judithana

I mean Safety Recall. I have lurked here looking only until this problem occurred. I can tell I am going to be in a fight of large proportions on the Mercedes Recall Campaign #2020040011 concerning the bonding of the sunroof and the roof frame.
I own a sweet 2003 C230 Kompressor with only 86,000 miles (bought in 2005 when it had 50,000 miles). I have maintained the car superbly, as I truly like this car.
About 5 months ago I had the headliner replaced. I rarely change the position my pano or sunshade. Two months after the headliner replacement I was going to have the car parked in the sun for a few days and decided to close the sunshade. I got NOTHING, no noise no movement NOTHING. I read how to reset the pano with my key and that did not work. I thought maybe something may not have been reinstalled correctly when they dropped and replaced the heeadliner, but I knew that if I went back to the headliner repair shop they would point out the time since I had it done and brush me off. Is it possible that it is not responding due to faulty installation?
Then last month I got the recall bulletin. My VIN # is one that is involved in the recall. So I called my dealer ship in Greenville SC. I related that I received the letter and I would like to make an appointment and that currently the pano was not working so I would like to have them address and repair that.
Well, I could hear their noses rise at my request and they told me that I have "a very old car" and they do not repair "old cars" unless they have serviced them. They did service my car for maybe the first 5 years but it is a long drive there so I now get my car serviced in my hometown. They did give me a name of a repair shop in Greenville and when I called them, and asked to make an appointment for pano not working he said "they did not make a pano on that year Mercedes C230". I lost confidence in him when he said that. It is stock on my Kompressor.
I was taking the time this week to detail my car and I found broken trim pieces shoved under my back rugs. Not to implicate anyone, but I think that they guys who did the headliner broke a piece off and hid it. I deep detail my car every 6 months or so and it was not there before.
Here is my dilemma. My dealership will not address the recall if the pano is not in working order. I have the pages of instructions to dealer on how to deal with the recall. First you have to have a VIN number that is included in the recal and SECOND they have to put the pano in tilt to check the production date (see photo). My pano is not working so I cannot check that. THEN they give a paragraph state the sunroof must function correctly before beginning (see photo of their instructions). So I have a dilemma...no working pano no recall work.
I have got the run around calling shops to make an appointment for repair of sunroof, so much running that I do not have to exercise for a year. I finally found a shop that is not afraid of "old cars" CD Ramey in Spartanburg and have a service appointment with him in 2 weeks.
I wish one of you could come with me! He may face finding parts of course but he deals with exotics and must have ways and means to find obscure parts. Can anyone here define what my broken piece is called and a source to get that part (see photos of my broken part) One photo shows it where it belongs and another shows it just laying on a board.
Any other information that I can give Mr. Ramey to help him?

My 2003 C230 Kompressor

This is where the production date is located.

First page of dealer instructions for dealing with recall.

Broken piece set where it belongs.

Broken piece set below where it belongs.

Broken piece laying on board.

Other side of broken piece laying on board.

C230 Sport Coup

Hello, very detailed information. With such few miles on your car and only driving it 20K or so miles, you shouldn't need much
maintenence at all! Replaced the headliner? OOoooooo.....I wouldn't trust some shade tree shop to do that , thats no familiar
with Mercedes. So regarding the headliner not moving, you could check to see of the motor(S) are
connected. They are located under the Overhead Control Panel
which is a fancy name for where the interior lights are located.
Here's instructions on how to lower it down
https://benzbits.com/w203/OverheadControlPanel.pdf
Once you get it out which is super easy, you can see the 2 motors, one for the sunroof and
once for the sunshade. Are they both connected? I forget which one is which.
If they are not connected, I would try moving them manually before re-connecting the motor(s)
to see if everything is ok,. Uso use an allen head socket to turn the motors by hand just a little at 1st to determine which one is the sunshade and
which is the sunroof. Does your sunroof still work? If not it may be disconnected. You won't want to open it
if it's jammed up like many people here including me. I was lucky to get it to close!
I don't know about the extra piece. There's also a tool that came with the car, that is an allen wrench in a z shape, but an allen socket is easier to use.
If you can get the sunshade open, you could probably then open the sunroof if it still works.

