Removal of the fold-down bed

Reading time 3 minutes

Updated – January 21, 2023

It was hard to believe the horror stories on the Internet when they said that the windshield had to be dismantled.

Fortunately, this scenario turned out to be a fairy tale: the expansion was easy and was completed with two men in less than two hours of work. Without scratches on the furniture!

The method

Preparations

Turn the seat to the right of the entrance with the backrest towards the passenger side wall in order to gain more space when moving out the bulky parts, such as the slatted frame and metal frame of the fold-down bed.

Dismantling the curtains on the side window on the driver and passenger side, as well as the retaining structure of the running rails by loosening the respective screws under the cover caps to be removed.

Loosen the Velcro fastener on the privacy screen fabric panel at the bottom of the surrounding fold-down bed edge. Removing the gliders and curtains from the track on the headliner, as well as the three tracks themselves.

After loosening the – quite long – screws on the pot connectors, the side panels on the right and left of the lift-down bed can be removed.

Get down to business

The wood-colored decorative strips attached below the fold-down bed are carefully removed with a spatula. The lower fold-down bed cover, which is covered with carpet, is held in the middle of the slatted frame with screws concealed under the decorative strips, as well as on the edge of the slatted frame and the metal frame of the same using several screws. In addition, staples are shot through from above, which provide additional support in addition to gluing the decorative strips. Here, use gentle leverage to pry the clips out of the decorative strips.

After loosening all of the above-mentioned screws, the carpet-covered plywood panel can be removed. Please note that the cable supplying the two halogen lamps is disconnected from the respective plug connections before the plywood panel is completely removed.

By the way, the cable is – unfortunately – routed through the slatted frame. In order to be able to remove the slatted frame, the cable must be cut on the side above the driver's lifting mechanism. Please open the cable protection tube along the side and cut the plus and minus cables SEPARATELY (otherwise there will be a short circuit).

Now the slatted frame can be lifted out of the metal frame. The driver's end is first turned towards the inside of the car, then lowered, taking into account the wall cupboards, while the windscreen and passenger side ends are held in the same position to avoid a collision with the ceiling or windscreen.

Only when the original driver-side end can be lowered in the gear area will the passenger-side part also be lowered. Now the slatted frame can be carried out vertically alongside.

Hardware

To do this, first loosen the two size 17 nuts closest to the seats by counteracting the opposite side. The screws still remain in place. The split pins on the piston rod of the gas pressure spring on the right and left are neatly bent straight and removed using combination pliers. In the next step, a helper holds the frame in the middle on the side of the windshield while you unscrew the two metric screws, the nuts of which were previously loosened. The last turns may be difficult to screw. Here you can gently help with a mandrel/screwdriver and hammer. Once both screws have been removed, the frame can be swung towards the backrest of the front seats by the assistant holding it.

Only now are the piston rods levered from their holder using a strong flathead screwdriver. The piston rods are still under some tension and will advance about two millimeters when released.

The penultimate dismantling step consists of loosening the screw connections on the left and right of the windshield, to which the frame is still hanging. The frame then stands on the armrests of the front seats. The two metal arms connected to the frame, which are now freely movable, are secured to the frame with cable ties to prevent swinging while being carried out.

Now get out with it

A helper now places a thick blanket on the upper right area of the dashboard to prevent any scratches when the metal frame is swiveled out.

The assistant lifts the frame vertically from the passenger side armrests and swings it to the far corner of the passenger side windshield while maintaining the driver side position in a stabilizing manner.
After the frame has been placed on the dashboard on the passenger side, the frame can be raised on the driver's side, guided over the back of the driver's seat and lowered in gear. The helper now follows in the direction of the hallway and door. The frame is outside.

Ultimately, the two metric screws on the left and right frame brackets with the gas pressure spring still need to be loosened, as well as the ceiling brackets into which the lifting bed's safety straps were inserted.

Now the entire fold-down bed and accessories have been removed - and the clock should show almost two hours later.