Hello all,

My first post in this forum. I'm embarking on resurrecting an abandoned project. A 2003 500SL. This car is in the Dominican Republic where I live as a Brit expat. Been here 18 years. I'm a semi retired aircraft engineer and a self confessed petrol head. My previous project was a very rare Porshe 968 cabriolet. I did a full nut and bolt restoration. That has now moved on to a new home and I acquired the Benz from a friend of mine who gave up and sold it to me after being in the hands of several Dominican mechanics who could not fix the roof.

It's now in my garage and I'm educating myself on this car. First purchase was a Xentry diag system. But I've now found out that I need the multiplexer as the passthrough gadget does not work on this earlier car.

I will be posting questions in this forum, but hopefully I'll be able to answer questions as I get to learn it.

Project list so far:
Roll bar is stuck up. No matter how hard I push down on the bar, it feels like a hydraulic lock preventing it from going all the way down. (I have turned the bypass relief screw on the pump)
Fix the roof. It won't complete the final step of closing the deck when either closing or opening.
Fix the vacuum central locking system. I think the pump is seized or rotor broken.
Swap out ABC for coilovers

Wish me luck!