After getting the SL out from winter storage the long known problem of the turn signal switches being loose when flipping became too apparent to ignore. LOTS of research and quick fixes including the "drill a hole" method from below. For those that have no desire to do ANY form of interior damage regardless of how "you'll never see it" I thought I'd post a consolidated post on doing the repair properly. There are a few forums that have similar solutions that I've cherry picked from so hopefully this will help consolidate the repair. (I'm going to skim some items that are prerequisites to the repair that if you have questions on there's mountains of tutorials on, including Peachparts R129 articles)

1. Pull the airbag and steering wheel (obviously disconnect battery and let a little time for full system drain before working on ANYTHING SRS airbag related) 2 torques behind airbag, disconnect airbag plugs, clock spring, large torque for wheel, etc.) They say secure the clock ring by leaving the screws in place of zip tying them to avoid the spring coming loose. I didn't have this issue with it coming unwound but something to keep in mind. If it does unwind a little it's not the end of the world and just needs to be rotated back. (only rewind til slight tension is felt and you're good)

2. Remove driver knee bolster to allow access for removing wiring for all of the combination switches, cruise control, etc. As much as it might suck, it's not that bad and takes literally 15 minutes tops to pull the switches/wiring.

3. DON'T use instrument cluster removal tool...push up from behind the bolster to remove. Yes...it's a ***** to pop the clips loose but you won't trash your cluster and scratch up your dash if you're patient. The black bracket on the R129 (not sure if it's the same on the 140) that the wires glide through is unclipped from the top, one on the front and rear respective to the vehicle. You only need to pop the far drivers side portion loose. You'll know what I'm referring to when you get all the plugs through ok except for the combination wire which won't fit unless the bracket is loose)

4. Remove center silver screw behind the instrument cluster to pull the column boot. There's one center one you'll easily see and have access too with the cluster out. Once that's out the boot pulls out without hardly any resistance.



5. Once that's out the column is bare with the bracket and culprit screw appropriately exposed (large portion of the bracket on the right). Remove the offending screw and get a good amount of loctite on it to avoid ever having to do this fix again.



6. Now comes setting the bracket to the proper depth. You'll be able to freely move it up and down the column and you'll need the combination switch to set it to proper depth. The key being that when the the bracket for the combination switch is in place, when the turn signal is activated (pushed up or down), the small white pin is NOT within the grooves like you'd think but rather behind that groove and pressing against the black plastic bracket (see pictures).

Incorrect




Correct




If you screw this up you'll have 1 or 2 horrible things happen. The first is a SUPER loud squeeling from the wheel after reassembling when it turns as a result from the binding. The second being the white tab snapping from the increased torque and ruining the entire Combination assembly. (don't ask me how I know that) This is usually what happens when the problem is left for an extended period of time without proper repair and the bracket shifts enough for the combination switch to lose its position.

7. Once that's set appropriately, reassemble.

Now...I've heard people say, "an hour or so" and to this I say, I agree if I've already done the repair. If not, hours. Mainly due to the fact that getting the routing of wires, figuring their respective disconnects, etc. takes time unless you want to risk breaking things. All in all, it's NOT as daunting as one might seem and definitely worth an afternoon to tackle.

My two cents...if you have a nice low mileage SL that's your baby, do it right. If you have a high mileage SL that's not perfect and not worth the time/labor? Then do the drill technique because I do agree that you'll probably not care to notice it. Being a purist has its faults :-)

Hope this helped at least one person in this fix!

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1995 E420
1998 SL500 Sport
2009 E350 Sport
1995 S500 Coupe
1992 500 SEL