83 240D Does anyone know how to remove the inside door panels without damaging them?
 

I am troubleshooting my Vacuum Lock System.
Does anyone know how to remove the inside door panels without damaging them?
Are there any fitting's that can be damaged?
I am anxious because on other cars I haved one this and the plasic nubs that hold them on inevitably get damaged.

Just be careful of the map pocket clip on the front doors. They slide into a little notch, and break pretty easily. Door panel removal is simple.

1.) unscrew door lock knob
2.) remove black plastic plate on the inside of door handle
3.) remove screw on chrome inside door handle frame, remove frame
4.) remove 10mm bolt at top of armrest handle
5.) remove two large screws at underside of armrest
6.) remove chrome molding at the door latch.
7.) pull panel straight off, with special care around the map pocket areas.

Rear doors are the same.

Don't forget to pry the pop on fasteners at the bottom of the panel loose before pulling straight up. The 124's don't have the pop on fasteners, the 123's do.

Good luck,

door panels
 

You can buy a plastic fastener removing tool if you do this often - it slides in the gap and compresses the splayed out portion of the lug so it just slips out of the hole...

I just restored the vacuum lock system on my 240 last summer.

Remember when troubleshooting for your leak, Yellow/Red striped vacuum lines are for lock down function, Yellow/Green striped are UNlock.

I found several leaky area's majority of them were cracked booties on the vacuum elements in 3 of 4 doors. (replaced all)
Also, check rubber seal/grommet in vacuum storage tank in trunk.
There you will find solid Yellow line running into the tank.
good luck
d

The pop out pins on the 123 door panels are not like the two prong metal ones on domestic cars. They work great and require no special tool.

Good luck,

My daughter says...
 

I am nuts trying to fix such details on such an old car. I once spent 2 hours rerouting the main electric feed to the glow plugs around the oil dipstick line to make it look like the production routing after I changed engines..and 3 hours fixing the glove compartment lock (drove to Pep Boys to find just the right snap ring) .....

The key part is
 

Make sure that you have a good feel for the plastics snaps and pull the panel loose while pulling on each side of the snap. I have had a snap that stayed in the door , but it ripped out of the fiber backing of the door panel. The plastic snaps are fairly bulletproof, but be careful of the door panel.

JCD

Yes, to prevent this, pry right at the snap, not halfway between the snaps.

Good luck,