E200 Headlining Is Drooping - Any Quick Fixes?
 

For the past few days, the headlining of my 1997 E200 W210 is suddenly drooping down across the full width of the front of the car, above the driver and passenger seats. It seems to be sagging by nearly 2 inches and is continually dragging in my hair as I am driving. If I push it up and smooth it along the underside of the car roof, it stays put for a few minutes, but gradually droops down again. Other than not sticking where it should, the material looks in good condition and is not marked or damaged.

Does anyone know of any quick fixes to stick this headlining back up, or is it likely to mean an expensive shop repair job? Any help would be appreciated. By the way, I am in Singapore, in case that makes a difference.

3M headliner adhessive
 

There are products like the one I mentioned above. I tried it once on a Lincoln with the same problem. Unfortunately, it was a VERY temp. fix, as the real problem was that the foam it was attached to had deteriorated to the point that it, and not the adhessive was the weak spot. I had to replace the entire headliner.

Good luck with yours. I haven't tried it on a Benz, so don't know if it is constructed in the same way.

Well if the material is mounted on foam I think it will be bad news. Foam seems to just rot away in the Singapore humidity and crumbles into small particles. Looks like I'll have to try the MB dealer.

Thanks for the reply.

Hi there! Same issue.

93 300E. Headliner has been sagging for years...more pertinent issues to fix, so I've lived with it.

Tried the 3M spray adhesive...worked for about a minute. The deteriorated foam won't allow proper adhesion. Only a replacement will do.

Texas summers probably accelerated the breakdown of the foam...

Also did not work...
 

Hi,
I have a 95 e320 sedan and the headliner in my car is a hard surface in the front and fabric on the sides and back; the fabric droops. I contacted a headliner person online who answered peoples' questions, and asked if I could use some sort of brad in a couple of places as mine was not drooping all that bad (I have replaced about 3 headliners on other cars and was trying to avoid it). He said that thumbtacks would actually work really well. I actually PAINTED some thumbtacks to match and tried this; they did not even stay in for a second. So, cross that off your list if you were contemplating it. I am still wondering whether you could drill a hole in the hard surface (behind the foam), and place a couple of plastic brads through the fabric and that hole. This could look very jerry rigged but in cases where the liner does not droop too bad I wonder if it might still work. I can only speculate...

Hypodermic needle w/CA [ Crazy Glue ]

You a MD Arthur?

(Sorry, couldn't resist)

Jl

Used to be , but I had to give it up for better pay...became a Plumber !!

...and plumbers don't have to wait 90 days for the plumbing HMOs to pay them 85% of their billable revenue for services, or carry malpractice insurance with $50K/yr premiums!

Headliner replacement
 

I had the same issue; however, I went all around town getting quotes to have the headliner repair or replace. I even decided to do my own repair. After fighting with the glue, material, and watching the heat make it fall again I called it quits and went to the $tealer$hip. It turn out to be cheaper for me to purchase an entire brand new headliner board from the $tealer$ then to allow independent upholstery shop to do the job. I bought the $tealer$ MB headliner and install it myself. I am please to keep the factory look.:cool:

My car is a 94 e420 and the headliner material was not a common piece. Most of the shop admitted that they would not be able to match exactly with MB headliner material.

I had the same problem with a Jaguar. For a temporary repair I've used flexible flat strips of copper/brass weather stripping material. When stuck behind the window trim piece and bowed up before sticking behind the opposite window trim piece the flexible strip stays up and keeps the headliner from drooping. Using two or three strategically positioned keeps the whole thing from rippling in the wind.

Do you remember how much the liner was? Mine is sagging as well, as is another member's 400E, that lives just down the road.

Thanks!

I ended up spending about $185.00 to have an independent car upholsterer do my Lincoln. They used a factory kit and did an excellent job.

Thanks for all the replies guys. I'll try the MB dealer and see what they say.