SL 500 Speakers
 

My bottom right door speaker is heading south and need replacing. I was wonder if the speaker cover snaps off or is it necessary to remove the door panel to gain access. Thought I'd ask before trying. Thanks!

Sorry, but you have to take out the door panel to get to the speaker enclosure. Depending on the year of your vehicle, you may have speakers made by Bose, Bosch, or someone else. If the speaker is just cutting out ( not distorted ), you may have a bad amplifier. Both Bose and Becker amplifiers are known for problems with bad capacitors.

If this were a '96 or newer car and the goal is to just remove the lower speaker in the door and not the complete enclosure with both speakers, then you can do this without removing the door panel -- you just remove the cover. I don't have a car to look at, but I think this cover is held in place with a single screw. With the screw removed it slides out.

Incidentally, it is common for water that passes the window seals to enter the inside of the door and collect in the bottom of the speaker enclosures. This damages the speaker. If you find you have this problem, it is has been suggested by others that you drill a small hole in the enclosure to protect the speaker by allowing water to escape.

I just did this today on a '96. There is a screw at the bottom rear. Remove it, and you can slide the cover forward, then pull it down to remove.

That's the easy part. Your challenge will be re-installing. You need to get all the tabs "started" and then push to the rear. With the cover off, you will see what I mean. You may need a helper to press in on all the areas where the tabs are located.

Fortunately, the door liner is fairly easy to R/R if you need to do that.

I had the same problem with my 99 SL, the only thing that sucks is that the impedance of the Bose speaker is 2 Ohm while most all other speaker manufacuters produce 4 Ohm speakers. If you go to the dealer they sell only the complete speaker housing with the tweeter and lower speaker for around $400.00, bose will not sell this speaker directly to you, I tried. I ended up changing out both of the lower door speakers with Infinity speakers with minimal modifications (just the terminals that connect to the speakers). Infinity makes the same diameter speaker in a 2 Ohm version. I paid about $100 for the set and they sound just as good if not better than the original bose speakers. If you still want to replace with OE speakers I have one (the one that was still good) for $100. It is used but has no water damage at all. I hope this helps out. If you want to know the model of infinity speaker I used send me a message. Also if you want to buy my my bose speaker (the one that was not bad) you can send me a message as well. From what I remember the speaker was either 6" or 6 1/4" diameter. Before you decide on replacing the speakers or speakers though I would try swaping the the speaker from the other door to rule out the possibility that you amp is not the culprit of your problem, that is what I did to determine if it was the speaker of the amp that was not functioning. I hope this helps out.

Thanks guys! Appeciate the help...Looks like those speakers will be coming out this weekend.

I just did this last weekend on a 95 SL. You have to take the door panel off, the speeker cover has no screws pre 96. After the door panel is off, changing the speaker is easy, 4 or 5 torx screws. The bose speakers are 1 ohm, not 2 and can be purchased direct from bose for $40.

Since the OP's car is pre-96 this video shows how to remove his door panel: http://www.classic-roadster.de/modules.php?set_albumName=Filme-r129-demontage-tuer&id=R129E1&op=modload&file=index&name=gallery&include=view_photo.php.