Raymags1025

Got into my 2003 SLK 230 today which had been sitting in my driveway for several weeks and found that the headliner was sagging. No evidence if a water leak. Any idea what caused this and how to fix it? Thanks!

Fasterhorses

The hydraulic ram that locked the roof down my 2003 SLK230 started leaking and soaked the headliner. The biggest clue was the smell like tranny fluid. I had to get the ram replaced and a new headliner. You might have that same problem. I had it done at the dealer for $1300.

Raymags1025

Thanks for your response. I do not detect any odd smell and see no sign of a leak anywhere. I also felt around and it doesn’t seem like there is any water that may have collected or evidence of mice etc. I’ll try opening the roof to see if that is still fully functional just to rule that out as somehow being a contributing factor.

slk230red

I bought my 2001 new and it's always been garaged. The original headliner failed like yours. I got in the car one day and the headliner was hitting my head. I purchase a new one from MB parts dept.
Fast forward to 2020, the front ram failed and oil got on the headliner. I removed it and cleaned it the best I could. I had TopHydraulics rebuild all 5 hydraulic cylinders.

Since new headliners are no longer available from MB and I was hesitant to purchase a used one, I decided to recover my headliner. Last month I removed it and pulled off the white plastic headliner fabric. I found the best way to clean the oil that had penetrated the sides of the headliner board was using lacquer thinner. After I was satisfied with the results, I ordered a charcoal foamed back headliner fabric from a supplier, along with some 3M 38808 headliner adhesive from Walmart.
I just finished the recover project 2 days ago and installed the headliner. Total cost with fabric, shipping, adhesive, and tax was $58.