Hi everyone, I have been using this forum to diagnose many of my problems with my 88 300E. I am not a mechanic by any means, but I can tackle many minor problems on my own, and at least when I go to the mechanic I have lots of info from learning from this site. OK heres the problem now. My blower quit blowing so I took it to the shop, it turned out to be the blower regulator and they also said my climate control relay needed to be replaced $800.00 later I picked up my car and they said by the way your center vents are not working. Well before the blower stopped blowing they worked fine. I said what will it cost to fix and I was told around $900.00, not now I said. So I kept reading info on this site and deceided to try a quick fix myself since the temp here in AZ is about 104 now. I pulled the glove box and noticed that the defrost pink pod thing is seperated so I know thats one problem. I then pulled the center vents out and couldn't figure out what in the heck I was suppose to try and prop open the flap with. I just wanted air out of those center vents, so I twisted the flap and probably damaged it for good but I did manage to keep it open in a twisted position. Of course now I have air comming out of all areas. So what sort of damage do you think I did? What black rubber piece was I suppose to find and prop open? Any help out there?

Hi , I just finished this project on my 300e 87.

1. You removed the glove box.
2. Fix the pink bob ( good)
3. Used an allen wrench to undu the Flap control on the center vent?
4. Got the darn thing our of the way ? There are 4 clips and you will need 2 small flat screwdrivers to lift them and tug at the same time to remove each side.
5. Inside the duct is the flapper control that the allen screw went in.
6. further back on the bottom is another flap. Don't open that one or place anything to keep that one open.

7. That skinny little flap at the back is the one you want to prop open.

That will get you air. $ 900.00 OMG

If you have patience and a cooler place to work the center damper was 34.95 at the MB dealer . That was the easy part

I just got my 87 so I was up for it for over a few nights and using some pieces of wood to prop the dash cover up for my hands to fit. I removed the whole dash pad and replaced the damper. It was a major undertaking yet very simple to acheive to be honest. We were in a heat way of around 98 with heavy humidity so it took me a bit longer and I did it few hours at the time.

LEt me know if you need more help