I am going to be replacing the door check and not sure on how to remove the door panel to get at the door check. Can anyone adivse on this please?
Thanks!

I replaced a door check on my 450slc and it was no fun. I have large hands and the check is all the way to the front of the door and behind the electric window mechanism, so just getting to it, much less winkling it out, is hard. Enlist the help of someone with small hands.

All the bolts on mine came out forward, but just getting the body out was a pain.

Thanks so much for the advice Kip...I also have big hands, so planning for the worst. Do you have any clue how to remove the door panel to get at the check as that is what I am struggling with right now?
Thanks much.
Michael

Michael, you may want to redirect your inquiry to the Tech Help section of this site.

I don't know how your newer door panels come off, but most of these that I've worked on are held on by small snaps that clip into the back of the panel and then pop into the body of the door.

To get the panel off take out all the external screws that you can see. Some, like the two that hold the door closure strap, are hidden behind behind little flaps at each end of the strap. The actual door opening handle on my car has a black plastic cover that is inside the recess behind the handle. This cover pops out and reveals a large screw. On the rear edge of the door is a chrome surround at the door lock. There are two screws there. There may also be a large screw that holds the arm rest on the door. Look under the rest.

To remove the actual panel I use a flat pry bar like a 'Wunderbar'. Start at a bottom corner and push the bar in until you feel it stop. Twist the bar. This should pop the clip out of the door. Slide the bar along the bottom popping out each clip. There is probably about 5 or 6 clips. Work you way up the front and back sides. At the window my panel just slips under a cover and is not held in by screws.

In my experience, esp. with older cars, there is always a few of these clips that come out of the door panel and stay in the door. Door panels on old cars were made out of a type of Masonite which weakens with age. This is why you need to be careful to get the 'V' notch in the pry bar on either side of the clip like you were going to pry out a nail.

Panels on newer MBs are made of fiberglass and do not split as easily, but, the clips still come off the panels. The clip assembly can easily be glued back on.

Hope this helps.

Thanks again Kip and much appreciated.

I've got a '92 300SD and I have, for some time, wanted to take the inner door panel off of the driver's side as the locking mechanism works only with the key. I've taken them off before from 124's and 116's but the plastic cover referred to above
does not seem to come off as easily as in the others I've done and we all know about forcing things like this. The cover (in back of the opening lever) is much more rigid than on the other models I've done and am wondering if there is a special trick to getting it out.

My black plastic cover is flexible. It has a small tab in the front side, that part facing the front of the car, that fits into a slot in the chrome frame. I winkle a small screwdriver in between the plastic and the frame and push backward to free the tab.

I'm familliar with this is the 123 and 116 bodies, but my inserts are quite substantial and don't seem to want to flex like the ones you and I have done before. I know there has to be an easy way to get in there, finding it is the trick.