remove the '91-up rear grilles without first removing the rear deck, perhaps I'm mistaken. I tried a couple of times, seems that all of the necessary clip removal is beneath the fabric/deck. My memory is that there are plastic pins that have metal clips beneath the fabric.

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Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

I only know the W126 setup. And I can even take photo with them out so one can see the attaching points. But I have no clue on a W124.

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1991 560 SEL / 185k miles
1992 750il / 17k miles - project car

Weird that the FSM is worded the way it is, then....seems to take a lot for granted.

I wonder how I go about removing the rear deck...or might that be more invovled than I'd care to get into?

__________________
14 E250 Bluetec "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 153k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 171k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver, 142k mi, wastegate conversion

19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

The link in your first post shows the tabs, they won't be visible until you use an appropriate tool to push 'em back.

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83 SD

84 CD

I guess I'm still trying to figure out the very first step. I go in through the top, not the trunk. What I see is the grill that is flush with the part of the rear deck to which it connects. I'm assuming that my first step is to remove the grill (though that's not explicit in the FSM instructions). So what do I do? Pry grill off with butter knife or something?

__________________
14 E250 Bluetec "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 153k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 171k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver, 142k mi, wastegate conversion

19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

If these are like on a 126, they may completely fall apart with any force greater than a sneeze applied.

__________________
1991 560 SEL / 185k miles
1992 750il / 17k miles - project car

I would think something such as a butter knife and agree with LYL, be careful, but this seems to be the only way to remove it.

It says to lift head restraint and unclip "cover" at the points, the cover is the grill. This tells me to remove the grill once access is gained by lifting the head restraint.

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83 SD

84 CD

I've tried applying pressure with knife....am afraid I'm going to break it. It may be worth the $70 or so to have a pro do it.

The other thing that confuses me is this: even if you remove the grill, the width of the opening does not seem big enough for a 5-1/4" speaker to fit through.

__________________
14 E250 Bluetec "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 153k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 171k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver, 142k mi, wastegate conversion

19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

Good luck with whatever you decide.

__________________
83 SD

84 CD

I've had my rear speaker grills off and on again in the last few weeks.

They are tricky. You will not get 5 1/2" speakers in there without some serious cutting. I replaced the rear speakers with MTX coaxial jobs that are only about 4.5" but have good sound. You can only get so much speaker back there. I actually had to enlarge the metal hole to fit the speakers in, did that using the flexible shaft of a Dremel and a cutting head. PITA. You will not get a pro to do this job for only $70.

Mine is 87 w124, here's how:

Using a flat tool, lift the grill up slightly where it meets the carpet on the rear desk. By up I mean straight up into the sky. By slightly I mean 1/8" or so. You will see a couple tabs, these are press down to fit in the vertical direction. There are more tabs around the grill similarly hooking it to the platform all the way around. These other ones all slide in horizontally. So you have to kind of lift the grill up at the two carpet side vertically, clear those tabs then slide the grill horizontally rearward and to the center of the car with a slight rotating motion.

Doing the reverse to install, the grill kind of tucks its horizontal tabs in sequentially as you rotate the grill horizontally into place. Then the last step is aligning the carpet side tabs and push down.

Go real easy. Do it on a warm car / warm plastic. Use a plastic tool to lift.

These grills will shatter if you do it wrong.

I practiced on a junker, to learn how, then did it for real on my car. My car has been garaged and has little sun damage so the grills are still in fairly good shape, still a bit flexible, etc. If you have a sun baked faded rear deck you can most likely kiss these good bye.

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Cheers!
Scott McPhee

1987 300D

That's very helpful. Best Buy, who just did the install on the deck and the front speakers (for only $60....they have a deal where they knock off $100 if the deck and speakers are the same brand), said they would charge $70 to install the rear speakers. Based on the difficulty and risks you describe, I think I'll just pay them to do it....especially since I don't have a junker to practice on!

__________________
14 E250 Bluetec "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 153k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 171k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver, 142k mi, wastegate conversion

19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife