Hi MB World ….. I'm a newbie who just bought a SL350 (2008 R230) this week and I'm looking for some advice...…. I'm getting a rattle from the rear n/s roof mechanism when the roof is closed and when going over any moderately uneven surface. She's done 74k miles, so is this a common problem and is there a fix? …. any advice welcome.

 

Find a thread where forum users eliminated such rattle by adjusting rubber stoppers. The main thing is to find out where they are. Then, go easy, you don’t want to over stress the mechanism and hydraulics.

 

Welcome, I too had this issue and it was driving my crazy, PS where are you in Scotland, i'm in Glasgow

Solution in the end was to simply adjust the rubber stops, however this info was hard to find, so I added some photos and instructions to help, main points needed are as below:

• Open the roof half way, support the front with a piece of wood as it will self lower after 3 mins or so to avoid injury.
• Clean all rubbers around the roof and lubricate with silicon spray, this will allow the roof to pull close tighter.
• Look for the two rubber mount stops (look at link below), one of the rubber stops is hidden and you need to slide back a plastic trim to get to the 10mm adjustment nut.

https://mbworld.org/forums/sl-class-...rear-roof.html

All in it only takes minutes to do, but will devoid all those little rattles that you hate !

Good luck.

 

Thanks really appreciate the tips ……. that's the weekend job sorted out!

I'm in Biggar

 

Glad to help, I go past Biggar on the M74 each week when I commute my 6 hrs down to Stratford-upon-Avon. Bought the car for the journey it goes lovey !

 

Thanks for the tips ……. did the job at the weekend, took all of 15mins and job done. No more rattle

 

excellent, just keep a little 10mm spanner handy in the glove box.

 

As temps rise, will the adjustments become undesirably tight, causing mechanical stress and worse ‘gaps’ next winter? In other words - does the system require readjustment between seasons...
edit: I think I'll go the Royal Route and fit new stoppers, as their rubber has probably lost much of it's flexibility. In WIS I only found the stoppers that are fitted with trhe plastic sleeve, the other ones are probably identical (WIS section 79, sub section 020, window 2, item #140).
The part no is A201 988 0511 - lo and behold they're the same as the hood buffers. Two Euro's a piece.

 

(I suggest you read my post #12 below first)

I followed WIS and adjusted the stoppers as follows: loosen them all up (turn in) and close the roof completely. Screw out the higher buffers until they meet their counter surface. Open the roof unto where you can freely reach them, screw out 360 degrees and fasten counternut. With the roof closed you can't reach the lower stoppers, therefore thinly apply some grease on the rubber, clean their counter surface and close the roof completely. Repeat the roof cycle, screwing out the buffers until they leave a 'print' on their counter surface. With the lower stoppers I went in small increments, establishing a 'print' on each side, without one side possibly influencing the other by slightly tilting the rear window frame. Seems it did the job but a longer ride will tell.

 

Perhaps having second thoughts on this, although what I described above sort of worked for me. Perhaps I missed something in the the WIS document I was referring to. I never minded the Y-stops, mentioned in there. Like everyone else in this thread, it seems. I never noticed them, nor do I get what Y-stops are in the first place. Can anyone shine a light?

 

The Y stops are jam rubber stops, my understanding is that keep the movement at the hinge mechanism nice and tight, if there is play then the roof can move and creak. I leave the little plastic cover slightly down on my car to expose the lock-nut, I also keep a 10mm spanner in the glove box. I find with the change in weather when it gets colder I sometimes need to adjust a turn, but no more than once a year.

 

Okay I learn from my mistakes. In the WIS doc I posted above, the Y-stops are 4 rectangular rubber buffers that can be adjusted sideways. The Z-stops are the 4 well known round rubber buffers, that can be screwed in and out to add stiffness to the end of the closing cycle of the roof.

Sofar in this thread we have sought to silent roof rattle by applying more tension on the round buffers. It generally does the trick but I wasn’t satisfied (we live on a bumpy dirt road, so there’s a tough test track close at hand): still some rattle.

Getting caught in a ‘falling’ roof is no joke, so be very cautious. Open the roof half way. C pillars vertical is okay and establishes something of an unreliable equilibrium when the car lets go. Spot two metal rubbing spots, on each side of the rear window frame. The Y-stops are supposed to catch up with those and hold the frame/window sideways, rattle free. Mine didn’t, and compensating for that by adding extra tension on the round buffers clearly isn’t the way to go.

Clean the the rubber Y-stops and their opposed metal contact surfaces. Put some grease on the rubbers and check where contact is established as it should, by closing the roof. Adjust the stops by sliding them sideways (top: 10mm hex bolt, bottom: torx 13). I held the stops firmly while slightly loosening them, and wiggled by very small increments. Took a few cycles to find four ‘grease stamps’, transferred onto the metal. Each time I switched of the contact an let the roof sag under gravity, paying attention to any knock (too tight) but there was none.

That did the trick, dead silent, no squeaks, no rattle. I stand by what I described above in post #9 about the Z-stops (one turn above mere contact) but the square buffers should come first. Was I to start all over, I would screw in the Z-stops to release any tension there, before adjusting the Y-stops.

I have no idea what summer-winter conditions do, as A1EK mentioned there probably is some effect. I guess I’ll put in new stops with probably more flexible rubber one day.

Hope this helps!