Originally Posted by crconsulting

I think there are two types of failures happening on these:
One is the rivets popping out/fabric ripping in corners, which I believe may be due to speed with the wind deflector in the up position. That's the easier one to fix as long as the material isn't ripped, which would require a replacement screen.
The other is the little plastic spring loaded brackets in the end pieces failing due to stress of lowering and raising the deflector mechanism. So far, I've repaired three of these failures....
The bracket always breaks on the thinner, non-reinforced side, in the identical spot with an almost identical style of the fracture. That is a design/materials issue for sure.
I use double sided 3M VHB tape to mount these down when I do the repair. But not sure that will help long term, as there's really very little material for the 3M VHB to "bite" on that thin side of the bracket. Ultimately, I think they should be made out of aluminum or a different polymer/plastic compound.

I rarely use my screen

Originally Posted by crconsulting

Since this is one of the somewhat annoying & more common little issues with the R231’s
I’ve got one out of the car and decided to take some pictures of how they are failing (and a possible fix).

The mesh is typically failing by separating from the frame in the lower corners first (picture 1)
There is a small "rivet" in the corner of the mesh/fabric that slots into the frame of the wind deflector. (see picture 3 - circled in green)
It is held in position by a plastic bracket with a slotted, curved stainless spring creating two forked blades. (see picture 3, 4, 5&7)

Amazingly, this bracket is just RTV siliconed in place on the bottom of the corner trim. (see picture 5&6) Definitely a weak point in the design!
Typically this bracket will loosen, crack/break and release the flat fork blades of the spring. (picture 7)

This releases another sprung, flat & pinned bladed arm that is responsible for keeping the corner trim tight against the wind deflector frame. (circled in red) This bladed arm is what is pushes the mesh rivets out of the wind deflector frame slots when you lower it.
If yours has separated and fabric isn't torn, you may be able to re-hook it by partially lowering the wind deflector frame and working the rivet into your deflector frame.
Unfortunately this is probably a temporary fix, as it's typically a sign of that bracket failure. You can tell if your bracket has failed because the corner trim will be loose and lift by hand when the wind deflector is in the lowered position.

I'm thinking that these plastic brackets need 3M VHB tape vs a dab of silicone. Unfortunately when these small brackets fail, they are not available separately from Mercedes. You have to replace the WHOLE wind deflector. You must remove the whole wind deflector assembly to do this repair as the pins to release the corner trim can only be removed by having access to both sides in order to push the e ring clips in place. ☹️

These will be getting reinforced with the 3M High Bond Structural tape. It should reinforce the bracket and hold it down much better the the weak silicone used by MB.

This repair will probably work if your mesh isn’t ripped yet.

Originally Posted by clearlink

May I ask on the power supply connection to test the unit on the bench. I just purchased one on Ebay and want to test it before I install it.

Originally Posted by crconsulting

I use a 12v power supply.
something like this:

Originally Posted by clearlink

I know it's a 12V supply but I was wondering if it raised when power is applied and lowers when power is removed. In some cases power is applied temporarely to start the raising and again to lowering.