I have a 2000 CLK 430 Cabriolet.
When I took the car out of the garage this spring, I naturally wanted to put the top down....
But When I Twisted the handle, the handel just got loose and fell off.

there were no loose pins, or screws connecting it, I don't even realy know how it stayed in their in the first place.

The next day I took the plastic cover off of the inside part of the top to reveal 2 black bars.

Since than I've been connecting the top handle to the black bars, twisting it to disconnect the top as usual, take the handel back off, than putting the top down, but recently it has not been working correctly, either it stops going down halfway, or it doesnt want to at all, I don't know if these 2 things are connected or its a seperate problem.

So I guess I will be forced to have to fix the top for real now.
My mercedes mechanic doesn't know anything about the tops, only the mechanical and electrical aspects of the car, and every top guy I go to has no idea what to do, so I might have to take it to a mercedes dealership and get ripped off.

So my question is: Does anyone have any Idea what needs to be done, how much it will approximately cost, will I have to order a new top handel or motor, or even the 2 bars?

Any advice or comments would be appreciated, or if anyone has had a similar problem please give me some information, thanks!

BTW this is my first post, I'm a newb!.