My leather trimmed interior door panel appears to have come away at the bottom of the door. Are there any tricks to removing the whole door panel? Can the panels have new clips fitted - assuming there are clips missing.

Short answer:

I don't know :) I don't think the clips can be replaced, but you might be able to fashion another restraint.

Long answer:

The door panel comes off by removing the pilar trim at the trailing edge of the window (2 screws from the edge of the door frame), the striker escutcheon (2 obvious screws), the door handle escutcheon (plastic cover pries off, then 1 screw holding the metal plate), window swtich trim (slides off at this point after some wrestling with the window switch, but barely enough to expose the arm rest screw), the arm rest (two big screws from the lower edge, 1 at the top covered by the door handle/window switch trim), the courtesy light (pull out the diffuser, detach the wires), then slide the door panel up about an inch and the clips should release.

My car doesn't have rear seat heat or recline controls so there might be more to your car.

Installation is basically the reverse of removal, but it takes about 5 hands on the panel to ensure that every clip catches properly. I have most trouble with the catches along the bottom edge of the quarter window.

For some reason, the back side of my panels are greasy. Keep this in mind so you don't get grease on your interior.

Sixto
91 300SE

Sixto, thanks very much for your reply. I will let you know how I get on with the clips.

Cheers
Matt.