[baerbob]

Trying to figure out how to replace or repair the sun visors. Seems impossible to replace at a reasonable price. Is there a generic replacement. I don't need the lights and not necessarily the mirror, but is there a way to remove the current ones which are broken (missing doors and lights) and slide replacements on ?

I tried to remove the current ones from the rods, wont seem to come off. They slide far, but not off.

 

[AroundTheBenz]

Trying to figure out how to replace or repair the sun visors. Seems impossible to replace at a reasonable price. Is there a generic replacement. I don't need the lights and not necessarily the mirror, but is there a way to remove the current ones which are broken (missing doors and lights) and slide replacements on ?

I tried to remove the current ones from the rods, wont seem to come off. They slide far, but not off.

This may be a solution for you.
http://www.benzworld.org/forums/5011539-post85.html

 

[jll13]

Yes, very useful post indeed.
It took me some time to find the correct angle, and pull very hard on the LHS mirror, but that is the way to remove them.
RHS came easily.

And, yes (again), mirrors are an issue on our SLs, and until now, I found no way to replace them at a fair price.

Jean-Louis

 

[MAVA]

Here is what I did, and I never finished the thread... :angel

http://www.benzworld.org/forums/r129-sl-class/2594626-chronic-diy-visor-fix.html

I guess I should finish it to help with all the brittle R129 visors out there :nerd

Martin

 

[smata67]

The 5 oclock trick did not work for me on either visor, it looks like they have to come off as an assembly. Of course, the passenger side flip mirror plastic broke in the process so now that one gets to have itself glued down.

 

[jll13]

Because it is not 5 o'clock sharp!
You may tune a little bit around 5 o'clock if your visor is very old.
My LHS was very, very, very hard to dismantle, so I decided first to disassembly the whole sun-visor and then to remove the visor from its axle, pulling very strong.
May be, when disassembled, a little bit of penetrating oil may help.

Jean-Louis

 

[smata67]

I don't think that is the problem. The visor turns smooth all the way around while yanking on it. If there was a slot to get it off at any location, there would at least be some kind of irregular feel, that is not the case here. I am about as certain as I can be that the visor is integral to the mounting rod. As much as I wish it was not the case. Getting real sick of having to deal with stupid minor repair after stupid minor repair on this damn car. Quite honestly, wish I had gotten a Japanese vehicle, I have better things to do with my limited time on earth than dealing with poor material selection and over engineering designed to fleece the customer.

 

[mahunt]

By all means, sell the car to someone else and get the Japanese car of your choice. Perhaps, this car is too much for you to service.

Your maintenance issues for this 20 year old car will only increase (I also have a 97) and become more complicated. One of the reasons I got my car over 10 years ago was BECAUSE it had sophisticated engineering and I wanted a challenge over my other cars. I daily drive my car and my wife has a penchant for breaking her visor, but I don't complain about it.

I don't mind maintaining the car (its a nice car) and I am open to whatever new upkeep aspect arises.

The visor does indeed slide off the rod.

 

[baerbob]

It comes off. SHow a little respect for the age of the car and have some patience. I still have the drivers side to get off. Not giving up

But does anyone know what u can replace them with ? Another model for that is readily available ?

 

[jll13]

I don't think that is the problem. The visor turns smooth all the way around while yanking on it. If there was a slot to get it off at any location, there would at least be some kind of irregular feel, that is not the case here. I am about as certain as I can be that the visor is integral to the mounting rod.

... may be, but I am almost sure your car has the system we describe, and for which we suggest you to try and try again. Mine was, I can tell you, very hard to dismantle. I almost put all my weight to get the mounting rod out from the visor. And turning it around dozens of times did not gave me any clue about any irregular shape around the 5 o'clock position.

Anyway, this is your car, may be we do not understand the problem you mention.
All I can say is what I experienced in real life on my own SL.

Jean-Louis

 

[isthenew]

Here is what I did, and I never finished the thread... :angel

http://www.benzworld.org/forums/r129-sl-class/2594626-chronic-diy-visor-fix.html

I guess I should finish it to help with all the brittle R129 visors out there :nerd

Martin

Please finish this. I'm about to go hunting in the local salvage yard for the parts. This is on my soon to do list.

I don't think that is the problem. The visor turns smooth all the way around while yanking on it. If there was a slot to get it off at any location, there would at least be some kind of irregular feel, that is not the case here. I am about as certain as I can be that the visor is integral to the mounting rod. As much as I wish it was not the case. Getting real sick of having to deal with stupid minor repair after stupid minor repair on this damn car. Quite honestly, wish I had gotten a Japanese vehicle, I have better things to do with my limited time on earth than dealing with poor material selection and over engineering designed to fleece the customer.

It will come off. I've removed 6 of them on various 96 and 97 cars. And yeah, compared to a japanese car, these things break left and right. I restored/modified to my liking a 20+yo miata my last year and a half of school, and it was waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay less complicated, time consuming, and frustrating. That said, I snapped a picture of my Benz today noting my poor park-job, and thought, "Damn. I own that."

 

[duh_vinci]

So what exactly goes bad on R129 sunvisors (other than the corner covers)...? Mirrors?

