94 E320 Sunroof won't retract
 

My friend just got a decent E320 at auction, of course it needs work but we'll see what can be fixed and what can't.

The sunroof is doing something funny though, it pops up and closes fine. However when you try to open, it appears one corner of the sunroof is sunken and no motion (or sound). When you move the switch toward close, it seems to secure itself closed.

What could this be?

a bad cable perhaps?

similar situation
 

Kind of on the same topic...

I also have a 94 e320, and last night I tried to open the sunroof and it went super slow. I stopped about halfway in fear that i'd have to manually shut it. It did close normally except at the very end when the rear has to pop up to create a seal, it went super slow again. i just washed and waxed the car last weekend, and didn't have a problem before that. coincidence??

thanks,
matt

Alon, I've searched the posts on broken cables and they point me toward the motor in the trunk. But this car has something wrong with the sunroof panel sinking in one corner, I think that's what's stopping the retracting. Nothing I read discussed what that might be short of taking out the liner and disassembling :(

I'm a retired DIY, and only pick and choose my chores these days... I was hoping someone had seen this problem and could give me a feel for the job at hand.


Matt, you might get away with some white grease lubrication!


Thx, Ed

ML Dude,

The cable connects to the mechanical parts that cause all the motion. The sunroof that pops up and retracts is much more complex than the ones that only retract. Your problem lies in this mechanism, and possibly the cable connection to the mechanism.

I have never had to work on the ones that pop up and retract, so I am not able to offer first hand perspective, but others have and their cases should show up on a search for threads on sunroof failures. In my case the cable connection to the mechanism partially broke, and allowed some extra degrees of freedom in the cable motion. This caused the cable to be unable to drag the connector back into the cable guide tube slot (misalignment) and the roof would neither drop down nor retract. Cost was under a dollar for the genuine MB part to fix it.

To gain any perspective on what is happening and what should be happening you have to take the liner off the sliding panel of the sunroof, and look. If the roof will not open at all, you are going to have to remove the front edge of the liner by prying with a spatula like tool, or a knife. It is held in place by some spring clips that snap into holes in the sheet metal structure of the moving roof panel front edge. Once it is loose you have to carefully bow it to pull the sides clear of the shelf on either side that supports the liner along each side of the sliding roof panel. Once it is out, you can see the connection.

Putting the liner back on is done best after you have the roof open part way, and then loaded in though the roof opening from the top. Much easier, and, if you can get the roof to open before you take the liner out, it goes out through the openning and out the top much easier (no bowing required). Hope this helps, Jim

perhaps an adjustment can help...

...if not, replaceing the 'points' and adjusting is time consuming and expensive...I've picked up that this r/r is recc to be done by a prof tech

I had the sunroof points replaced on my E320 Coupe about 3 years ago due to the same conditions described, factory techs at the time indicated that this was an extensive repair

hope this helps- search 'sunroof'

-fad