Remove plastic body cladding E320 - Benzworld.org - Mercedes-Benz Discussion Forum

Bob J · 09-20-2006, 09:16 PM

I need to respray the lower body cladding on my 1995 E320. It's probably easier to pop off the panels and spray them while they're off the car. Has anybody tried this? How easily do the panels pop off? Do you need to replace the pieces that hold them on? Any suggestions as to how to pop them off without damaging anything? Thanks.

mbenzman · 09-21-2006, 06:11 AM

Yes, I have.
The door mouldings have screws at rear inside edges, , pop loose at bottom and slide forward or rearward at the top to disengage. the front fender cladding and the rear fender cladding have snps top and bottom. The rocker panels then can be removed by pulling the seal for the bottom edge of the door cladding and removing the screws there and underneath the car.
Rich

nickCR · 09-21-2006, 04:21 PM

The piece below those door panels are side skirts. Is it stock or did you buy them aftermarket?

Are the clips on the bottom of the door necessary? I bought these new sides from eBay and I will try installing them soon after they arrive. However I am a little concerned now that they will not work right without changing the doors. Maybe just installing clips there is easy enough.

janos_z · 09-21-2006, 05:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nickCR

The piece below those door panels are side skirts. Is it stock or did you buy them aftermarket?

that's a 500E, so the trim, especially around the fenders, will be a little different from a 300E or a 400E.

battlecat714 · 09-21-2006, 09:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nickCR

The piece below those door panels are side skirts. Is it stock or did you buy them aftermarket?

Are the clips on the bottom of the door necessary? I bought these new sides from eBay and I will try installing them soon after they arrive. However I am a little concerned now that they will not work right without changing the doors. Maybe just installing clips there is easy enough.

if you're bothered by the door panels sticking out or just seeing it loose, then they're necessary.

mbenzman · 09-21-2006, 09:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nickCR

The piece below those door panels are side skirts. Is it stock or did you buy them aftermarket?.

Side Skirts are factory 500E parts and won't fit your 300E. Your sig. shows you have a 88 300E, Mercedes did not install cladding on the w124 until 1990, so your does not have any of these pieces.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nickCR

Are the clips on the bottom of the door necessary? I bought these new sides from eBay and I will try installing them soon after they arrive. However I am a little concerned now that they will not work right without changing the doors. Maybe just installing clips there is easy enough.

If you like them flapping and possibly being ripped off in the wind then don't install the proper clips.

nickCR · 09-22-2006, 01:27 AM

Sorry didn't mean to jack the thread, just I bought the mouldings all around for my 88 and i'm going to simply have to find a way to secure them because that just not gonna fly (flapping around), the way I drive between the pot holes and quick breaking (at times) it is definitely required to have them secured..