E Class W207 A207 AIRCAP not retracting

[Richpu]

Hi All,
I have an E500 Convertible and the aircap has started to play up. when retracting it gets about half way closed and then extends again. have searched all over but all the reports are go to Mercedes and they will replace for over £1000 it would seem.
Well as it was a nice day I took a look at mine. I removed the aircap from the car as per the following link

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when I had it on the bench I was able to remove the motor section. very simple issue, corrosion on one of the arms was stopping the locking pins sliding out when it was retracting and it was causing the pin that moves to hit the locking arm at the wrong point. you will see this in the attached picture
provided lots of oil on the joints and all working again.


hope this is of use to people. any questions just shout

Regards,
RichPu

 

[MichaelP]

Hi All,
I have an E500 Convertible and the aircap has started to play up. when retracting it gets about half way closed and then extends again. have searched all over but all the reports are go to Mercedes and they will replace for over £1000 it would seem.
Well as it was a nice day I took a look at mine. I removed the aircap from the car as per the following link

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

when I had it on the bench I was able to remove the motor section. very simple issue, corrosion on one of the arms was stopping the locking pins sliding out when it was retracting and it was causing the pin that moves to hit the locking arm at the wrong point. you will see this in the attached picture
provided lots of oil on the joints and all working again.
View attachment 85504

hope this is of use to people. any questions just shout

Regards,
RichPu

Hi imhave the same problem. Do you have some more pictures? Thx

 

[MichaelP]

Hi All,
I have an E500 Convertible and the aircap has started to play up. when retracting it gets about half way closed and then extends again. have searched all over but all the reports are go to Mercedes and they will replace for over £1000 it would seem.
Well as it was a nice day I took a look at mine. I removed the aircap from the car as per the following link

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

when I had it on the bench I was able to remove the motor section. very simple issue, corrosion on one of the arms was stopping the locking pins sliding out when it was retracting and it was causing the pin that moves to hit the locking arm at the wrong point. you will see this in the attached picture
provided lots of oil on the joints and all working again.
View attachment 85504

hope this is of use to people. any questions just shout

Regards,
RichPu

i have the same problem. Do you have some more pictures ? Thx

 

[MichaelP]

Hallo i have the Same Problem. Do you have some more pictures how to do? Thx

 

[geoffus]

Hi, can this be lubricated without dismantling ?

 

[whitenemesis]

Hallo i have the Same Problem. Do you have some more pictures how to do? Thx

The OP hasn't been here for over 12mths ...

 

[MichaelP]

Hi, can this be lubricated without dismantling ?

i guess we can open it from the top without dismantling. I will try

 

[thebook]

I had the same issue. I cut the offending pin off with an angle grinder. Works perfectly now.

 

[JMRolfe]

Thank you for this! That is exactly what I was looking for. Same as OP I spent hours searching (last year) only to find 'needs replacing for £1000+'. Or one person suggesting a software update would do it?

@thebook did you need to remove it completely to access the offending pin? Where is this pin located. Apologies if this is a silly question, the previous owner disconnected it and I've not yet been brave enough to put it back up and take a look.

Thanks

 

[Jbmid55]

i guess we can open it from the top without dismantling. I will try

Did you manage to open it from the top?

 

[shamsusnyc]

Hi everyone,

seems that I have a slightly different manifestation of this pin problem.

new to me 2011 e550 came with the aircap stuck closed. after some research I saw some people managed to lube and help it open which I did. it seems like the pins were preventing it from opening. however. now that it cleared the pins it doesn't seem to retract completely flush around the edges but rather stays propped up a few millemeters because the pins are in the way

also, it seems that after it opens fully it closes automatically in a few seconds. that is another problem. which could be related. i wonder if it just closes when it detects a failure in that mechanism

 

[shamsusnyc]

i guess we can open it from the top without dismantling. I will try

how did it work out for you?