Using sunroof without wind deflector (w123)
 

I am doing some long needed maintenance on the manual sunroof in my 81 300TD. I removed the sunroof and I'm cleaning everything, replacing all the seals, dealing with some surface rust, etc...

When I removed the air dam one of the plastic brackets broke and I'm in the process of finding either a complete new air dam or replacement brackets and springs. In the meantime I have everything else sorted out and ready to put back together.

My question is whether the sunroof will seal properly without the air dam? Can I put everything back together without the air dam and expect that the sunroof is sealed? Or does the air dam add some sort of sealing integrity to the whole sunroof?

I've done a few of these and as far as I can tell the air deflector doesn't have anything to do with how the sunroof seats itself when closed. As for sealing properly - the seals don't actually seal the sunroof they seal out most of the water and wind but the drains do lots of the work towards keeping your car dry. In fact I have parked outside without the front seal (I hadn't replaced it yet) and after overnight rain the car was still dry inside.

Try closing it without the deflector and if it seats in the right place (specifically height) then I would imagine you are good to go without it

The wind deflector has no effect on the roof closing. If you drive the car without the deflector, however, there will be a lot of wind noise, nothing more. The plastic brackets are cheap, even from the dealer. The front seal must be genuine MB. This is the only seal that will install properly - not expensive. Rear seal and side brushes can be after-market.

Yeah, I bought all MB parts in this case. I've had too much trouble recently with other non-mb parts.

Do you know the part number of the brackets, or what they are officially called? I was trying to find them online using the part# printed on one of my broken brackets. The print is super small but it looks like 123-784-07-21

Wind deflector mounts R A1247840221
Wind deflector mounts L A1247840121
Wind deflector mounts center A1237840521
Wind deflector Springs L A1247820535
Wind deflector Springs R A1247820635
Sunroof Front Adjustment screw A1107820071

Most but not all are still available new. They are the same for any 123 or 126 at least to 85. mboeparts was the cheapest I could find. Online order is less expensive than calling the stealership.

Thanks for the part numbers. Looks like i was misreading a 2 as a 7 in the # printed on the orginal part.

Dumb question, but for the front seal does this picture show the top or bottom of the seal? My original was so deteriorated I didn't really have anything left as a point of reference.

https://www.mbclassics.de/media/imag...15-116-123.jpg

That photo appears to be of the rear seal.

My earlier post was referring to driving with the sunroof open - I forgot to mention that. What happens is while driving, sunroof open and without the wind deflector, oncoming air goes into the sunroof cavity (space between the headliner and the roof) and creates noise and low frequency vibration.

Yes, rear seal. I forgot what I glued it with.

I was just testing you all, of course that is the rear seal. Well done peachparts forum, you passed the test.

New test question: which side is up on the felt strips that install length wise on either side of the sunroof.

I sources some OEM felt strips and they have a flat side without very much felt. The other side has a thickness to it and most of the fuzzy felt is on that side.

I think the thicker, fuzzier side is supposed to be up, meaning facing towards the sky, but I'm not totally sure since my originals were so deteriorated I couldn't tell.

I have some plastic feet that a member printed and the thick side goes down.

Where did you source the OE felt? Are they new? They are NLA per mercedes dealers and online ordering systems.

Some Guy named Ken was publishing a story about...
 

...sourcing those side sweep type seals. Perhaps he has been successful.

It appears Ken sold them only as part of a kit which included a off brand rear seal. The website says the side sweeps are now late to restock. I'd imagine the price will be pretty high being the only place on the planet to buy them.

I was actually referring to the side brush seals, part# 1087820198. I was able to source them from an auto haus that apparently is in AZ.

My question is which side of these seals face upward (toward the sky), this thinner side:

https://th.bing.com/th/id/OIP.H9pEwF...=7&o=5&pid=1.7

or the side that is thicker and has more felt:

https://th.bing.com/th/id/OIP.lhsvNT...=7&o=5&pid=1.7


I sourced some of the smaller feet from a local Mercedes dealer. I had to order them (they weren't in stock), but the parts guys said there were still ~50 in the country. They weren't particularly cheap but not too pricy either assuming they last for another decade.

The originally correct feet are supposed to be NLA. What PN did you get and do they work well?

I've always put the fuzzy side up and so far so good.
Also ebay has options for these that are decent

Thanks for all the advice here. i got the sunroof back together and reinstalled. I haven't put the wind deflector back in yet, want to take care of some rust on it first.

Can anyone advise how to raise the rear height of the sunroof?

I noticed on the rear of the frame there is a little ramp on either side that the rollers travel up when you turn the sunroof handle to close. You can adjust the angle of these ramps which effects the closing height of the rear. However when i adjust these angles it also makes the mechanism handle more difficult to close which makes me nervous it might break.

So I'm wondering if there is another adjustment i am overlooking.

I have never adjusted the ramps. There are some wedges that turn and increase or decrease the final closed height of the sunroof. They are gray and you loosen the bolts holding the roof panel and pivot them to adjust. sometimes they are broken off or don't get put back in when somebody removes the sunroof. If they are missing use some plastic wedges (I've used tile install wedges) to jam in, thus increasing the final closed height. Take your time patience pays off with getting it the correct height.

The adjustment of the ramps should not have to be that much. When closed, the sunroof panel should be just 1mm higher than the car's roof (1mm lower in front) - measurement taken at the center across. If it still feels too tight, the closing rods can be adjusted laterally.

Thanks. I think I've got it adjusted correctly now. Still feels a little tight but I can lock it using one hand so I don't think I'm putting too much pressure on it.

As a last request I'm wondering if anyone has good advice on re-installing the wind deflector? I've read several threads and the wiki on sunroof/wind deflector servicing, but when I try to actually install mine it seems way too difficult and I'm worried about forcing something to the point of breaking.

I got new brackets because my old ones were cracked. One of the problems seems to be that the bracket gets caught on the lower most edge of the new front seal i installed and I can't figure out a good way to get it past the seal. Have others run into that problem?

To close out thread, I finally figured out how to get the air dam installed. Once you have everything lined up it goes in quite easily. As others have said, don't use force when doing this procedure.

My sunroof is now-reinstalled and working great :)