I'm wondering if you might be able to give me some advice on a problem I'm having with my 1982 300CD ("Nadezhda," 148,000 mi). I did something pretty dumb, but I don't know enough to know exactly how dumb it was.

In an attempt to properly seat the aluminum trim pieces around the rear window of my coupe, I ended up removing them (pictured below). This was an impulsive decision that came at the end of a quarantine-inspired maintenance frenzy. Now I’m having trouble figuring out how to get them back on. It seems like I need a special tool to wedge the lip of the trim into the rubber, or that the entire window needs to be removed.

My main question: Is this a terrible unforced error that will require the labor of a professional to correct, or is there a way I can correctly reposition the aluminum pieces myself?

My secondary question: Can I drive around with the aluminum trim off, or will the window fall out (might be tempted to turn the hole into a B-17-style tail gunner position)? Pre-mistake, I assumed that these pieces were cosmetic, but on second thought, that doesn’t really jibe with MB’s 1970s design/engineering ethos.

Summary of problem I was trying to fix: At the junction between the two top aluminum pieces, the pieces were riding up out of the seal (pictured below). It looked wrong, and I was concerned that the seal was not seated properly. Then I took a look at photos of other coupes and noticed that none of them had the rubber curled up over the inside edge of the aluminum pieces, as mine did. So I assumed that someone had removed the glass at some point before I owned the car, and replaced the trim incorrectly.

This is my first post (cry for help, really) here, but I’ve been learning from this forum since I bought this car close to two years ago, knowing absolutely nothing about maintaining cars. The vibrant community of people who understand the non-monetary value of these cars and care about maintaining them for daily use is part of what convinced me that it was not a terrible idea to buy a car that is significantly older than I am. So thank you for that — would have made many more mistakes without you — and for any insight on this problem.

Beau

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