W124 Sunroof Issue - Tilt okay - No Slide - Page 2 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

babymog · #16 06-30-2009, 10:28 PM

Removal of the sunroof headliner:

Open the sunroof ~4-6" .... 30seconds.

Pull carefully down along the front edge of the sunroof headliner to release the 4 clips ... 1minute

Open the sunroof fully .... 30seconds

Slide the liner panel forward, up and out of the opening ... 30seconds.

About 2.5minutes if you read this first, an hour if you're a M-B tech and attracted to the service writer.

hd wood · #17 06-30-2009, 11:20 PM

Babymog: How do you open the sunroof (slide it backward) if only the pop-up works? Mine kind of jams if you push the slide switch but doesn't go anywhere. Do you have to go thru the trunk and crank it? stormwindalpacas@comcast.net dave

Anyone else can feel free to chime in too. lol

babymog · #18 07-01-2009, 09:47 PM

Yes you can crank it from the trunk.

In a cable failure, you can also get to the cable front/end by tilting up the small interior tip-up panel and reaching carefully in to un-bolt the front of the cable, then reach in to the transport bridge and push it rearward to drop & open the roof panel (8mm hex?). Be careful to not cut the edge of the headliner fabric doing so.

The problem might be a binding mechanism causing the clutch in the motor assembly to slip (which is what it's supposed to do), could be a simple clutch adjustment.

gsxr · #19 07-02-2009, 01:34 PM

If your sunroof mechanism is broken or jammed, you can't use normal procedures to disassemble the sunroof. I was fortunate that when mine broke, I could push the rear of the sunroof upward a couple inches to get access. Full details of the whole saga are in this thread:

http://***************/forum/showthread.php?t=656

nehuge · #20 03-05-2020, 11:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeremy5848

I managed Friday to get the service manager to admit that he had at least 12 hours of shop labor into the job, not counting this latest stuff on the inner panel (the "headliner" part). I don't know what their shop time is these days but it's gotta be at least $125/hour and maybe $150/hour.

When the service manager agreed to give me the labor free (he owed me a favor) I don't think he thought it would be that big a job. The parts (last September) cost me (less MBCA 15% discount and plus 7.5% sales tax) $870 out the door. The headliner part will be another $500 from me plus another hour of labor (which I don't have to pay). Ballpark total $3000 if you have to pay California dealer rates for everything. I suspect a more experienced mechanic could have done the job faster but the parts would have been the same. Older threads here and elsewhere have estimated $1000-$2000 for a sunroof job.

Mine is probably a worst-case situation – my sunroof had a lot of broken parts that had to be replaced (took over a page just to list them). If I were to do the job myself or with an independent mechanic, I'd take a small 12 volt battery to the local Pick and Pull and test sunroofs until I found one that worked (they can't all be broken). I don't know what P&P charges for a complete sunroof but probably not more than $100.

If you can get a sunroof to open, it's fairly easy to pull apart. An experienced mechanic with the right alignment jigs could then put the pieces together in your car in just a few hours. Some parts could maybe be repaired--dealer isn't gonna do that but you could. That would save a lot of money. You could probably have the same job done for $1000 or less with junkyard parts and a semi-retired wrench willing to work for $50/hour.

As these cars get older and older, there are fewer people who remember how to work on them, and some parts get hard to find. I'll bet Mercedes raises the price on the few leftovers, too. List price for that inner panel with the headlining is $6XX and there really isn't that much to it.

Jeremy

Older thread, but do you know which pins I can put 12v to on the sunroof motor to make it go? I'd like to do this in a junkyard instead of cranking the emergency knob by hand....