w124 Cowl Trim - Did Parts Change?

[Brian77]

Hi,

Well, nothing seems easy. The monowiper in my '94 e420 was experiencing difficulties, so I sourced one from a 1990 w124. My mechanic installed it but appears to have accidentally discarded all of the rubber windshield trim that runs across the bottom of the windshield and prevents water and debris from getting into the cowl. I ordered what I thought was the correct trim for this car, but it appears that Mercedes may have changed the design somewhere along the way. I found a picture of another MY '94/'95 w124 (I have no clue or pictures how my car appeared before the repair in this regard), and it appears that the windshield trim was one piece that ran the full length of the car. The current parts picture seems to show that this part is now broken into 3 pieces. Is this right? Unfortunately, the center piece is listed for well over $100.00 at the dealer. I would prefer to source one from a parts car but this may not be possible if this is a newer change to the part. Of course, the new trim strips (pictured below) will not snap into place at all. Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Brian

[duxthe1]

There are two styles, an early and a late and they are completely different. The late style has the 1 piece lower trim seal that is captured by the wiper assy. It (press fits) into a rail along the length of the windshield as well as into the black plastic trim pieces that form the cowling.

You will be better off finding a correct style parts donor and swapping parts than trying to butcher the two styles together. You could then sell your old style wiper to recoup some loss.

[Gilly]

Right, the later cars had an interior (climate control) dust filter. The addition did make some of that cowl trim different.

Found this for you:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/59755145@N00/sets/72157601261235291/

[Brian77]

Thanks, everyone, for their input. I was aware that my car has the cabin filter and that the cowl design changed. It seems that sometimes Mercedes changes the design of a part long after a car has ended production and wondered if this was the case. Actually, the more that I study the parts diagram, the more I wonder whether the dealer ordered the correct parts in the first place. Perhaps to save space on the page, the parts diagram truncated the sketch of that part, and it actually is still the same one piece design. Wish that I had the part number for that one piece molding to confirm.

[Gilly]

You mean the rubber part that goes from one side to the other, including the "half-moon" shape under the wiper?
Before that of course it was several pieces of gray trim, and also the rubber seals you mentioned were also in 3 pieces IIRC.
From you r original post it seems like the parts were ordered for a pre-dust filter car.
Yours should look like the pics I posted a link to.

[Gilly]

Can you post a pic of what your car now looks like under the hood and pics of the trim part you ordered?

[Brian77]

Here are some photos of the cowl in its current terrible state. I also took pictures of the newly installed wiper and the old part. The parts ordered by the dealer are the 2 strips pictured in my first post. I think, too, that the dealer ordered the wrong parts.

It seems like the trim rings around the clamshell is also another difference (one plastic and one rubber), but comparing the two parts, it appears that both the rubber one on the replacement part and the plastic part on the old one can be changed out. The only other noticeable difference is that the later one has a clamshell top that snaps off without the need to take out the whole wiper and unscrew the clamshell screws from the bottom. So, it appears that maybe getting the correct one piece rubber molding (it appears there may be an additional rubber gasket (part #21 in the parts picture in my first post) that goes under the wiper) should hopefully work.

[Gilly]

Right, the 2 trim strips are for the pre dust filter car. Yous should look like the pics I sent you a link to, and yes you need to order that $100 rubber strip to do the job.
Have you thought of asking the so-called tech who did the work if you can have your parts back?
if you don't want that then try finding the part on eBay or a MB salvage yard, or cough up the $100 for a new one. I think you iwll be fine if you had that part.
The rubber part on the motor that is on there now I think is still used, it goes on top of the rubber strip, but not 100% sure.
Gilly

[Ferdman]

Brian, I would insist the mechanic either 1) find and reinstall the missing windshield trim piece or 2) purchase a new one from the local MB dealer and install it. Cannot believe any experienced tech would return your car with that trim piece missing. At a glance it's obvious something is missing.

[Brian77]

As an update, the dealer confirmed that the wrong parts were ordered and, in fact, there is only one trim strip that goes under windshield from MY '94 cars. New part on order.

Also, apparently, only cars up to MY '93 had the gasket listed as part #21. So, after all of this, it appears that I only need part #23 and, to get rid of the rubber gasket pictured under the replaced wiper and to clip in the plastic trim ring from the old part. Thanks everyone for their help. I had the tech replace the wiper transmission at the same time as the combination stalk, which I didn't want to fool with due to the airbag.

[Gilly]

I think it all had to come apart again to install the correct trim strip.