R129 rear plastic strip for license plate lights. How to remove

[R129mine]

I have some rust by my license plate lights. It is a pig to get access from the inside. On the outside a lot of it is covered by a long plastic strip. I can see the fixings on the inside but no idea how to remove these. Any suggestions. Here are some picturesand from the inside you can see the raised sticky out bit looks like there are 4 of these 2 kind of accessible and 2 hidden

just pull it away? Am afraid to break it. Can’t find it on the parts website either.

 

[Yogioes]

Hello again,
Mine was rusty in the same location and I also was on a learning experience prising parts off.
You may already have done it?

Mostly from my poor memory even though it was only a few months ago.
There are 6 fixing posts on the trim and these fit into plastic sockets which are in the panel.
There are four in the centre section facing down at an angle and two at the outside facing straight back.
Using one of the plastic trim tools is probably the best option. I think, prise out the outer two first then the inner four.
I didn't break mine.

I replaced the sockets as I chewed a few up when removing them and as I find most plastic parts haven't aged well.
A0019880881 £1.55 each, possibly plus VAT.
They are listed on this parts info

Mercedes-benz | iAUTO.lt

www.iauto.lt

I would imagine you will do a better job than I have with mine.
I was getting fed up with filling and sanding so I gave it a quick rub down, treated it and painted it.

Some pictures might help.




Not my finest bit of work, but unless you bend down it's barely noticeable.
Or at least that's my excuse!

 

[R129mine]

I have not done it yet but will be doing it now although some of the anti rust stuff I use only seems to work when it is 15 degrees of warmer so may have to wait till spring now.

Each light is only attached with 1 fixing, the other fixing has rotted away, for now I have treated it from the inside and used some metal nut screw fastener to attach the 2nd screw which has not been in place for many years it seems, this has ofcourse not helped preventing water ingress from the spray from the rear over time

I did clean up the light units, the membrane was completely gone and purchased some 1.5mm neoprene and cut it out (badly) also upgraded the bulbs to LED (and you can now see my license plate from space!)

 

[Yogioes]

A long term owner of an R129 on Pistonheads went through the same problems. After a failed attempt at repair he had a 2nd hand but good centre section welded in. Only part of the panel, not the full rear end. It's sounds like quite a lot of work but probably the best solution.

This link should take you there. He is a great source of information for these cars.

Mercedes 129 titivation - Page 1 - Readers' Cars - PistonHeads UK