How to remove rear seat backrest in 1980 MB 240D?

My Dad called me on the phone to say he locked his only trunk key in the trunk. He and my sister have been trying, without success, to remove the rear seat backrest, so that someone might enter the trunk through the passenger compartment. The seat cushion has been removed.

I am geographically distant, else I'd have a look.

Can anyone advise?

Can anyone with such a car open his trunk, and inspect for fastening hardware? Screws might be plainly visible, so that I might tell my Dad his plan is impossible.

Thanks for your help.

My CDROM "handbook" lacks relevant information on this point.

Reply to
John B
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Even if you remove back seat... zero access to trunk... Gas tank is right behind the steel backrest.

Get a new key from dealer... sounds like you need one anyway. VIN, proof of ownership and ID to have dealer special order it in.

Reply to
Tiger

Thanks. Will pass the word along to Dad.

Reply to
John B

As Tiger already wrote, no way.

It has two main advantages:

- Even if someone breaks into the passenger compartment he has no access to the trunk

- In case of a rear crash the tank stays intact as opposed e.g. BMWs of that time where the tank is located below the trunk (between the rear axle and the rear bumper). For the US see also (e.g) for police cruisers catching fire when a tank located below the trunk is damaged. And when a tank lies in the rear crumple zone, it also can be damaged when one "rides" on a guard rail. And before someone asks: Yes, there were several accidents where BMWs caught fire that way...

Juergen

Reply to
Juergen .

You seem to know what you are talking about! Thanks for the reply.

My dad is elderly, and doubts your advice. I told him to get a mirror from my mom's bathroom, and look for a gasoline tank beneath the trunk. He won't find one. Then he might give up his idea of getting through the back seat to the trunk. Fortunately, he stopped trying several hours ago, when I first posted.

Reply to
John B

He will simply see the hump on the bottom of the trunk that is the spare tire wheel well. If he pulls the cover toward the back seat down, he will see the actual tank... safe in the cocoon of the trunk.

Reply to
Tiger

Do 23 and a half years W123 qualify? ;-))

I uploaded an official DC graphics to

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The black thing above the rear wheel is the fuel tank.

Juergen

Reply to
Juergen .

Dad is starting to see the light, but he's stubborn. He did the mirror thing. Saw no fuel tank. I told him that's because it's slapped on the backside of the rear seat backrest.

Old age and freedom make for an interesting combination!

He agreed to call a Mercedes dealership on Monday. He'll also try a locksmith...but I told him that a locksmith is almost certainly unable to produce a key from the VIN. He also wants to inquire with his regular Mercedes mechanic...who will undoubtedly tell him exactly what you've said.

I commented to Dad that the absence of his trunk lock vacuum actuator has also contributed to his predicament. If that long-dead item were functional, then his trunk would be unlocked whenever he used his door key to unlock the cabin. In such a case, he would have been able to open the trunk merely by pressing the trunk lock with his thumb.

Feel free to affirm or rebut this assumption on my part.

Thanks again.

It's entirely possible the missing key is somewhere else entirely.

Reply to
John B

I don't know about that. I lost my keys at the beack one time, and the locksmith created one using my VIN number. That was an early 90s Nissan though. I'm not sure how that VIN to keys system works, but I know that at least one locksmith has access to it.

Reply to
weelliott

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