What model and year? On my '87 w124 300E the hood star is removed by using a pair of needle nose pliers to pull out the lateral pin at the bottom of the hood assembly. Installation of the new star is via rotating the spring loaded assembly. A search on "removing hood star" will give a number of discussions on this topic, including
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?threadid=6469 . Have fun!
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John
2003 Firemist Red/grey leather SL 500
2015 Palladium Silver/black mbtex GLK 350
1987 Smoke Silver/burgundy mbtex 300E Sportline (SOLD)
Click to see 87 300E