92 300SL seat adjustor control panel loose

[isensee]

I just bought a '92 300SL and the small woodgrain panel that holds the seat adjustment controls is very loose on both doors. Sliding my fingers behind the panel, I can feel some plastic clips on the back side of the panel, but nothing for them to attach to on the door. I assume there must be some posts that are supposed to be in the door that are broken off.

Can anyone suggest how to fix this? Are the posts something that can be purchased separately? If so, any idea what the part number is? Any alternative ideas how best to attach these panels to the door?

Scott

[Philip Justice]

Phil Here, Regarding your Panel: I used a dab of clear "Goop adhesive and Clamped in with a rolled up rag against the pull handle. It works great and you can always remove it with a little pry pressure. Hope it works for you!

Phil Justice
1992 Sweet 500SL

[speace]

Mine did the same thing. There were no broken tabs on the door panel, but the tabs on the switch panel had worn slots in the composite board of the door panel allowing the switch panel to pop out.

One side is secured by four little tabs as described above, the other side is secured by two spring clips. You can see the tabs along the left in my picture. The two spring clips are barely visible on the right. There are no "posts" on the door panel for clips or tabs to attach to. The tabs secure one side by reaching behind the panel. The spring clips press on the other side of the opening to wedge the switch panel in place. I added the metal strip because the four tabs actually wore grooves in the composite door panel leaving nothing to secure to.

I repaired my door panel by reinforcing the grooved areas by epoxying a thin metal strip to the back of the door panel, thus restoring the damage.

For a metal strip I cut up a metal strip from Home Depot that was originally designed to be used to secure floor joists to each other...

You can see my 'fix' in the attached picture. You can see the tabs on the left and the spring clips on the right. My example is for the driver's (LH) door and has held up extremely well.

The procedure to remove the door panel is posted elsewhere on this site.

[lymlyt]

I had the same problem numerous times on my 92 500sl. there
are plastic connector and metal clips that hold the seat adjustment
to the door and they often break overtime. I would suggest:

1. Search this site for door panel removal guide/instructions. Although
you wont remove the door panel, the instructions include removing the
woodgrain panel.

2. Once removed, look for part numbers on the "broken" pieces of
plastic and order from MB. Make sure your order the little metal clips.