I've had my 1990 R129 SL500 AMG 6 litre for a number of years now. It's a great car, but every fall it turns into the pickiest beast on wheels. This year, it took us a half hour of messing with the hard top to get it to grab on all 4 corners and suck into position. Either nothing happened, or just the backs pulled in or just the fronts. I don't think it's a doors open or windows down issue, it's just getting it in the "right" position. It's easy to see where I think the back posts are supposed to sit, but you can't see the front posts and you are trying to support this beast of a top while my lovely wife is doing her best to assist. Very frustrating. So much so that she declared that was the last time we'll be doing that and will be selling it in the spring. I can't say that I really blame her. So, anyone figured out how and where to place that roof so it works every time? Even if we do sell, I want to be able to demo the operation to the prospective buyer without it taking a half hour! Any ideas appreciated.
Vehicle: 1995 SL500, 2012 E550 2 Door Coupe, 2012 GLK350
Location: B.C. Canada
Posts: 1,368
normally i just put the rear pins into the holes and then the front hooks on the hardtop rest into the part above the windshield. when i push the button it normally works. pulling the rear down and the front sometimes needs a bit of a push down to grab. but normally it can just rest in the position, no need to hold it or fidget it in. sounds like maybe the car has been warped a little bit so it isn't 100% square anymore.
__________________ 1995 SL 500 Mercedes Benz 2012 E 550 2 Door Coupe Mercedes Benz 2012 GLK 350 Mercedes Benz
2002 CL 500 Mercedes Benz - (sold) 1984 Camaro 5.0L High Output Chevrolet - (sold) 1982 CD 300 Turbo Diesel Mercedes Benz - (sold)
My experience ( with a hoist, pads for the rear spikes and a no rush attitude ) has gotten better, but I still use some front side to side adjustment.
After Klaus rebuild the cylinders, and I reinstalled them I got a better vision for the task. I spent some time carefully positioning the latch assemblies, both front and back and with both soft and hard top. My hard top rear tynes had been bent, so that was the first and easiest adjustment. My guess is that someone stepped on or dropped something heavy on the protruded metal flange while it was stored.
Sorry to hear about the wife edict, but I have experienced several myself and even after 49 years still trying to understand the politics of marriage!
Thanks for the information and tips. I think I was doing it right, so I'd best investigate the possibility of bent rear pins. That won't be till spring now..))
Try to put something thick like a roll of paper tower in between so that the HT can rest on it while you move it around to 'align' the pins to the holes without scratching the paint.
Thanks for the information and tips. I think I was doing it right, so I'd best investigate the possibility of bent rear pins. That won't be till spring now..))
I got myself into a bit of a mess last time I fitted my hardtop because my helper and I allowed the front pins to touch down first, and before I knew it the roof was stuck at the front and still up at the back. It needed my manual release tool to get it free. So as the video says 'back first, then front'.
In the five years we owned our SL with maybe 2-3 installation/removal cycles per year we never had an issue - it seated first time, every time without any drama. It was surprisingly forgiving, which makes me wonder if something's not quite right for these cars where it's problematic, as in latches aren't in their correct positions, mechanisms aren't lubricated, batteries aren't charged, pins/tabs bent, hydraulic fluid low, etc.
I would lift one side of the hard top and my wife would lift the other, but before we started we would review the process. We typically did a dry run (or two) with an imaginary roof between us to make sure each of us knew what was going to happen and when.
Here was our process :
Lower the soft top and let the cycle complete
Put heavy blanket on trunk making sure that the rear sockets are clear.
Roll hard top cart up to rear bumper in proper orientation (inside of hard top towards car).
Count 1-2-3 then lift hard top straight up with tail down
Count 1-2-3 then rotate hard top 90 degrees into correct orientation
Count 1-2-3 then walk forward to position hard top over car
Count 1-2-3 then lower hard top straight down, making sure rear tabs go into sockets
Verify that front pins are also in sockets
Press/hold the button and let the system cycle
Inspect to make sure that everything was OK
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