Hi: Need help on a recently purchased '04 e320 Wagon. The rear folding backrest is stuck and will not fold down. This is on the driver side (passenger side works fine). The release lever on top of the seat feels like it's no longer connected to the latch mechanism and dispite multiple attemps to brute force the release, it will not budge. Is there any way to get into the locking mechanism and manually releasing the latch?

Looking at the parts diagram, it looks like the leather cover and lining can be removed to expose the latch. What's a good method to remove the seat cover?

Thanks,
Mike