The reason I'm asking, my car is 95, semi-garaged, 87K miles, sunvisors are still near flawless. But then again, hardtop stays on 90% of the time...

Regards,
D

 

[MAVA]

So what exactly goes bad on R129 sunvisors (other than the corner covers)...? Mirrors?

The reason I'm asking, my car is 95, semi-garaged, 87K miles, sunvisors are still near flawless. But then again, hardtop stays on 90% of the time...

Regards,
D

Oh you young young R129 owner....


D.. it is dah Mirror Hinge points on the cover, and mirror side, and the long side cracks too. Ohh the plastic gets cinnamon brown baked(as in oven baked).

Then the R129 owner resorts to Velcro :eek as the main hinging :nerd o-smart to keep the cover on dah-thing, but just not romantic enough to be seen in public :crying

So, now you see..:wink

Martin

 

[duh_vinci]

Oh you young young R129 owner....


D.. it is dah Mirror Hinge points on the cover, and mirror side, and the long side cracks too. Ohh the plastic gets cinnamon brown baked(as in oven baked).

Then the R129 owner resorts to Velcro :eek as the main hinging :nerd o-smart to keep the cover on dah-thing, but just not romantic enough to be seen in public :crying

So, now you see..:wink

Martin

Visual certainly does the trick, thank you for that! So I guess its not the matter of "IF" but rather "WHEN" this would happen to mine? :devil

Regards,
D

 

[baerbob]

Well, two screws and the whole visor rods come out. It's much easier to pull off with a rag around the rod end and holding the visor. Came right off. So here is my suggestion, as a newbie:

1. while they are attached to the car, orient them as mentioned in this post http://www.benzworld.org/forums/5011539-post85.html

2. Now they should be at 5 to and 5 after, just like the post. Mark the orientation of the middle line on the visor (seam line between front and back) in relation to the rod. I taped the rod with yellow electrical tape right at 12 oclock.

3. Unfasten the rods from the car, put the visor in the 5 to (drivers side) or 5 after (passenger side) and pull apart. It takes a bit of force to get past the grove in the rod, but it works.

Good luck.

 

[lostkiwi]

Visual certainly does the trick, thank you for that! So I guess its not the matter of "IF" but rather "WHEN" this would happen to mine? :devil

Regards,
D

Mine broke when my other half decided to redo her makeup while the roof was down. When she finished she flicked the sunvisor up without closing the mirror flap (on her car the flap closes as it hits the roof but she forgot on mine there's no roof...)
Of course I not realising went to close the roof when we parked up. Mirror flap up, hydraulic powered roof coming down.... Crunch.
Luckily I was able to repair mine with araldite on the hinge and swap it to the drivers side (I don't wear makeup
:wink). Both mirrors still operate as they should but mine 'clicks' as it opens . No big deal.

 

[baerbob]

Really want to THANK YOU guys for your posts and pictures. Really saved me and helped greatly. So here is my contribution back for all of you struggling with this visor issue.

I bought a set of Black Mercedes C300 visors (right & left) for car years 2008 - 2013. $100

Pulled the rods right out, barely any effort. Slipped the old rods from the 1998 SL500 in, pushed hard, and Viola !!!!! Fits great, and it's functional. Stops just like it should when sliding back and forth on the rod. A little taller than the originals, but they are the same width. The car is in the shop for brakes, so I have not re-attached them yet.

I did notice that the rods that press into the Visor clip are just slightly smaller in diameter, not sure if this will be an issue or not yet, but surely one I can fix !

They look great, no lights, NOT NEEDED. Just a covered mirror, not leather, but some type of harder cloth ?

 

[Poundy]

Well, two screws and the whole visor rods come out. It's much easier to pull off with a rag around the rod end and holding the visor. Came right off. So here is my suggestion, as a newbie:

1. while they are attached to the car, orient them as mentioned in this post http://www.benzworld.org/forums/5011539-post85.html

2. Now they should be at 5 to and 5 after, just like the post. Mark the orientation of the middle line on the visor (seam line between front and back) in relation to the rod. I taped the rod with yellow electrical tape right at 12 oclock.

3. Unfasten the rods from the car, put the visor in the 5 to (drivers side) or 5 after (passenger side) and pull apart. It takes a bit of force to get past the grove in the rod, but it works.

Good luck.

We had a Mod who swore Black & Blue that his wouldn't come off, never did get it sorted. He eventually got BANNED! though so that solved the problem :devil

 

[baerbob]

Well, much to my disappointment, put the old rods on the new visors and they work great, only problem is they dont fit ! Had to cut the rods, remove 2 inches from the middle (can just cut the end due to the grooves which let the visor rotate), now trying to epoxy them back together (welding wont work due to plastic).

Keep you posted. If I can get the rod back together into one piece it should work.

 

[smata67]

Well, my visors must have been made custom so as to not slide off, because they just plain would not. Then I decided to just pop off the beveled metal washer holding the rod in place by bending two of the tabs and 15 seconds later, I've got the new visor clip on. This was easy as pie to do with a metal pick. For some reason, it sounded from other posts like it was a big production to get these visor clips on. Piece of cake.