My wife and I went to retract the roof of our 1999 SLK230. The first time we tried to retract the roof, the passenger window did not roll down. The driver's windows went down and the back small passenger window went down and the trunk opened. The roof obviously did not retract. Since we have only had the car for a couple of weeks, we were not sure what was going on. I check the trunk and the pull cover was in place and making the contact needed. Then I realized the passenger window was not down. I got the window to roll down and then back up again and down again. Then we reversed the roof button. The roof seemed to close a little bit and then the trunk closed. We tried to open the roof again, but similar symptoms. NO luck. Windows roll down, trunk opens and then almost nothing, although you can hear the motor trying to lift the roof. We reversed it and again the roof sounded like it did move down and close more. We tried once more when we got home, but same symptoms. My wife is all upset since this was her birthday present and we haven't had the car that long. I might also note that it seems like the passenger window is not aligning itself the way it should. It seems to be off - so when you close the passenger door, the window is not tight against the seal and it seems to be not aligning with the roof seal. Any suggestions?

 

HI. We've had the same problems on our 99 SLK 230. Common problem! When troubleshooting the top, everybody but one said it is faulty microprocessor switches in the roof pillar that need to be replaced to tune of $1k. I balked. Then, one day I received a reply from some nice gentleman named Martinez who said check the trip lever to make sure it is making contact. I did and it worked. I still have trouble from time to time but so far, fidgeting with the lever makes it work. The lever is located above the hydraulic pump compartment on the right side of the trunk. Remove the door (all power is OFF--do not try this with anything running or you might sacrifice a body part!) reach up until you feel a square box with a lever that you can easily flip back and forth--that is the one. It is a trip switch that relays the message, once the windows are down, and trunk is open, to release the pins in the roof, allowing the top to move. This little lever apparently gets out of alignment or something like that. If that doesn't work it'll probably be the switches. One MB forum guy ( Bazzle) suggests removing the plastic bellows from the switches first, rather than replacing them, because they hold dirt/moisture. This may be a diy but I am not sure I want to tackle it yet. Window misalignment is probably a stop gone. See another thread on the SLK forum about this for more info. Hope this helps.