260E Sunroof Problem
 

1989 260E


The left (driver) side lift angle in my sunroof is broken.

The roof would tilt up and down on the passenger side, and would go down and pull back a bit on that side as well, but the driver side stayed tilted up – UNTIL:

I fiddled with a vertical/diagonal pivoting metal part of the angle that broke away from the lower sliding part. I aligned it in a way that allowed the whole roof to tilt down and close. It will not, however, open/slide back, which I suspect is because of some broken part(s) arejamming it. I tried doing it manually from the trunk, but cracked the plastic(??!!) hex bolt and decided not to push my luck.

In additon, the sunroof headliner/interior panel is detached in the rear left corner and it does not rise up with the roof. A plastic “holder” for that corner of the panel is gone, but there is still one holding the passenger side of the panel. A plastic strap or band that is evidently part of the lifting mechanism halso as snapped.

I searched the forum before posting and see that I will have to *carefully* remove the liner/panel from the inside of the car to expose the sunroof mechanism. I also searched Fast Lane for the lift angle but can’t find it. Is there another place to look?

Overall, is this a too-complicated thing to fix? Should I just leave it closed and forget about it?


(As an aside, it seems my car is at the age and mileage where it is time to put it out to pasture. It is becoming difficult to justify further repairs when I can get, say, a low mileage 2001 E430 for $25,000. Within that context, pouring much more money into mine makes no sense.)