Disassemble center armrest?
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 427
Likes: 57
13 GL350, 14 SL550
Disassemble center armrest?
Has anyone ever disassembled their center armrest?
I have wrinkles in the leather of mine, just like all of you probably do. I suspect that MB used open cell foam inside as padding, and with time/heat it has broken down into dust, leaving the leather wrinkly.
On other cars I have been able to remove the leather, wipe away the dust, and replace with a layer (or double layer) of foam that is intended for underpadding for car headliners.
Only problem is... I can't figure out how to get the armrest cover apart. There are no visible screws on the bottom (there look to be plastic/rubber plugs but there's nothing behind them that comes apart). I tried prying the leather off the plastic but it's either glued very well, or secured. I'm afraid I'll break something if I mess with it further.
New ones are really expensive. Used ones are still quite expensive and most of them are wrinkled (or will wrinkle shortly).
If I can figure out how to get the leather off, I'd be happy to share my fix and all details of it with the forum.
Alternatively, has anyone replaced their old wrinkly one with a new one? If you still have the old part and want to ship it to me, I'd be happy to cut it apart and figure out "how it ticks inside" so we can figure out this mystery. I'd post pics here of course.. with what I found inside and where the fasteners are (if any).
Thanks!
I have wrinkles in the leather of mine, just like all of you probably do. I suspect that MB used open cell foam inside as padding, and with time/heat it has broken down into dust, leaving the leather wrinkly.
On other cars I have been able to remove the leather, wipe away the dust, and replace with a layer (or double layer) of foam that is intended for underpadding for car headliners.
Only problem is... I can't figure out how to get the armrest cover apart. There are no visible screws on the bottom (there look to be plastic/rubber plugs but there's nothing behind them that comes apart). I tried prying the leather off the plastic but it's either glued very well, or secured. I'm afraid I'll break something if I mess with it further.
New ones are really expensive. Used ones are still quite expensive and most of them are wrinkled (or will wrinkle shortly).
If I can figure out how to get the leather off, I'd be happy to share my fix and all details of it with the forum.
Alternatively, has anyone replaced their old wrinkly one with a new one? If you still have the old part and want to ship it to me, I'd be happy to cut it apart and figure out "how it ticks inside" so we can figure out this mystery. I'd post pics here of course.. with what I found inside and where the fasteners are (if any).
Thanks!
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 427
Likes: 57
13 GL350, 14 SL550
Tried it. No luck. Wrinkles very slightly better, but mostly looks just like it did before.
Nobody has replaced theirs and has the old one sitting around?
I'm sure if I can take one of these apart by destroying it, I'll be able to figure out how to properly diassemble one and replace the foam. I plan to use slightly thicker foam so it's compressed a bit when the leather gets wrapped around it. So it will be "even better" than the original.
Nobody has replaced theirs and has the old one sitting around?
I'm sure if I can take one of these apart by destroying it, I'll be able to figure out how to properly diassemble one and replace the foam. I plan to use slightly thicker foam so it's compressed a bit when the leather gets wrapped around it. So it will be "even better" than the original.
Out Of Control!!
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 15,901
Likes: 4,632
From: North Scottsdale, AZ
'71 Pinto
Check this thread http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w221...oose-wavy.html
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 427
Likes: 57
13 GL350, 14 SL550
Yup, I have seen that post too. Post #17 (saying it didn't work) was actually by me 
It reduced the wrinkles by a little bit but they're still awful.
For sure I need to pull the leather off and apply new foam. I have no problem doing this but don't want to destroy my leather trying to figure out how to take it apart.
It reduced the wrinkles by a little bit but they're still awful.
For sure I need to pull the leather off and apply new foam. I have no problem doing this but don't want to destroy my leather trying to figure out how to take it apart.
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Member
Joined: Jul 2019
Posts: 122
Likes: 41
2007 CL600
Once you've remove the arm rest with the two arms the only way to get the leather cover off is to pry at it. The assembly is glued together.
I took my (W216) armrest to a highly regarded trimmer and we had a talk about it. They have to pry it apart, redo the leather then glue it back together.
I took my (W216) armrest to a highly regarded trimmer and we had a talk about it. They have to pry it apart, redo the leather then glue it back together.
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Junior Member
Joined: Aug 2017
Posts: 64
Likes: 17
From: Round Rock, Texas, USA
2010 S550 Black on Black
Once you've remove the arm rest with the two arms the only way to get the leather cover off is to pry at it. The assembly is glued together.
I took my (W216) armrest to a highly regarded trimmer and we had a talk about it. They have to pry it apart, redo the leather then glue it back together.
I took my (W216) armrest to a highly regarded trimmer and we had a talk about it. They have to pry it apart, redo the leather then glue it back together.
This is absolutley correct. I also took my car to an upholstery guy who told me that they have to pry apart the internal bucket from the outer shell of the armrest, replace the leather, and re-glue. BTW, just so you know, the armrests in our Mercedes are NOT made of real leather.
Member
Joined: Jul 2019
Posts: 122
Likes: 41
2007 CL600
This is absolutley correct. I also took my car to an upholstery guy who told me that they have to pry apart the internal bucket from the outer shell of the armrest, replace the leather, and re-glue. BTW, just so you know, the armrests in our Mercedes are NOT made of real leather.
