Lube Coupe Rear Regulators in Minutes + Crimp-to-Panel Fitment Fix - W123 300CD 280CE

[1983 300CD]

aka The Coupe Lube Wormhole

Right rear window motor tanked in this 300CD. Pulled the rear seat base, rear seat back, bulkhead, trim, welded in brace/support etc. Nothing new. I referred to lots of other threads to get through it. Replaced the motor, lubed everything, and fit the interior panel back into place.

And then....hmmm, the "edges" of that textured piece of MB-TEX in the middle of the panel look like actual edges. It's all integrated with the rest of the upholstery right? It's all one piece isn't it? HOLY SCHNITZEL! IT'S A SEPARATE PIECE! I couldn't pry it off fast enough.

What you get is the business end of some very sharp staples sticking out and an arguably "free" look at the regulator behind it. This specific area of the body has an oval shaped metal access panel, secured by 4 screws for servicing the regulator so I pulled everything back off, removed the access panel, and put everything back on to see what's what. The lower screw of the metal access panel is below the wormhole opening. Looking at everything now the metal panel 'might' pivot far enough to either side if you could only remove the 3 visible screws. There's a very good chance your metal panel isn't even there or has the 4th screw missing. Mine only had 2 screws holding it on. I left the lower screw out of mine so that in the future I can remove the 3 upper screws and slide the whole metal panel up and out of the way.

An access panel over an access panel sure beats the alternative if all you need to do is lubricate, do an initial inspection for parts/troubleshooting, inspect the body/drain in that area, etc. You can go out to your coupe right now and within minutes put your hands on your regulators. Are your windows moving slow? Trying lubing them. Won't take long. Put on nitrile gloves and grease everything by feel or by spray. It's a cramped area either way and removing your whole interior in the rear doesn't get you much more access for what you have to go through. When I had everything off I still used lights, mirrors, and my phone camera on a timer to see what's going on. When I do this to my driver's side I'll wash everything off in there with electrical contact spray cleaner(very effective yet mild) and paper towels then re-lube.

Secondary observation. Along the area where the staples are I simulated the pressure of screwing the panel to the body and it pushed the panel firmly into the crimped metal trim along the window. This area has always been a problem because once the two pieces are separated they won't go back together quite the same. I really think that screwing the panel to the body here restores lost stiffness to the panel and brings it all back together.

A rubber mallet pressed the wormhole cover back onto the staples until I can devise a real solution to make it a working service panel. I foresee using some uber-strong neodymium magnets to pull the panel onto the new screw heads. Won't take much. The lower part of this wormhole cover piece is already secured at the bottom when you tuck it behind the "wrist rest" piece.

This procedure should apply to all W123 230C 230CE 280C 280CE 300CD 300CDT C123. The panels only appear to differ in available colors, not construction, but still check yours. The distinct separate edge should be obvious after close inspection.