I've read several posts on removing the door panel of my 95 S420. The advice is to take a butter knife or feeler gauge to lift the wood trim that runs along the door panel. So far I've managed to put two @#$%& chips in the wood and some @#$%& scratches in the leather. Can someone please be more specific about what I want to accomplish with the butter knife? Is there something that has to be released? Do I pry the wood in a certain direction? I just don't get it.

Also, I only see one screw in the recess of the grab handle. There's isn't a concealed compartment as perhaps the 92-94 cars have. Are there other screws to remove?

Thanks,
Sixto
95 S420
91 300SE
87 300SDL
83 300SD

First off, why do you want to remove the door panel?

There are 2 swiveling latches at the rear edge of the oval wood trim piece. They are about 1/4 to 1/3 of the way from the top and bottom edges of the trim piece. They will swivel up or down. Carefully place the thin bladed tool between the trim piece and the leather and slide the tool upward or downward and when you feel the small latch you just swivel it in behind the trim piece. After both latches are swiveled in you will still have to pry the panel out GENTLY as it is a tight fit. You will see that there is a fixed spring latch on the front edge. To replace this part you just swivel the rear latches back in their rear facing position, hook them under the door panel and snap the trim piece in at the front. It's rather ingenious.

Central locking works on all doors except the driver's door. There is little resistance when I turn the key as compared to the passenger side and the 126s. Could be a bad vaccum line upstream of the door, but I'll try the door first.

Oval wood trim piece? So you're saying I'm far from where I should be when futz with the strip that extends to the B-pillar? I should be working on the stubby piece by the grab handle? This is oh so confusing to me and embarassing considering I've replaced cylinder heads and transmissions. A picture would be worth a thousand words in this case, but thanks for the detail.

Sixto
95 S420
91 300SE
87 300SDL
83 300SD

Sixto,
here is some info. for you. I will be sending some pics. too.
Crank window
open.
Cover (1) on mirror triangle inside
press off and remove upward (see item 1, removal, installation)
Filler piece below cover (1)
remove.
Entry light (2)
unclip at bottom, disconnect electrical connections and lay light to side.
Wooden cover (3)
unhook at rear and remove. Use special tool 140 589 16 63 00.
Screw in area of door handle
screw out (2 each).
Cover for door pocket
open.
Screw in door pocket
unscrew (2 each).
Screw on lock cover plate (4)
unscrew and remove lock cover plate downward.
Door liner (5) on interior door panel
press off with plastic wedge 110 589 03 59 00 at bottom, front and rear (10 clips); position plastic wedge directly at each clip.
Door liner (5)
starting at front pull upward out of channel while simultaneously pulling door liner (5) away from interior door panel at bottom.
Linkage on interior door actuating mechanism
(1st version)
unhook.
Bowden cable hook on interior door actuating mechanism (2nd version)
unhook.
Bowden cable bracket on housing of interior door actuating mechanism (2nd version)
unclip.
Electrical connections on door liner (5)
disconnect and guide wires through.
Door liner (5)
lay to side.
Before installing the door liner
check vapor seal on interior door panel, replace vapor seal if damaged.
Reinstall
in opposite order.

4 Unhook wooden cover at rear using special tool 140 589 16 63 00 by inserting blade of special tool between wooden cover and upholstery on door panelling, then pull special tool all the way up (arrows). At the same time the two rotating bars are turned back (refer to item 6, arrows).

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Sixto,
This pic. goes before the fist one I sent. Sorry.

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5 Tip wooden cover toward inside at top and bottom using special tool

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These are for a '97 S420 but they should be the same.
11 Press door liner off of interior door panel at bottom, front and rear using plastic wedge 110 589 03 59 00 (10 clips); insert plastic wedge directly at clip.
12 Beginning at front top, remove door liner from channel whilst simultaneously pulling door liner away from interior door panel at bottom.

These are the clip positions in the panel.

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Sixto,

I hope that helps. Tell us how it goes.

Good Luck!

HPF,

Excellent! Where did you get this info? Is there a manual I don't know about or did I lose my patience with alldata too soon?

Thanks,
Sixto
95 S420
91 300SE
87 300SDL
83 300SD

Sixto,

Here is some info. on the actuator in the door. It might be bad or like you said the line might be cracked or off. This says drivers door but the picture looks like the pasengers side. Alldata might have gotten the pictures mixed up.

Driver's Door Actuator

Pneumatic line (6)
Lever off.

Sliding sleeve (16)
Push back.

Shift rod (14)
Press out.

Bolt (12)
Unscrew and remove.

Actuator
Unhook

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Sixto,

Alldata hookup for the photos and info. Just look up door panel under the search in Alldata. How is it going with the removal? Sorry for the late response. I had to leave the computer to do some work for my J O B. It does tend to get in the way.

My J O B is the reason I haven't followed the instructions you provided. I have an alldata subscription. It's hard to imagine there's something less intuitive to use than MB CD manuals.

Sixto
95 S420
91 300SE
87 300SDL
83 300SD

Got the door panel off. Whew. Flipping up the tabs was easy once I knew that's what I had to do. At first I didn't see the bolt that points 45-degrees up by the grab handle. That stumped me for a while. Then I didn't know if the window strip comes off with the door or stays in place. The front part came off easily but the back part was stubborn. I noticed that the back part is pinned by the window frame trim so lifted the door panel and left the window stip in place. I couldn't get a good grip on the door release bowden cable to I punched it out with a screwdriver. Didn't break it.

It took forever and then some to peel back the vapor barrier. That's some sticky glue.

It turns out that the rod from the actuator that clevises into the rod from the door lock button is broken. Severed cleanly about an inch below the clevis. The darn thing runs inside a shield so access is tight. I think the way to replace it is to remove the electrical connector from the actuator (what are those for, alarm?), release the actuator and pull it down, replace the rod, then feed the rod up the shield as the actuator goes back in place. If that's not it, someone please tell me how to do it.

The EPC says that the rod is $1.20 retail part. Quite different from the power seat adjustment gear that's only available as part of a $1700 assembly.

I tested the actuator and it works.

I would have taken pictures but there's not much to see in pictures. As it is 75% of the work is blind and the rest is a strugle to get an eye and a flashlight into the same square inch of visual access.

Thanks again to mr. Goodwrench and HPF for seeing me through this.

Sixto
95 S420
91 300SE
87 300SDL
83 300SD

I got a new rod from the dealer for under $2. The fact that they had it in stock surprised the parts guy. I'd have taken pictures but it's 95% a blind job. Stick your hand into the bowels of the door and hope there's nothing in there that will bite you. Fortunately it's not an American car so there are no sharp edges.

It's actually a rewarding task when I think about what the dealer would have charged to replace the rod. $2 part and what, $200 labor?

Thanks again to mr. Goodwrench and HPF.

Sixto
95 S420 ... with working driver door central lock
91 300SE
87 300SDL
83 300SD