FrankW

what kind of pliers? thx

mrkrichie

Flat head pliers (I think that's what they are called). I pull on the door pins together with small twists.

FrankW

can u take a picture of the plier? I have these small pliers, but it'll mess up the pin if I clamp it down hard on the pin.

Jim Banville

This is one of my favorite mods! It's been a while since I changed mine. I picked some straight, black knobs from an auto parts place. I think they were made for Ford. My dealer was either out of stock, or wanted too much for them. I can't remember. I just know I can now rest my arm on the window sill without being poked in the arm by the stock knobs!

Jim

SOC320

WAIT. THINK ABOUT AND RESPOND TO BELOW.

My BMW that has straight lock pins standard also has safeguard programming and secondary power to unlock the doors automatically in a bad accident where the airbags deploy.

Do the C-Class sedans have this safeguard programming as well or are these retrofitted straight pins possibly dangerous in an bad accident where you lose power to the locks? You could be locked in without a way to manually pull the pins up.

Jim Banville

The doors unlock when you pull the interior door handle. I think it is a mechanical connection. If not, I suppose someone could go out and pull the connection on the battery and see what they're able to do with the locks.

avlis

Yes, they do. The computer will unlock the doors for you if it thinks it was in an accident.

SOC320

This is good confirmation to have for all of us considering this.

So everyone should be in good shape based on the previous confirmation from Jim and avlis that if after an bad accident disabling power:

1. The doors can be opened by pulling on the door handle.
and
2. The doors will be unlocked automatically.

Okay... let the discussion of door pins proceed. Thanks all.

phattbam

i dont know if they have been changed, but when i got the coupe door pins, i didnt push mine in. they all had lil part that would catch onto the threads of the door lock. it's a half turn to have it catch. if you look carefully inside before you install them you'll see.

KOMPRESSORnSC

Yep, and it turns on the dome light, too! I kicked mine into rollover mode one day on a hard right-hander and didn't know what happened, so I stopped at the dealer and asked. They were like "Damn...you musta been cornering hard for that to happen". A few days later I talked to one of the engineers who designed the ESP at BOSCH and he confirmed that the yaw control from ESP is part of the trigger for Rollover Mode (other parts being speed sensor and steering input sensor).

Ok, back to doorpins.

Any chrome ones out there beside the Brabus ones?

pokerFACE

please somebody show me a video of "Rollover Mode"



Can the rear doors be unlocked by pulling on the door handle? I know it works up front.. but never been in the rear :p

I should ask my brothers sometime :p

rrf

Sedan Owners beware, the above story is half-true for you.

.... Since this is a c-class discussion, not just coupe, (even started by a sedan owner). BTW I am surprised, didn't you bother to try it in the rear, or is my 2002 sedan that unique?

Front door handles = unlock ALL
Rear door handles = nothing, not even its own door.

Putting pin in the rear would be good if you don't want the rear passengers to ever be able to unlock their own doors. IMHO you are too trusting of the MB accident computer.

pokerFACE

very good point.

With the reliability of the W203 series, who knows when will the electronic demons decide to possess the computer?

FrankW

that might be true in the states and canada where because of certain rules we need those door lock pins where you can pull it up manually. In Europe, the door lock pin that comes with the car is the one that sinks into the door panel.

there's one thing I definitely trust MB and BMW is that their safety feature.

peet

In fact, that is excatly why I started down this path. i have 3 kids and they play with pins, handles and buttons. Oldest is 7 and they go down from there -- but they still pull up on the pins, and now that door is unlocked... next up handle on the door and well the rest is ugly.

So thanks for the debate folks. I'm off to buy me some $1 coupe pins.

P

mrkrichie

Frank,

This is what I used. I think someone mentioned that there's half a turn when you pushed it in, so you have to twist it a little when you are pulling it out.

rrf

Peet, totally agree
Yes in sedan with young kids, they can actually open the door even with the "kid switch" ON. Pins are a very good idea for your situation. Can't beat the price.

Since he saved you mucho dinero, please buy an extra one for FrankW while you are down there

FrankW

thanks for the picture. i might need try to twist it a little, but all I notice on the pin when I look is that the cavaty looks something like this---> D

from the bottom of the pin looking up...seriously don't know how would I explain it. oh well, I'll give it another try tomorrow.

smoothb

where can I buy chrome door pins?

CSportAnt

Brabus makes the chrome door pins, they are $94 retail, but they have a few sets on EBay right now. I got mine from EBay for $60.

Jim Banville

Most auto parts stores sell chrome door lock knobs. They may say they are for Ford, but buy cutting a little off the length (you'll never see the cut line) you can get them to fit over the rods in the door. Maybe $1/each. I used black Ford knobs in my C240. For $90, those Brabus knobs better come with a BJ or something

MB-BOB

The trick to installing the Coupe pins to the right height:

Unlock doors
Unscrew old pins (throw them in your golf bag for use as tees)
push Coupe pin onto shaft only far enough to see it's secure.
Lock doors
Push pin down until it lays flush, no further

IMO, the black pin surround on the door (regardless of door color) does not go well with any chrome pin. The Coupe pins are about the cheapest thing you can buy for the sedan.

peet

I actually found some generic pins that say fits ford, yada yada yada... and they're actually really nice, cylindrical clean lines, black anodized aluminum. BUT the threaded post they are meant to go on is about 65% of the diameter of what is in the benz so they won't lock in.

Alas, MB-BOB thanks for the tip, I'm off to the stealer on Monday for pins and a potential dipstick - more on that later once i figure it out

Peet

Jim Banville

Now that I think about it, I think I did use a drill bit to widen the hole slighty on my "generic Ford" knobs. I took me like 15 minutes of tinkering - cutting off some length and widening the hole slightly - to get my generic pins on. My stealer didn't have any knobs in stock. I didn't feel like waiting. The stock knobs poking me in the elbow were driving me mad!

MB///HRV

Anyone have a pic of the Carlsson door pins?