It's possible that the wires got caught in the door edge and pinched, even though the rubber is supposed to protect it. I was really surprised to see how twisted and knotted the wires were. It's hard to imagine how that could have happened.

The insulation is not brittle but far from new -- the car is 20 years old, after all. Given that, I suppose most of us should replace all of the door wires in all of our "old cars."

__________________

"Buster" in the '95

Our all-Diesel family
1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car
2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car
Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022)
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762
"Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz."
-- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970