Pagoda SL Group
W113 Pagoda SL Group => General Discussion => Topic started by: ja17 on September 02, 2020, 02:28:22
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The new window "bristle rail" which is on each side of the door windows, is DEFECTIVE when ordered from Mercedes. Apparently the current "bristle rail" which has been recently re-produced and supplied to Mercedes as original equipment, is clearly defective for several reasons. First it is too wide, causing the window to be difficult to move, next the folded metal attachment strip on its bottom edge is poorly secured and comes loose, next the glue used to bond the fabric covering stays wet and oozes out onto the glass, making a big black sticky mess, the rail itself deforms during installation because the material inside is too soft. If you are successful and get it installed (a lot of work) the black adhesive oozes out onto the glass and sticks. When you attempt to roll the glass up, the bristle rail starts coming apart and only gets worse. After three failed attempts we called The Classic Center. They are aware of the problem and are working on it. This stuff is expensive and its a lot of work to install. Just thought I would try to save some frustration for the rest of you. Hopefully the issue at Mercedes is resolved soon. This is very unusual because anything supplied from Mercedes is usually the best. Just a temporary issue I am sure. They refunded without a hesitation.
In the meantime I found some aftermarket "Made in Germany" which looks and works great. It was much less expensive also.
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Thanks for the heads up.
What's the part number?
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Part number 115-725-09-65
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Thanks Joe - I was just contemplating ordering these
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Joe,
What was you source for the substitute material? I just installed these on my rear window for my W111! I'll keep a close watch. My strips are screwed in, not held by clips. So I was able to install without much fuss.
Wallace
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Joe,
We found the exact same issues.
In addition, when I ordered new felts, I also ordered new attaching clips.
When I tried to install the clips I found that they bent out of shape during installation and subsequently would not hold onto the felt.
I believe the original clips are spring steel.
I feel the new clips are mild steel and not up to the task.
I suggest using care when removing the original clips.
You may need to re-use them.
Note: there are inner and outer clips. The inner are designed to hold the door panel, the outer hold the chrome trim.
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Hi Will ("wsamples"), good to see you here. Your expertise is well known.
Fortunately, I had a stock of NOS clips. I made a tool so I could install them without taking the door panel off. I can post a pic if anyone is interested.
Rob and Wallace, Jeff at SL Autohaus got the bristle rail for me. The actual thickness might be slightly thinner than the original but very close, looks good and works great. In addition the metal inner parts in his are stainless steel and will never corrode. No gooey black adhesive, and the lower metal strip stays in place with these also. You can tap them into place with a soft mallet and they do not deform like the current MB product.
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I would like to see the picture of the mystery tool👍
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"mrfatboy" sorry I just realized that my tool is for installation of the clips on a 190SL. With a Pagoda the clips are different. The bristle rail material is the same on the 190SL and Pagoda.
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Hi Joe, can you tell us the supplier of the aftermarket product that you eventually used?
Rob
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I will sneak in here and say I got mine last year from SLS. Worked well.
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I got mine earlier this year from K&K - perfect