Twister2

My horn spontaneously went off the other day when I was driving. I thought it would be a simple fix, but to my complete surprise, my mechanic said I would have to replace the entire steering wheel for $3,600. He was shocked too. This is outrageous. Does anyone have any insights or ideas? Many thanks!!!

alx

if it is one of the switches inside the steering wheel it is not a serviceable part. the steering wheel msrp is $1100 plus labor.

Twister2

Thx Alx. I'm being told when you type in the VIN for my vehicle, you get the following part:

http://www.mbpartsworld.com/showAsse...ey_trimLevel=0

It's the one at the top: 1644606503 for $3,640. I don't really understand all the differences and the diagrams, but I believe for that price I get a steering wheel (mine is not damaged) and the air bag that goes in the steering wheel (you can buy separately for $1,800 - $2,300).

I was hoping for a more cost effective workaround.

KrustyKustom

Maybe just replace it with the non wood version, 1100.00 bucks.

Twister2

I think there is some wood on my steering wheel, but I don't recall it being wood all the way around. I know we don't have the heated version. I actually thought the "wood" was plastic. Could it be that the difference between the wood and non-wood versions is $2,500?

Also, it sounds as though the switches that activate the horn are somehow part of the steering wheel and not removable.

Is there no concept of finding the parts I need in a scrapyard, or is it a matter of finding a whole steering wheel?

alx

This will be a DIY fix if you want to replace/ repair just the switches. You will need a mechanic that is willing to repair things rather than replace things. That breed is rare in the us.

xxGenericSNxx

I have a wood steering wheel in black leather that was working perfectly fine when I took it out of my R-Class. I know it's the same part used on the ML/GL. I'd be willing to let go of it for substantially less than what they're asking for a new part if you're interested. Just send me a message and I can get you pictures if you like.

Twister2

xxGenericSNxx - thank you for the offer. I will let you know. I do have a mechanic who's willing to fix as opposed to replace things, but the switch for the horn can't be fixed, it needs to be replaced. I just don't know if the switches are attached to the steering wheel and I need a whole new wheel, or if the switches are on a separate module (that Mercedes won't sell separately, but we might be able to find).

xxGenericSNxx

Alright Twister2, I went to take a look at my extra steering wheel and the area that the airbag assembly attaches onto is this big metal thing attached to the steering wheel with what appear to be rubberized rivets. You can see in the picture below the silver metal part that I am referring to. This is the part that moves when you depress the horn. This part doesn't seem to have its own part number nor does it seem easy to remove/install. This is likely the switch for the horn that we are talking about (since we press the airbag unit to activate the horn.



(Note that is my new steering wheel that I've since replaced my stock one with.) Just let me know if there's any way I can assist you. Good luck!

Twister2

xxGenericSNxx, thanks for the picture of your steering wheel and the explanation. If I understand you correctly, it looks like I do need to replace the entire wheel because the switch for the horn is integrated with the wheel. If that's the situation, my steering wheel looks like (except it's black):

http://www.ecklersmbzparts.com/merce...h-leather.html

It has control buttons on the left and right. Your wheel doesn't look like that, so I'm not sure it would work.

xxGenericSNxx

Hello,
Those switches were transferred over to my new wheel as you can see on my attached image. You would simply swap over your old switches, shift buttons, and airbag. These are simply screwed in and very easy to switch. If you take a look at your steering wheel now and picture it with the buttons missing, it'd look like the picture on my previous post. I hope that answers your question.

Twister2

xxGenericSNxx - thx for the additional info. My mechanic believes he has located a horn plate that will work. If it doesn't, I will be back to you.

xxGenericSNxx

Cool! Just let me know either way how it works!

Twister2

Just to close the loop on this, my mechanic found a steering wheel, complete with the horn pad electronics, and replaced my horn pad with this one. That seems to have worked. Thanks everyone for their thoughts.