Cool! Thanks so much for the helpful hints. Thinking about it now, of course it makes sense that the switch should be the prime suspect. Also I can certainly say that the switch I have is the original (now 24 year old) switch. I guess it has to die sometime.

What's the easiest way to get the switch physically out? That is to say - should I be pulling up the wood console that the switch is mounted to? Or can I just use a tiny jeweler's screwdriver the pop the switch out all by itself? That seems like the easiest route.

I'll see what I can dig up on actually repairing the switch. That doesn't scare me too much, since I've managed to repair more than my share of tiny microswitches in my time. I'll probably do it this weekend and will be photographing the process and taking notes too.

Any (other) tips I should be aware of in advance?

Also - yes, it is true that neither switch (console or door) will actuate the rear window down at all.

Finally - the window safety button in the driver's window switch. What is the correct functioning of this button? The behaviour I have observed seems to suggest that this switch will either disable all windows aside from the driver's window, or not. Windows that are down are allowed to go up when it is engaged, but are not allowed to go down. This seems right to me, but I am not totally sure.

__________________
1984 300D Turbo, 326000 Km, Thistle Green Metallic