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Hello,
I have a 2012 CL550, the distronic star in the grill has become dull with road debris and age. I did buy an OEM replacement, but I cannot figure out how to remove the old one. Can anyone help?
Thanks!
I just replaced the star on my 07 CL550 for the same reason. Assuming your facelift car uses the same star, it’s held in place primarily by three clips. Looking at the front of car, the top and bottom right clips are very rigid, and the bottom left clip is narrower and less rigid (but still pretty rigid). Once you get the the bottom left clip released, you can pull back on the star from from the bottom left, which would cause the top and bottom right rigid clips to disengage, then the whole star would come out.
If you remove the whole grille, it’s relatively easy to release the bottom left star clip from behind. However, it’s a bit trickier without removing the grille. You could try to pry back on the chromed trim around the star at the bottom left point of the star, though it will take some force if the star hasn’t been removed previously. To make it easier, you may be able to jam in something in the gap between the star and grille on the bottom left corner/point of the star to release the clip.
I circled the spot where you need to release the first clip in the attached photo.
Thank you Wizee, I will give that a try. I tried removing the grill by taking out the four 10mm bolts on top, but there seem to be clips on the grill bottom that are hard to release. I will try removing per your instructions. Thanks Again!
I just replaced the star on my 07 CL550 for the same reason. Assuming your facelift car uses the same star, it’s held in place primarily by three clips. Looking at the front of car, the top and bottom right clips are very rigid, and the bottom left clip is narrower and less rigid (but still pretty rigid). Once you get the the bottom left clip released, you can pull back on the star from from the bottom left, which would cause the top and bottom right rigid clips to disengage, then the whole star would come out.
If you remove the whole grille, it’s relatively easy to release the bottom left star clip from behind. However, it’s a bit trickier without removing the grille. You could try to pry back on the chromed trim around the star at the bottom left point of the star, though it will take some force if the star hasn’t been removed previously. To make it easier, you may be able to jam in something in the gap between the star and grille on the bottom left corner/point of the star to release the clip.
I circled the spot where you need to release the first clip in the attached photo.
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