Hi Folks, can anybody tell me what the deal is with the vinyl trim that goes around door window? Mine is all shriveled up and bubbly. Look's bad. I saw another 300d on ebay with the same problem. Is this common? Would appling heat from a heat gun soften it up enough to push it back into shape? Thank's for any feedback. C.J.

I had a similar problem with some of the interior trim, I went to JoAnn fabrics, matched the vinyl and reupholstered it myself. Looks great and mathces perfectly

How did you attach the new vinyl material? My 300D is suffering from the same heat and age problem.

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1961 190Db retired
1968 220D/8 325,000
1983 300D 164,150

That is a very very common problem... I have heard of people just taking that off and leaving it off... I think the area under it is painted ...so you could just polish and wax it... permanent cheap cure...a fight avoided is a fight won...

Leathermang is right. The paint underneth is in great shape and the trim stuff comes right off. Check it out and if you dont like the look you could replace it.

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1985 Euro 240D 5 spd 140K
1979 240D 5 spd, 40K on engine rebuild
1994 Dodge/Cummins, 5 spd, 121K
1964 Allice Chalmers D15 tractor
2014 Kubota L3800 tractor
1964 VW bug

"Lifes too short to drive a boring car"

Same problem with mine - removed the old, warped plastic, shined up the paint underneath - good as new imho. No loss in sound-deadening either from what I can tell.

Regards,
- Ryan

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'95 E420 - 'Shadowfax' 138kmi.
'92 Volvo 740Turbo Bard 193kmi
'74 240D - 'Ol' Green' 4spd Manual 104kmi. (sold )
'77 300D - 'Red' 223kmi (sold)
'75 240D - 'Bianca the Blue Bomber' (sold)

I've replaced my old wrinkled front door vinyl trim with new at ridiculous cost. For the wrinkled rear door frame covers, I simply removed them. The paint, protected by wrinkled vinyl for the last 17 or so years, looks great (OK, really good...). If/when the fronts wrinkle again, they're outta there.

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Joel
1985 300td (sold)
1981 280SEL (4-speed)

Here is a pic of a 240 near me that did this... front are off... back look pretty wrinkled

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Leathermang

Wow those door panels are sure wrinkled. I haven't noticed that problem around here, the Texas sun maybe?

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1985 Euro 240D 5 spd 140K
1979 240D 5 spd, 40K on engine rebuild
1994 Dodge/Cummins, 5 spd, 121K
1964 Allice Chalmers D15 tractor
2014 Kubota L3800 tractor
1964 VW bug

"Lifes too short to drive a boring car"

I am sure it is not the Texas Heat.. I don't ever remember us having more than 13 days in a row over 100... and the 100 degree days almost never start before May....
All the door panels I have ever seen were that wrinkled...

Pretty much every W123 that has seen the sun has this problem. Mercedes fixed this problem in the W124 and later model W126's by replacing it with hard plastic.

I think it's a good idea removing this material. I might try the heat gun, but on second thought that might screw up the paint. Don't want to do that. Thans again for all the feedback. You guy's are alright. This is truly a great site. C.J.

Chris,

You should be able to just pull the vinyl trim out without a heat gun or any other aid. There may be a little bit of glue (mine had some) but mostly the trim is held in place by pressure from the felt and rubber window guides and the weatherstripping. Once you are able to lift a small section free, you should be able to gently (and slowly) pry the remainder free. I think you'll be happy with the results. The inside door frame is painted the same color as your car's exterior and should look fine. I actually think it looks better than the vinyl.

Godspeed...

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Joel
1985 300td (sold)
1981 280SEL (4-speed)