I guess everyone got discouraged on this one. But I did succeed in removing the headrest mechanism on my '96 S500 coupe. Alldatadiy has the procedure for a sedan. Duh - the picture has a door in front of the C pillar.

1. Remove the seat backs on both sides. Put the headrests down first. If you have one locked in the up position, you are going to have to lift up one side at a time and pull out, both forcefully.

2. Remove all forward-facing screws and lift out first-aid compartment.

3. Look at the sides of the unit you want to remove. On each side there is a white disk with a lever. Forget the mirror, they are in plain sight. You need to push one lever toward the rear while simulataneously pushing the that side of the headrest toward the rear. Repeat on the other side. Unless you are very strong, you may not be able to push hard enough on the lever to release the headrest. Fortunately, there is a slot in the white disk where you can insert a stubby screwdriver to gain additional leverage.

4. Surprise. There are four screws that need to be removed. Two in front and two in the rear under the package shelf. With the first aid kit removed, you can get the package shelf cover up just enough to get at the rear screws. I used a stubby screwdriver with vice grips on the handle to get the rear screws out.

5. My problem is that the driver's side headrest will not go down. There is a latch mechanism that locks the headrest in the up position that is not releasing. Not sure if it's repairable, but it's looking grim.

6. There are two different PN's for the assembly. The breakpoint is chassis 275889. Right and left are the same PN.

__________________
Chuck Taylor
Falls Church VA
'66 200, '66 230SL, '96 SL500. Sold: '81 380SL, '86 300E, '72 250C, '95 C220, 3 '84 280SL's '90 420SEL, '72 280SE, '73 280C, '78 280SE, '70 280SL, '77 450SL, '85 380SL, '87 560SL, '85 380SL, '72 350SL, '96 S500 Coupe