I was more than susprised to find the rubber edge of the cowl cover to be falling apart into tiny little pieces the other day.
I'm wondering if this part that touches the bottom edge of the windshield is supposed to be contributing to a waterproof seal or if it is strictly a cosmetic 'filler'.
I'm also hoping that it can be fixed without having to replace the entire cowl cover piece.

Has anyone else had this issue?
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These rubber strips are attached to the plastic grilles, which are about $35 each and easy to replace.

 

Outstanding. At least they are not part of a $500 piece that is a dealer only item!
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This just happened to mine today - well, I first noticed it today. The seal broke off into hundreds of pieces when I was detailing my car. Whatever the component is made of, it was disentigrating without much effort between my fingers.
I attached a photo, for future inquiries. The missing seal is within the red area. The grubby area is the adhesive underneath the windshield itself.
If you look to the right and left of the circled area, you'll see the cracks every 1/2" or so on average.
This particular photo was taken on the driver's side, corner toward the driver's door - you can see the end of the wiper blade at the top right, BUT the damage was to the full length of each of the two seals.
I'm heading to the local glass shop for my repair. I'm like you lkchris, I was praying it wasn't going to be one of those "oh you have to replace the windshield too - they only come as a package".

 

This happened to mine too. 2001 e430. Part was about $40 or so I think at dealer. I put in on myself, easy.

 

Parts.com, find your model, type in cowl screen. You need the right and left. Costs about $25 total.

 

Very easy indeed. Picked up the r/l parts this morning and just completed the install - took about 15 minutes since it a first experience.

 

There is a another (cheaper ) part there under cowl screen called "screen seal". Anyone know what that is?

 

Hi there,

Excuse me I am taking this old thread back but I am trying to clean bit my old W210 and I found that the windshield trim is falling apart, I guess due to the sunlight and age.

Is there any tutorial available? Do we need to remove the wiper arm?

Thank you.

 

It's been at least 10 years since I replaced these but I recall it being super simple and I'm 99% sure there was no need to remove the wiper arm at all. Just a handful of screws and then you slide it sideways because there are some tabs that slide into slots. Once you have the new parts in hand it's pretty obvious how it comes off.

 

I have been observing it this morning, and yes, I think you are totally right, both will come out each way. I will try to find the genuine replacement on ebay or somewhere else.
Thank you very much for your quick reply.
I will keep active in this forum, it is good to know that there is still a w210 active community.

 

Seven years ago I purchased both left and right cowls screens for $41 total including shipping from mercedespartscenter.com. They still look new.

 

Reviving this thread to say thanks for the good info. Just purchased a ‘99 and the rubber is all gone. this thread was super useful.

These are the part numbers for w210

210-831-09-58

210-831-10-58

and here’s a link:
https://mbparts.mbusa.com/oem-parts/...dA148lCurp_--J