foam on steering wheel loose?
 

Here's an odd one from 9 oclock to about 1 oclock the foam padding on the steering wheel on My 86 Euro 500 SE is loose. It feels as if it is disconected from the metal frame. the car shows no previous body damage so maybe the fellow I got it from did a lot of white knuckle driving.

Anybody ever seen this before ? any suggestions on how to refasten it. I thought about injecting some sort of glue!.............

William Rogers.........

Yeah, I've seen this alot. You may be right about white-knuckled driving, or maybe just someones habit to grasp the wheel tightly or trying to twist their grip the wheel, some odd habit like that.
I've mostly noticed it on this vintage range it seems like too; early to mid eighties 126, and also early 201's and 124's.
No idea how to fix it; no one ever asked for it to be fixed. Glue idea may work, or maybe a small application of expanding foam (Great Stuff or the like)? Whatever you use MAY make it worse somehow, you're kinda on your own, unless someone here has actually fixed it. My message is mainly to verify that you have a problem that's been seen before.

Gilly

Cinderella has the same thing in about the same position. I've also notice the 1982 300D has one little spot where the foam is loose.

My idea would be to inject some glue with a hypodermic needle, puncturing from underneath or the back side of the steering wheel. But the trick is in selecting the glue, and finding a needle source. Well, I guess I can go to a park near a school in DC to find a needle.

What would you suggest for the type of glue?

Ken300D

What worked for me was a leather steering wheel cover, one of those that you lace on, not one of the slip-on kind. If you follow the instructions and lace it on reeeeaalll tight, it stiffens up so much that the looseness of the foam is no longer noticable. At the risk of mentioning a competitor, Performance Producs has these in their catalog. Pay attention to the size, I believe most older MB's will take the larger size.

Syringes and needles are generally available from Veternarians Supply and Horse Feedstores, but a good leather cover may be all you need. I've been using Wheelskins which I believe are the best - usually $30 to $35, comes in several colors. The dealer can help you find the right size - you need to know the diameter of the wheel, e.g. 16 or 17 inches, and the grip circumference, e.g. 3 inches. For example, a 17 inch old style thin wheel is a B, but 17 inch fatter wheel is a BX. Properly installed they can cover a multitude of sins and last a long time.