w210-windows/seats/locks/roof won't work

[72chevy4x4]

I was hunting down a gremlin-the rear turn signals would not work. After getting them working (not sure if by dumb luck or otherwise), the windows, seats, sunroof, interior light (as controlled by door switches) and locks (pnuematic) will not work. To make it even more confusing, when I open the passenger front door, the pass seat controls work and I can reach over to control the drivers seat. If I get in the driver side, none of the seats work, but I can close the drivers door, reach over and open the passengers and get the seats to work.

At one point I unplugged the multi-control unit behind the Bosch EFI computer (not sure of proper name). I've checked and rechecked all fuses, they're good.

One final note-upon putting everthing back together, I opened the sunroof and it worked fine-but then stuck in the open posn, then nothing worked after that.

any ideas what the problem is? My first guess is the CAN network is busy transmitting a request an everything is stuck, but I don't know much about this system. The car is a 96 e300d.