Does anyone have or know of a DIY guide for replacing the door lock actuator for the sedan front doors? Is it similiar to the coupe?

My passenger front door lock actuator needs to be replaced. It pop/clicks rapidly 3 times when trying to unlock doors and only unlocks half the time. I seached the forum but only found DIY guides for the coupes. (weird thing is when I seached the forum, nothing came up, but then when I did a google search, i found these 2 DIY for the coupes- links below)

https://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w...-pogo-fix.html

https://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w...ing-crazy.html

Wholesale cost for the part was about $95 at the dealer. They wanted $280 for labor so I will attempt to do it myself. But after reading the DIY guide for the coupe, I am thinking that I might lack the mechanical skills for this job and might end up blowing the door airbag in my face.

 

I think i saw a post or something when i was having this problem when it was cold. i think the difference was to take out the rear speaker to pull the lock out of or something. i will try and find it for you in the morning. i am really not looking forward to winter because the second it got warm my lock started working perfect. and it seems like every week i see a post about the lock pogo.

 

Remove the door panel, remove the outside door handle, remove bolts holding actuator in, remove actuator.

 

For the front sedan doors, does this require moving the side airbag out of the way? (drilling out the pop rivets to remove airbag, and then installing new pop rivets)

Thanks.

 

I think my problem is different from yours. I started having this problem on a front door lock a few weeks ago in the summer heat. On my car, it is pretty obvious that the actuator motor is going out.

But if you find a post to change out the actuator on a sedan front door, please share! I guess if I don't find info, this could be my first chance to post a DIY guide to MBW.

 

I don't know for sure, but I'd be willing to bet you could get it out without taking the airbag out. I didn't actually remove my actuator, I just removed the door handle to install some missing handle "seals."

 

i think that someone on here has done it without removing airbag but i think it took him a while to wiggle the mechanism in and out. Mercedes dose recommend you remove it and also cut battery power for a while to make sure you don't blow the airbag in your face.
lol i misread your post at the beginning sorry. i thought you had a coupe which confused me even more when i saw your car in your profile. i was like why dose he care how to do it on a coupe if he has a sedan. sorry for confusing you good luck fixing your problem i will be in the same boat as you this winter i have a feeling. hopefully by then i will have the cash to fix it at a dealer or repair shop so i don't have to deal with it.

i just saw something funny we both have the same amount of posts 159 lol that is wired and we joined in the same month and year

 

take it to the dealer thats what im going to do to mines because i have the same problem. with tht air bag in the way it scares me because i dont want it going off and have to fix another problem. i no its pricey to go to the dealer but tht way if nething happens its on them and ur gaurnteed a well done job.

just my opnion

 

If anyone has it.
Maybe post the part number for the actuator for the drivers door?
Id like to look for it online

 

Not sure if this will help, but the part number for my passenger front door actuator was 203-720-20-35. Dealer calls the part a "Lock" on the invoice. Maybe if you try to change one of the numbers you can get the drivers front door.

When I did a search based on the part number, I didn't find much online though.

Dealer list price was $160.60, and wholesale price is $98.00.

 

Ok so I just finished replacing the door actuator. It was a royal pain in the ****!!!

I was planning on taking pictures and writing up a DIY, but it took much longer than I thought and it started getting dark so I did not have time as I actually had to use a flashlight to finish the job. Luckily my neighbor, who is a mechanic, helped me to finish the job. Otherwise I would still be working on it.

Here's some tips...

-You will need 6 pop rivets to complete the job. (The coupe only needed 5) 3 for the airbag and 3 for the support rod/window regulator (the stupid vertical bar support in the way of taking the actuator out of the door)

-The door actuator is EXTREMELY hard to get out of the door. Somehow I was able to get the actuator out without removing the side airbag and vertical support bar.... after 30 minutes of extreme frustration

-For some reason, I could not get the new actuator back in the door the same way the old one came out. (luckily this is where mechanic neighbor jumped in to help) We drilled the rivets holding in the airbag and vertical support bar. Even then it was still VERY hard to get the actuator inside the door.

-emrliquidlife in another thread said taking out the door actuator is "akin to removing a 5lb salami out of a 1lb bag". it is truly amazing how accurate his statement is.

-the steel rivets that the MB dealer will provide you take A LOT of muscle to "pop" in. makes me feel safe about my side airbag not detaching and becoming a projectile in an accident.

Before you replace you door actuator, make sure the actuator is actually going bad. Saw this DTB after I replaced my actuator today...

"take the door panel off and check to see if the rubber grommet that the door lock sits in is folded up at the bottom of the door lock assembly."

The one I removed today had the rubber grommet folded up at the bottom of the assembly.... I am not even going the check to see if this was the problem... otherwise I will go postal over the past 2 hours of work