[R129 SL] Noisy Top Release

[Peter Shelton]

Hi Victor,

 

My hard top is somewhere in the top of the shed, strung up with a couple of straps - makes a great storage facility for all sorts of stuff!

 

I drive with the soft top roof down (all tucked away neat and tidy in the cavity).  I leave the car mostly (at home) in my locked shed with the roof still tucked away, and just have a sheet cover to keep the dust off the car. I put the soft top up at night in case it rains when I am away on business.  My 129 is not my 'main' work car - Main car is a 1983 W123 - 280E motor.  

 

When I was looking to purchase my 'Fire Red R129 (with 17 inch Brabus wheels), one roof ram failed (locking rams) in the top of the frame above the windscreen.  They replaced both units in the end as I ended up with oil all over two pairs of jeans.  (The other ram failed on the second test drive!.)  Initially seems a bit stupid to just sit there, but as I was buying the car, I just let the hydraulic oil pour all over me, and be sopped up by the thick denim.  Reason was I was quite keen to purchase and I did not want hydraulic oil on the nice cream leather as the oil can ruin the leather.   

 

Our winter is setting in over here so I will be driving in the rain a lot more - with the soft top still in the cavity!.  

 

For information, we had the Australian / NZ Mercedes Benz Rally in our City over Easter weekend.  Great success, a number of nice cars to view, fine dining and tried some very nice red wines.  It would be good for us 129'rs to have a web site so we can post pictures of our cars and events!.  Just a thought.

 

Have a great day and greeting from New Zealand.  Hope I have answered your question Victor.

 

Kind Regards, Peter S. 

 

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Victor R. Lopez 
  To: Peter Shelton ; SL Mailing List 
  Sent: Tuesday, May 15, 2007 5:16 PM
  Subject: Re: [R129 SL] Noisy Top Release


  Peter
  let me make sure I got this right, you drive with the top up (not clamped down) 

  Peter Shelton <xtr204210 at xtra.co.nz> wrote:
    Hi Rudy, 

    I have just had all the rams replaced and the roof is relatively noisy when being opened!  There are two small rams in the cavity above the windscreen (above the visors).  When the roof opens, the main rams are tensioning the roof to 'pop up'.  When the little rams let go, there is a bit of noise.  I usually have the roof down most of the time, and only put it up a night time when I lock up for the night and I am travelling around NZ.  I still drive in rain on the 'open roads' (free ways) as the rain goes over the top (unless you slow below about 65 kph).  

    Cold is no problem, wrap up well, put the heaters on and you hardly notice the  outside temperature being in the negative!  Back to the question, yes it is a bit noisy when the windscreen rams let go!

    Jan is this the same for you?

    Regards, Peter S, New Zealand. 


      ----- Original Message ----- 
      From: Flodur2 at aol.com 
      To: r129list at mbcoupes.com 
      Sent: Tuesday, May 15, 2007 3:39 PM
      Subject: [R129 SL] Noisy Top Release


      Hello,

      What are owner's observations when the hardtop is being removed; is it really noisy? The first time I did the automatic top release on my recently acquired SL500, I thought I had broken something as the latches unlocked the top. There were loud thumps. Everything seemed to work fine and the top unlocked properly and rose up uniformly but the "pops" were unnerving. Is this normal? Is some lubrication required? What are owner's experiences? The manual is quiet on this aspect.

      Thanks, Rudy
      2002 SL500    





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