Removing centre armrest lid - R230 SL

[W1Z]

The lock on my centre arm rest is broken and I managed to get a new lid from ebay, however, I cannot for the life of me see how to remove/replace the armrest lid!

If anyone has a technical guide or could offer some advice I'd be very grateful.

 

[television]

I can send you the info via email

 

[W1Z]

Thanks again for your kind help Malcolm - I've emailed you so you can reply to it easily.

 

[television]

I will send it this morning,,,if you end up with the whole box out of the car, do take care with the front pneumatic lock, if the vacuum unit comes off the box the locking pin will slip sideways and it will not lock any more. its better to take the pipe off the vacuum unit, dont ask me how I know this :lol:

 

[W1Z]

Oh dear, sounds like I'm in for a bumpy ride again

Thanks again for the help.

 

[television]

I am sending the details now,,Its not too bad

 

[W1Z]

Success! . Thanks for the guides, it would have been much (much) harder without them. It was one of those jobs that took be about 4 hours in total, but I could probably do again in not much more than 1.

I did take the whole armrest unit out in the end, it was easier than trying to remove the lid in place. Of course, despite your warning, I did manage to remove the lock pump as well by accident (whilst removing the pipe) but that was pretty easy to replace with the whole thing out. Actually, getting the armrest out was not so bad (as you said) - but removing the lid was a WHOLE different matter. I spent ages trying to fathom out how to do it. It had a very long metal hinge which seemed impossible to get free of the armrest frame. in the end I worked out that you have to remove a plastic strut that braces the hinge apart, then there is enough play in it to bend it slightly so that it clears other obsticals. It's hard to explain, but if anyone else needs to replace their armrest lid, post here and I'll try to do a better job of describing it.

It look me only half an hour to put everything back - no left over screws (bonus!) and as a real extra bonus, my boot lid close assist is also working again! I won't hold my breath as I've been there before, but I tried it about ten times and it's worked everytime since (which it wouldn't do before). Dunno why it seems to work now but I certainly am not complaining!

Anyway, thanks again for your help Malcolm, I hope I get to replay the favour some time.

 

[amg2505]

same problem

Hi, I have the same problem, the latch has broken so need to remove/replace the lid so any help advice on how to do this would be gratefully recieved

 

[drmw]

Mine broke a year or so back - the hook part was intact but the bit it's fitted to fractured.

I could get everything back in place, so I glues it with some JB Weld (better than Araldite) & it worked perfectly.

There's a post here somewhere with a pic but I can't find it at the moment.

If the hook is broken, then it's more difficult to repair but given the (inevitable) fact you can't buy any individual bits and a new lid costs a fortune, it might be worth looking at making a replacement out of some heavy plastic

 

[Blobcat]

Mine broke a year or so back - the hook part was intact but the bit it's fitted to fractured.

I could get everything back in place, so I glues it with some JB Weld (better than Araldite) & it worked perfectly.

There's a post here somewhere with a pic but I can't find it at the moment.

If the hook is broken, then it's more difficult to repair but given the (inevitable) fact you can't buy any individual bits and a new lid costs a fortune, it might be worth looking at making a replacement out of some heavy plastic

Here's the picture

 

[Blobcat]

And here's the other

 

[schoerny]

Hi Malcolm,

I have to admit that I joined this forum especially for this thread and hoping to get the instructions on removing the centre armrest and the armrest lid from you as well

I'm already browsing the american and german forums on the following problem on my 2007 SL 550:

There's a rattling noise coming from somewhere near the middle console, probably under/behind those compartments that can be opened, whenever the road is not 100% even. It doesn't need a big bump or pothole for it to be heard. It sounds a bit as if two little plastic pieces would touch/hit each other. Sound and frequency of the noise make it seem very unlikely that the noise is coming from outside of the car.

The Mercedes dealer would charge me $230 only for searching for the problem, not even fixing it. So I thought I could try to fix it myself.

I started to remove the rear 'armrest' behind the lid and the noise gets louder but I didn't find any parts in reach below there that seem to cause it. Am now planning to remove more and more pieces in this area until I find this problem.

Thanks a lot for your help!

Schoerny

 

[whitenemesis]

Any useful info here?

http://bayhas.com/mercedes/r230/contents/index.htm

 

[television]

Hi Malcolm,

I have to admit that I joined this forum especially for this thread and hoping to get the instructions on removing the centre armrest and the armrest lid from you as well

I'm already browsing the american and german forums on the following problem on my 2007 SL 550:

There's a rattling noise coming from somewhere near the middle console, probably under/behind those compartments that can be opened, whenever the road is not 100% even. It doesn't need a big bump or pothole for it to be heard. It sounds a bit as if two little plastic pieces would touch/hit each other. Sound and frequency of the noise make it seem very unlikely that the noise is coming from outside of the car.

The Mercedes dealer would charge me $230 only for searching for the problem, not even fixing it. So I thought I could try to fix it myself.

I started to remove the rear 'armrest' behind the lid and the noise gets louder but I didn't find any parts in reach below there that seem to cause it. Am now planning to remove more and more pieces in this area until I find this problem.

Thanks a lot for your help!

Schoerny

Have you removed enough to see the ecu's that sit below the armrest and all the lid damping. the next stage is to remove the cover at the gear shift, do you want to do that

 

[schoerny]

Found it!

Hi,

sorry, didn't see that there were any replies on my message, expected that you get an email by default when somebody replies to a post...

However, after gathering enough information from this and other excellent forums, I removed the center armrest and the whole rear interior panelling. I also removed and checked every component I could find there, but didn't find the cause. The noise got louder after removing the panels and it still sounded like two plastic pieces somewhere in the interior.

Then I remembered this post I read earlier:
http://www.benzworld.org/forums/r230...ight-rear.html

My noise was slightly different so I didn't really consider that, but after not having found anything in the interior, I tried to verify it.

And indeed, I found that the noise disappeared completely whenever I drove with a slightly applied parking brake pedal.

Went to Mercedes and they fixed it for $260 (basic diagnosis charge + tax), saying that a parking brake cable slide got some loose near the heat shield.

Noise is still there sometimes but only when driving across bigger bumps and potholes.

Am planning to post some pictures on my interior disassembly project soon.

Schoerny

 

[schoerny]

Pictures from interior disassembly

Hi,

here's the other thread with the pics I mentioned:
http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/showthread.php?p=956695

Schoerny