Hi All,
How can I open the sunroof on this car? The motor does work in both directions. The sunroof is stuck full close. I am unsure what's really wrong although the PO mentioned he thought the cable to move the thing was broken. Guidance greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Those cables are easy to get, but maybe it needs to be lubricated. Mine was not working, disassembled it, used special MB grease and it works flawless again.
This page of one theforum member will help you

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1979 Black on Black, 300CD (sold), 1990 Black 300SE, Silver 1989 Volvo 780, 1988 300CE (vanished by the hands of a girlfriend), 1992 300CE (Rescue).

I called closest dealer and was quoted $100+ for small 6" tube of the stuff. Parts guy suggested I use a synthetic grease.

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'10 Chrysler T&C Stow-N-Go White. Grandpa's ride.

'13 Chrysler 200 Touring Candy Red. Grandma's ride.

Age and cunning will always over come youth and vigor.

They have a sunroof repair kit

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1979 Black on Black, 300CD (sold), 1990 Black 300SE, Silver 1989 Volvo 780, 1988 300CE (vanished by the hands of a girlfriend), 1992 300CE (Rescue).

It's just a seal repair kit, not a kit that will make a broken sunroof work again.

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'10 Chrysler T&C Stow-N-Go White. Grandpa's ride.

'13 Chrysler 200 Touring Candy Red. Grandma's ride.

Age and cunning will always over come youth and vigor.

My main problem is I can't get the thing open to even do any work on it. I sort of familiar with the cable grease issues (use MB only! see **************.com for a kit) but have no way to open the thing to work on it. I can see everything spinning in back when the motor runs, but nothing moves. Can someone confirm that the direction on a CD is opposite the Sedan, for example, if the motor turns clockwise to open the sunroof on the sedan, it goes CCW on the coupe?
Thanks.

Besides the seals they also have a kit with the two different greases you need.

Go to the "repair manuals" on the left side.

There is also a way to open it manually; there should be a special tool in the trunk next to the motor on the plastic moulding.

Open the headliner on the sunroof and detach the cable and you will know if it's broken or not.

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1979 Black on Black, 300CD (sold), 1990 Black 300SE, Silver 1989 Volvo 780, 1988 300CE (vanished by the hands of a girlfriend), 1992 300CE (Rescue).

Same deal here.
Stuck completely closed, I put the manual crank on it and nothing.
(Well, some springy resistance, but no movement)
We need to know how to open if not possible by the crank in the trunk.

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Think Alternative Energy!
300CD '80 (now gone but not forgotten...)

If there's no movement at all I assume the cable is still good and it's just stuck and in need of lubrication also If the cable is stuck the motor should be slipping. when the cable is broken the motor should have "eaten" it. When opening the sunroof you push the switch on the top, pulling the the cable.


The only other way to open it is to detach the cable from the sunroof. Make sure you don't bend the tube, really hard to replace that one! To lubricate the cable you also have to detach it from the motor.

Get yourself the repair kit, it's a pretty easy job and extremely satisfying if you succeed!

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1979 Black on Black, 300CD (sold), 1990 Black 300SE, Silver 1989 Volvo 780, 1988 300CE (vanished by the hands of a girlfriend), 1992 300CE (Rescue).

I just finished reparing the sunroof on my 85 300SD (W126) using the kit that is mentioned above. Let me tell you, this guy walks you through every scenerio there is. He even explains how to unhookk the cable and the bar inside the sunroof so that it can be opened by hand. I think you'll be better off with the kit. I really recommend it. Once you can open the sunroof by hand, its just a matter of removing the cable by hand for inspection. Maybe its just a matter of re-lubing the cable; mine was!

Good luck!

Man how dumb do I feel, must have been a senior thing. I have ordered the kit. Thanks. This forum is a wealth like the VW TDI Forum.

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'10 Chrysler T&C Stow-N-Go White. Grandpa's ride.

'13 Chrysler 200 Touring Candy Red. Grandma's ride.

Age and cunning will always over come youth and vigor.

I tried to figure it out. The cable is disconnected from the motor and the sunroof is closed tight.

I supposed you could probably try pulling on the cable from the back really hard and see if you could get it to open. Maybe have someone push down on the back of the sunroof and assist it...

then you can follow the instructions to pop the headliner down and replace the cable...

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2008 BMW 335i Coupe

Yea, the repair kit looks like the way to go.
What a great selection of stuff they have there, wow!

Jorn, I think you are right, I bet the "springiness" I feel is the motor slipping. Before I went ahead and bought the kit, I would like to see how bad things are in there.

What do you mean by:
"When opening the sunroof you push the switch on the top, pulling the the cable." ?
Probably a different style...I see no switch.

I can't imagine how to force that thing open, without damage.

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Think Alternative Energy!
300CD '80 (now gone but not forgotten...)

I was talking about the sunroof switch on the dashboard. Someone wanted to know witch way the cable was supposed to go, it sounded more complicated then I wanted it to be.

As soon as you detach the cable from the sunroof it will slide freely.

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1979 Black on Black, 300CD (sold), 1990 Black 300SE, Silver 1989 Volvo 780, 1988 300CE (vanished by the hands of a girlfriend), 1992 300CE (Rescue).

Just because somebody brought it up, don't use synthetic grease on the slides. The mercedes slide grease is supposed to not attract dirt like other greases, that is why it should be used there. Just cleaning/relubing the tracks generally takes care of most of the problem which was caused by someone using improper grease in the first place.

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Jeff M.
Mercedes W123 DIY pages are now located here.
1983 / 1984 300D Sold
2000 CLK430 Cabriolet ~58k Sold
2005 Avalanche 4x4 ~66k