W124 front armrest repair

[ShivaYash]

I finally found a suitable armrest on eBay to dismantle and harvest parts to get my car's front armrest holding in the upright position. This post was most helpful:

http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w12...362-swapping-arm-rest-installng-arm-rest.html

I had to sacrifice a nice black fabric unit which was a shame.

My car's armrest had simply lost the black control knob and two operating pins that control the upright locking mechanism, it was a simple job and took about 20 mins in total, including time to work out what needing doing. The retaining clips holding the 'new' pins in place slipped out nicely and its all back in situ.

However, in the process I did break the cover clip, the one that covers the two 13mm bolts on the side of the seat. I've put the broken pieces (two) back, as the each half has its own retaining spilt plug, but would prefer to source an unbroken one. Will check will MB to see if they are still available new, otherwise a case of eBay searching again.

Following this job I have several queries. When I inspected my car's armrest, there was a black rubber collar stuck in the mechanism. As the plastic internals is white, I could see it has rubbed, presumably the armrest had seen some force in the past. I can see where it [rubber collar] fits in the donor unit, as I stripped off all the fabric to understand how the lock works. My car's armrest works nicely but is missing this rubber collar, see the attached photograph of the donor unit, the rubber part I speak of is circled in red.

What is the purpose of this collar? Should I consider fitting it? I suspect its more hassle than its worth as nearly all the leather would have to come off.
Why didn't MB put a zip in place, allowing easy removal of the leather/ fabric? Has anyone considered getting a tailor to sew a zip in, allowing for easier removal in the future?

The donor unit has great padding, is this swappable, or is it stuck down?

Oh and finally, does the armrest have two heights in 'down' mode, or just the two options, UP (locked) and down (unlocked).

Many thanks,

 

[ShivaYash]

This wasn't a popular thread but for the sake of completeness, I found out what that little rubber collar's job was. It acts as a buffer when the armrest is released from the upright position, without it, the armrest, when released, falls without any sort of elegance.

Today, I dismantled my own armrest again, for about the second time and replaced the collar, a fiddly job but really rather satisfying.

I now have a bare armrest, from a late car (1995) available for parts. I've stripped off quite a few bits but the foam is in excellent condition. If you are interested, I'll hold onto it for a few weeks, otherwise bin it. I'm in North London and could post out to a member if required.

With best wishes
SY