Front door removal & replacement

[illinilee]

I purchased my 92’ 500E in September of 2010. Busy with other projects I washed and detailed it, performed a not so through inspection, then stored it. This winter I removed all of the lower cladding for a more through inspection and found I have some minor surgery to perform.
The front fenders are rusty at the wheel lip and as I removed all the lower cladding and found more than surface rust on the front doors. I’ve purchased OEM replacements for all the parts and need some advice.
The front fenders were easy and have been removed. Should I have them painted prior to installation or installed then painted?
Door removal questions: I’ve studied the service manual and have found no satisfaction. The door has wiring harness without a convenient junction box for disconnection. I have not removed the carpet to trace the wiring yet. I don’t want to cut anything unless it’s unavoidable. I have already disassembled the purchased doors. The seller cut the wiring on the purchased doors leaving 5 feet as excess.
Can I disconnect everything in the door and pull the wiring and connectors from the door through the existing opening or will some cutting have to be done?

Thanks for any suggestions?

 

[gsxr]

Replacing doors is no fun. Don't cut any wires! They will all disconnect inside the door, and get pulled through the opening in the door jamb. It's a slow and tedious job to pull them all back into place, and get the wires (and vac tubes) routed correctly so they do not rub or bind anywhere, or interfere with the window mechanism. Even more fun is getting the door re-aligned, this is very much a trial and error procedure, making fine adjustments at the hinges until it all lines up correctly. The door latch may need some minor tweaking as well.