As far finding out after the fact that the work was don shodily,
always inspect the work done when you get your car back from any mechanic.
I bought my car new, and lived pretty far from the dealer. After driving there a number of times,
and finding the work incomplete or defective I made the service advisor check it
before going, and usually he called and told me don't come.

So pop that panel and see whats what.

My sunroof was replaced and I doubt Mercedes knows how to get a hold of me now.
I wonder if the recall applies to me?

I know why they are doing it. Some people had there sunroof glass just explode while
driving. Rare but it happened. Funny they waited so many years.

On a side note, I have the sunroof motor disconnected on mine and for a reason!!
The sunshade still works, but I cannot sync it, so
it opens and closes but if I open it all the way, it will not close again!
I have to pop that overhead panel, and move it by hard (with a wrench as I described)
just a tiny bit to get it out of the fully retracted position, and then it will open with the switch!
I have to be careful not open it all the way during normal use, or it will not open without doing what I just
described. It's not fun getting baked and not being able to close it. Have to stop the car and get the tools out.
Only takes a minutes but still a PIA.

Your situation seems to be the opposite.

judithana

Thank you for the reply. Unlike all of you I have to depend on the kindness and integrity of repair shops. While I can detail my car to the max. I do not have automotive skills.
I had some loose edges on my headliner and took it to a headliner shop. When I picked it up, I unfortunately did not check my sunroof movement. I was a bit wary of the man who brought it out to me, and it was apparent he was the one who did it. He acted like he had been around too much glue But all that is the past now.
The present is to get the pano working again and to be sure it does not leak. As you can tell by my mileage, I do not drive it alot, and it has not been in a rainstorm yet.
It goes to a shop soon to have them look at the installation, it would be nice if they just did not connect the motors correctly. I printed the link you gave me and will give to the shop. I could live without it working but without it working, the dealer will not perform the safety recall. And if I ever sold it i would have to inform the buyer it has a unfulfilled safety recall.
My concern is the shop finding parts for it.
Was the C230 coupe called by another name in Europe? C 180 Kompressor? Or CL203?
https://www.automobile-catalog.com/m...html#gsc.tab=0
Seeing that it was available in other than US market for longer perhaps someone knows a shop outside of the US that supplies parts.
Just where does everyone go for parts?

judithana

Here you go, plug in your VIN
https://www.nhtsa.gov/recalls
Then look at the production date. This picture gives the dates that are affected.
If yours was affected they also state in my recall letter that you will be reimbursed. The catch is the pano has to be working first.

C230 Sport Coup

Where are you located? What year and model again? Hint- update your profile so it shows up next to your username.

judithana

I drive a 2003 C230 Kompressor and am located in the Northwest area of SC near Greenville SC.
Have an service appointment at a shop (not dealership) in 2 weeks to have him assess the sunroof. Hope I found someone with integrity and skills.

judithana

Back from the restoration shop. And pano is now working perfectly.
I had just had my headiner replaced 2 months or so before I ever even noticed the pano was not working. Well the repair shop dropped the console and found several connectors in the wrong place and trash was in there. Incompetent headliner shop was the problem.
Now off to a dealership to see if my car falls into the safety recall.

slammer111

I'll save you a trip. Your car is MY2003. If your sunroof is stock then it isn't affected by the recall. The recall only affects a bad batch of glue for sunroofs made in 2006. So only MY2006-2007 is affected.

As someone else mentioned before, you wnat to put the YEAR of your car in your profile as well, not just the model.

judithana

Thank you, a trip to the dealer is an ordeal. So, the reason MB sent my a letter of recall was just in case I no longer had my stock pano then.
Year put in my profile. The mechanic loved the car.