Is there an economical solution to fixing the "later" style W124 headliner? Mine went from a subtle sag to full-on rather suddenly, and I need to know if there's a feasible fix before I just rip the damn thing out.

The OE part is priced crazily at the moment, by the way (like $1800!).

Can any auto upholstery shop fix this for not too much money? I don't care about using OE fabric if it's affordable.

Yes, it's doable by upholstery shops. The key is the type of material used and if they put foam behind it, which they do on W210 and later models. Here is a thread for getting it out, which should save you money vs the shop doing that part: W124 Headliner Replacement Photos

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Prost!

you can remove the board then go to wal mart and buy material.I'm going to buy vinyl instead,and use no foam but just a good glue.A quick fix is to remove material and glue,then paint with a enamel paint.I've done that and it looks good.

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1999 w140, quit voting to old, and to old to fight, a god damned veteran

Pics? I assume you removed the board, too? So it's just bare metal before you painted? Is it primed, or painted body color? Sorry, trying to visualize.

No the old K car I had I did not remove the board.Took some old sheets and scraped it clean after removing foam and material.Then painted with brush,using painters tape.

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1999 w140, quit voting to old, and to old to fight, a god damned veteran

Wow, thanks for the super helpful post! I guess I should've read your thread first before asking any other questions.

Unfortunately, the vendor listed in your thread doesn't have any more of the MBZ headliner boards in stock, but it looks like they do have the OE foam & vinyl for a fairly reasonable price. R&R of the headliner looks simple enough, if a bit tedious, but I'm a little concerned about getting the new vinyl onto the old board. How difficult is this for a novice? It seems like it could be quite a fussy process, with the adhesive and trying to stretch it out just right. Is it easy to screw up and end up with a bunch or wrinkles? Or is it pretty forgiving for a newbie?

easy.I would not use foam again if keeping car for long.It rots.

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1999 w140, quit voting to old, and to old to fight, a god damned veteran

Just ordered a few yards of what is supposedly the OE vinyl and foam from Germany from Headliner Express. Anyone have any recommendations on a spray-on adhesive? I'm looking at 3M Super Trim or Permatex, but am open to other suggestions as well. Thanks!

They can be found used, FWIW. Go to a place like West Michigan where it seldom gets hot and the sun shines around 10days/year and they're in perfect shape, even better if garaged.

I have a spare light-gray one, would happily donate it to anyone wanting to come over and pick up (no ship!). I'll even include a complete sunroof assembly from a late (IIRC '93) W124 to save them from the trash heap this weekend.

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Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

I had a upholstery shop close by do a wonderful job for a little less than $400 on my CE320. Luckily since it was a coupe, by rolling all of the windows down, the board came out easily. Looking at all of the things that have to be undone, no way would I do this myself.
Anziani
'97 CL600 56K

It looks sort of fussy and tedious, but not hard. I mean, it's mostly turning screws and removing interior trim pieces. I had thought about getting a quote from an upholstery shop, but I have a lot of little jobs to do on this car, so saving a couple hundred bucks to do this one myself (and as many others as I can going forward) is worth it to me. I'm going to take the opportunity to recover the B-pillars at the same time, and probably service the sunroof while I'm in there.

Another thing to consider is that I live on a fairly remote island in Puget Sound...not the most remote of the islands, but certainly not as "well-connected" as the mainland. A lot of goods and services are limited, and I worry about getting gouged with an "island tax" by a guy who has no competition and maybe isn't all that good anyway. This is all hypothetical, of course, as I'll never know how good they are without trying them out, and I didn't even get a quote, so it might have been $400, or $900, or $250 for that matter.

But by doing it myself, I'll be all in for <$300 using brand new OE materials, and I won't have strangers tearing apart the interior of my car.

Good point. I lived in Mountlake Terrace for about 6 years. Had a Bristol Channel Cutter moored in Anacortes and we cruised the islands for years. Finally had enough of the weather and sailed the boat offshore to Ventura experiencing my first 60 mile gale with 40' following seas. Heady days!
Anziani
'97 CL600 56K

Thank you for your immensely helpful DIY on R&Ring the headliner. Piece of cake, thanks to your instructions. I did break a B-pillar clip, but that's my own fault - I should've Googled the FSM procedure (start at the bottom - doh!).

The only painful, dreary, and tedious portion was scraping and recovering the old headliner. I wish the OE boards were still available for a reasonable price. It seems people used to get them for $200-$400, which I would've paid in a heartbeat - the cheapest I could find these days is $1500! Oh well.

B-B
I know your car is a 124 but I thought you may be able to get tips or even inspiration from
this 210 headliner DIY

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-- raymond~
47º 34'N 122º 18'W