Anatomy of a w124 roof

[JC220]

I have alot of w124 spares – I won’t bore y’all with details but it is out of control. One such item I have is a spare roof – not sure why I have it... I guess it’s too good to throw out!


I took some pictures to upload on here just so anyone interested can get a proper look at the roof structure. No surprise is it is all heavy gauge steel and comprises many sections together to form the C Pillars etc. It’s also a unique look at how the window seals work both front & rear. Maybe someone will find it useful for planning restoration work or just plain old curiosity!


In the off chance anyone wants more pics / details just let me know

 

[TerryA]

Joe,

Thanks for the pics. Just curious but it looks like a good opportunity to get some useful knowledge on the sunroof mechanism. Do you have any pics of it mounted in place? I think I see the rear mount points.

Take Care

 

[JC220]

Joe,

Thanks for the pics. Just curious but it looks like a good opportunity to get some useful knowledge on the sunroof mechanism. Do you have any pics of it mounted in place? I think I see the rear mount points.

Take Care

Hi Terry,

Sure – here are some pictures of the Sunroof ‘Cassette’ from when I was removing it from this roof. Much easier than upside down in a car interior! You can see the M6 fixing bolts + all 4 drain tubes quite clearly.

I scavenged the lift arms for my 500E when I was refurbishing it's Sunroof recently. I can take more pictures of the business end of the spare removed cassette later tonight – it’s quite a simple setup really. The Sunroof lid + lift arms can all be serviced / removed without requiring to remove the whole roof lining. (Note- This is only If it is possible to wind the Sunroof lid back for access!!)

However, my 300E-24 Sunroof will not even roll back since it appears both lift rails have snapped off inside. So I may have to remove the whole roof lining to get it’s sunroof repaired.

 

[TerryA]

Thanks Joe,

A while back I broke a $7.00 part while closing my roof. It fell into my lap. The part appears to help with the scissor action when opening or closing the back and forth movement.
I have been hesitant to tear into it. It's kinda like a black hole to me. Maybe with a few pics I can get the confidence to do it. OR I will be paying somebody else pretty soon. I miss being able to open it. Thank God it doesn't leak.

Take Care

 

[JC220]

Terry do you have a Picture or PN of the bit that was broken in your sunroof? I might be able to identify how to replace it.

I may create a full detailed 500E board DIY on sunroof repair / overhaul if there was enough interest. I can use my 300E-24 as a guinea pig for pictures etc.

 

[TerryA]

Terry do you have a Picture or PN of the bit that was broken in your sunroof? I might be able to identify how to replace it.

Yes I have the part and the part number also but I'll have to find it. It may take a few days to dig it up but I will get it posted.

I think if you did a DIY How-To tutorial there would be a lot of interest. All I have seen is stuff about special MB tools to get it back in place and how complicated it was to get it adjusted. gsxr has messed around with the sunroofs a little if I remember correctly.

 

[JC220]

I will post more pics of the Sunroof ‘Cassette’ in a couple of days. When I tackle the sunroof in my 300E-24 in the coming weeks I will create a picture by picture DIY as there isn’t a proper DIY on w124 sunroof’s anywhere on the interweb.


They really are not the box of black magic everyone thinks they are! Me included until I took into one. Having taken 4 of them apart in the past few months (Nabbing spares from parts cars + refurbing my 500E one) I have a good handle on how they work & how to take them apart. I would like to create the DIY anyway before I forget myself

 

[J-Sauce]

I've got a question. My roof jammed due to broken lift arms when I first bought the car. I replaced them and the roof would work fine most of the time. However, intermittently, the cable would pop out of the guide tube through the slot on top. This was due to a slight bend in the tube, probably from too much stress when the lift arms were broken. Is it possible to replace this guide tube without removing the entire cassette and separate from the cassette itself? The one time I attempted to get one from a junkyard car years ago, I remember it looking impossible.

 

[nocfn]

Are you speaking of the entire steel tube from the C-Pillar to the center of the transom, or the felt lined 6" black tube that clips onto the slider?

 

[JC220]

I believe J sauce is talking about the small aluminium guide tube within the Sunroof cassette itself. This runs front to back orientation Central on the sunroof.

In order to remove the guide tube you do need to pull the whole cassette. You can see the guide tube 2x no 8mm fixing bolts in the pictures above. Due to the Size + Shape it could only be withdrawn with the cassette removed from the car. (And the sunroof cable itself pulled out prior to removing the cassette)

 

[Allgonquin]

I will jump in with the "yes, please do a detailed dissection and discussion of the sunroof of a W124" crowd. If you do a Honch-style writeup on this the entire world of 124 owners will thank you. With our cars all hitting 20+ years, and all the plastic bits inside getting crispy, (think of the sun on your roof, it must reach about eleventy-billion degrees inside the sunroof cassette) I really question whether I should use the sunroof at times. Yes, I know that it's a sunroof, and it's silly to have one and not use it, but the thought of breakages as described in this thread scares me....

 

[JC220]

I will jump in with the "yes, please do a detailed dissection and discussion of the sunroof of a W124" crowd. If you do a Honch-style writeup on this the entire world of 124 owners will thank you. With our cars all hitting 20+ years, and all the plastic bits inside getting crispy, (think of the sun on your roof, it must reach about eleventy-billion degrees inside the sunroof cassette) I really question whether I should use the sunroof at times. Yes, I know that it's a sunroof, and it's silly to have one and not use it, but the thought of breakages as described in this thread scares me....

Ok I will create a DIY – starting on it in a couple of weeks. The 300-24 needs a full overhaul anyway as it’s sunroof is not operational so it’s a perfect test bed. In the interim I will order more new Felt Pads again from MB and add small updates regarding the DIY on my Owner’s thread as I go. I will create a proper, fully detailed and easy to follow DIY - at least that’s the plan! It takes time to do that properly so give me a month or so before it will be uploaded onto the Site. The format will be how to refurbish a ‘regular’ Sunroof which will be possible to open. (I’ll reverse engineer the photos to suit) Or maybe do a sub 'hardcore' paragraph also detailing how to disassemble a banjaxed Sunroof in order to effect repair. I believe in the case of my 300E-24 I must remove the whole roof lining + cassette from inside the car since the lid will not roll back at all the motor can be heard moving the sliding rail but the lid stays put. Both lifting arms are sheared off inside.



Incidentally – the w124 Sunroof is a very good design. There are inbuilt gutters / drainage meaning that any water which might pass through the outer lid seal is taken care of without any damp inside the car. It is simple in its design for the most part and should not be feared!


In my experience what causes ALL of the Sunroof issues is lack of maintenance and the little Felt pads coming off inside the lift arm & blocking itself up. I do have my own solution for this – Superglue the new Felt pads in place. There are a couple in particular where I think this is a must. All will become clear in good time!


Photos later as promised

 

[TerryA]

Joe,

Thanks in advance. I'm sure that a lot of us will be very interested. I look forward to seeing the DIY.

Also it will probably take me a month to find my broken part anyway.

Take Care

 

[Leytrico]

Do u still have this part