Renewing the Speaker Grills

No matter how pampered the car, there's always something to fix on an older car. You just have to know where to look. The question for the enthusiast is this: Should you re-new parts that have degraded that you can't even see?

On the E320 Cabriolet, there is no shortage of these hidden needs. One of these is behind the pair of speaker grills on either side of the dashboard. There's a thin piece of foam inside that grill that breaks down over time. And with the youngest examples of the A124 Cabriolet now pushing a quarter of a century, it's a sure bet that foam on your Cabriolet has crumbled away to nothing but a fine debris that sits on top of each underlying speaker. The lack of foam also removes a protective barrier between any dirt and debris in the air (always an issue in a convertible) and the paper dashboard speakers resting underneath.

Fortunately, this is an easy fix. In fact, it took me more time to write this update to the blog than it did to do the job. About a year ago, I purchased a thin piece of foam in the foam district in Manhattan's Chinatown in anticipation of this task. The thinnest they had was about 1/4 inch and a light grey in color. I'm sure you can find comparable foam online. The original piece in the car was close to black, but no matter. You can't really discern the color under the speaker grill. If you look closely, you can see foam, but you can't tell its color.

Removing the speaker grills is a little tricky, but easy once you understand it. The grill is held in place by 2 small phillips-head screws underneath a thin vertical strip on one side that clips into place. To remove that vertical strip, you need to insert a very thin blade near the top of the dash so that it bends (it's very flexible) just enough to unclip the top clip. Start near the top, but not actually at the top. Also, don’t insert the tool too deep. You just need to pry up the thin piece of plastic sitting on top. Keep in mind you're trying to gently bend the very pliable plastic trim so that the clip at the top unhooks. Naturally, you want to do this without hurting the dashboard, so you want a thin strong tool that can pry up the plastic trim without leaving a trace. Proceed gently and you'll see what I mean.

Once the trim is out of the way, you'll see a small phillips-head screw at the top and bottom. Remove those 2 screws and the speaker grill just pulls out from where it's nested in the dash.

At this point, you'll want to give the area a gentle vacuuming to pick up all the old foam and any dirt that's now accumulated in there. Since there's no longer a barrier between the speaker grill and the speaker, lots of things can make their way into that cavity. Take care not to damage the paper speaker cones. And if they are damaged, this would be the time to remove and either repair or replace. Note that the speaker size is unique on a Cabriolet.

Once they're off, the speaker grills themselves are easily dismantled. The foam is sandwiched between the outer speaker cover and a plastic frame that clips in underneath. The speaker grill is a thin-gauge metal that has tabs all around that bend into place to hold the plastic frame underneath. It's a very intuitive design when you see it. Replacing the foam is as simple as cutting and inserting into place. No special tools or glue are required.

Does this repair make a difference to the sound of the speakers? Not at all.

Can you see any improvement? Not really.

Does it feel good knowing this area now appears as it did when it left the factory in Sindelfingen in 1995?

I think we all know the answer to that.