Remove dead W124 power seat motor

[JensenHealey]

Hello all
I am attempting to replace a dead power seat motor in my 1993 300TE and I need some advice on how to actually remove the motor from the power seat rack assembly. This is the motor that drives the up or down motion of the rear of the passenger's seat. I have the seat unbolted from the power rack so I can reach the motors and wires just fine but I am puzzled as to how to actually get the motor out since it seems I might have to disassemble the two gearboxes at the back of the power rack assembly to get the drive cable out of the motor. Since I do not know anything about what is in these gearboxes I am worried about springs & gears flying about if I try this without some expert directions. I have removed the bolts and nuts that hold the motor in the motor mount brackets but I am stopped because of the drive cables.

I have attached a couple of photos showing the power seat rack assembly including some arrows and captions to show what I am actually working on.

Has anyone here ever replaced one of these motors? Any and all advice would be most welcome.

 

[grober]

Seat Flex cable on 1994 E320 Stripped--Now What? - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

 

[JensenHealey]

Thanks for the pointer to that. From reading the first post in that thread, it seems there is some sort of retaining clip that I must have missed.
I will go back and look closer at the cable housing where it enters the motor.
I just wish he would have included photos of removing that clip.

 

[grober]

Some more detail on cables here
PeachPartsWiki: Power Seat Cable Repair
from this post- note the memory seat cables are different to the manual ones
Seat Flex cable on 1994 E320 Stripped--Now What? - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum
and some assembly details here lots of pictures! [ memory cable]
Driver's seat cushion adjustment binding
hope these help

 

[grober]

FINALLY MAYBE YOUR "CLIP" ANSWER! 2MINS 30 INTO VIDEO ONE ONE SHOWN IS METAL OTHERS MAY BE PLASTIC.

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[grober]

FROM THIS
ELECTRIC SEAT ADJUSTER MERCEDES 230 [Car] [CHASSIS] (EUROPA)
THE CIRCLIP 119 IS PART NO N006799 009002

 

[JensenHealey]

Thank you very much Graeme
This has all been very helpful.