The cable cannot be pulled out from the motor end. It has spiral teeth that engage with a nylon gear in the motor and there is a clip at the roof end that needs to be pulled out.

You must open the sunroof about 1/3 of the way. Unclip and pull the sunroof headliner out of the opening. Remove the small c-clip from the roof end of the cable. DO NOT LOSE THIS CLIP. Very hard to find. The cable has to come out through the open sunroof. If you cannot run the motor, hand crank it from the motor end.

Pad the sunroof opening with a towel. It will get greasy (one reason to not eject the cable into the interior).

The cable will pull completely out when fully cranked out of the inner housing.

Despite those that denigrate him, our old Benz expert at Mercedes Source Dot Com has an excellent sunroof service kit and manual for sale. Worth the price if this is your first time on this job.

Yes, I too have a coupe and have done this several times.