Ultraman

I have a 2003 W203. You better check with your salesman whether there are any child safety locks at the rear doors. Mine does not have any. Can you imagine the kids inside your car lift up the door pins and pull the door handles while the car is in motion?

I have already complained this problem to MB but they do not have any solution regarding this. I cannot imagine MB said their cars are safe

HumblePie

I can confirm that my 2001 does not have child locks while my wife's 2002 ML320 does. If you are concerned about your children pulling the locks while the car is in motion I would recommend looking into straight lock posts from Brabus or other aftermarket vendor. It is not a fool-proof solution but it would definitely help.

Lynn

Get the door pins for a C coupe. When the door is locked the pins are slightly recessed into the holes.

Ultraman

Thanks guys for your suggestions.

What I STRONGLY believe is: ALL C-Class (W202 or W203 4-Doors owners have to pay extra money to solve out the child seat problem by themselves. It is not fair!!!

I suggest Mercedes Benz should recall all these vehicles and repair the defect. If any accident happened to the kids, who is going to take the responsibilities???

Outland

Repair the defect? Can't be a defect if its not on the specs. How about rewording that? Retrofitting this safety feature. I hate when people whine about something that's a defect or safety hazard when its actually the way its supposed to be.

I have a son of my own, and I'm not unsympathetic, infact, I was a little horrified to find that you can open the door even if the locks are down. But, is that a defect, or something I overlooked when I bought the car?

Ultraman

Mr. Outland,

The use of wordings is not a major issue in this forum because what I concern is the child safety. The MB designers / engineers should consider "SAFETY" is the first priority when designing the MB vehicles especially when people have kids. You would not expect what the kids will do at the back of the car when you are driving.

Anyway, I have already e-mail my concern to the headquarter of MB regarding this problem. You can lucky that you own a coupe because you do not have this problem. However, so far so good as I know, most of the of the vehicles with 4 doors have the child safety lock features.

Agree?

Outland

Mr. Ultraman,

I don't think its just semantics...one is an oversight, the other is a defect. Your complaint is an oversight on the part of the designers, and YES, I agree it should be rectified. However, look at that spec sheet on your car and TELL ME that MB wasn't concerned with safety when they designed this car....no other car in its class can match the safety features.

hobie

Perhaps its a Darwinian method of selection.

TNblkc230wz

A child properly seated in a car seat can't reach the door locks or door handles. Properly restrained children who can reach the locks are old enough to know better. I've never needed to activate the child safety locks to safeguard my children or any children riding in my car.

Also, does anyone know if the doors will unlock while the car is in motion?

Ultraman

Guys,

Thank you for all the comments regarding my concern. My kid is 8 years old. He uses the proper booster seat while sitting at the back of the car. Since he was 2 years old, I educated him NEVER touch any dials at the doors while the car was moving. However, 2 weeks ago, while I was driving the highway with him. He lifted up the door pin and pulled the door handle. The door opened and I was scared to death because I was afraid that he would fell out from the car. Fortunately, he did not get hurt. I parked the car at the emergency lane, closed the door and gave him a good lesson before going back home.

The child safety lock is so concerned to me because some owners who have children may have the same case as me (I hope not!!!)
Therefore, I am expressing my concern to this discussion forum.

rrf

Ultraman I am with you. BAD design for kids.
Stubby door pin is the best bet.

retslo

MB should correct this!!! No reason to cheap-out on simple safety device like that. All my old and new cars have it.

Ret

Ultraman

Hi all of you,

Mercedes Benz of Canada e-mailed to me a few days ago regarding my concern. They informed the service manager of my dealership to replace a pair of door pins to my car. What they have done are using the same door pins as in the c-coupe or CLK for replacement. I replaced the door pins today and it seemed okay to me that the kids inside the car are unable to lift the door pins up while the car is in motion. When the doors are locked, the door pins will flush with the door panels.

Anyway, the problem is solved. If you guys think you have the same situation as me, you should contact the MB headquarter directly and express your concern. The door pin costs $1 (excluding taxes) in Canada. What I suggest is: If you are lazy doing the e-mail stuff, you could spend a few loonies to solve this matter.

Lynn

Didn't someone suggest using the coupe pins somewhere in this thread?

moomeh

lol



seriously, thank god i don't have kids yet.

Ultraman

Hi Lynn,

MB replaced the door knobs for me at the rear doors using the same type as the C-coupe / CLK. It is a plastic door knobs. However, I have seen someone in the other thread using the aftermarket door knobs (similar to the c-coupe's) installed to their cars. These aftermarket stuff are chrome door knobs. Of course, it looks better and costs more.

To me, I don't want to spend these extra money for these aftermarket door knobs because it will attract some people break your windows and steal them. Each door knob takes less than 1 minute to install and remove. Just twist and remove.

To those who have children while you are still driving the 2001-2003 MB c-class sedean. It is wise to think about child safety at the back of the seat (Accident is Accident). Overall, the C-class design is good but the child lock device is poor (Note: personal opinion)

Lynn

The stock coupe door pins are what I meant. I don't understand why MB is using the golf tee pins. They just don't look right in our cars, and they are not safe with children in the rear seats of the sedan.

Ultraman

Lynn,

Yes, I agree with your statement. The "Golf Ball Pins" are good for our fingers to lift up the door knobs if you are not using the central locking button to unlock the doors. MB designed these golf tee buttons because the driver or passengers could unlock his / her door while the other doors are still unlock. It is fine!!! However, as a parent, we may not wish the kids lift up the door knobs and open the doors while the car is in motion.

I suggest MB should provide 4 number of extra door knobs to the C-Class owners for their choice. This would eliminate the complaints in the future.

dkiogora

Old thread but i will add my .02

My 2003 E500 has the same issue - no child locks; shame on me for not comfirming the car had these installed; I assumed a 60k car would have it since all other cars I have owned had the child locks. 92 corolla, 98 Rav, 04 325xi, 03 525i. It seems like such a basic feature that i wouldnt even think to confirm it was there until now :-)

Ultraman

Wow, what am old thread. Last year, my 4 doors was totaled due to a car accident. It was not my fault. The Mercedes are solid and tough, my family and I did not get hurt but we still needed to send to the hospital for checkup.

I finally purchased a E-coupe for replacement. Problem solved regarding the child safety locks.

Anyway, I still do believe Mercedes should provide the child safety locks at the rear doors especially to the owners who have young kids.

shan

Even my base model W123 MY1979 has child lock on the rear doors. But it is hidden, inside a small rectangular hole just above the door catch mechanism. My W203 MY 2002 C200 had a very visible child lock (a protruding plastic knob) and so does my W203 MY 2007 C180K.
I can't believe MB would have discontinued this feature in between. Have you checked if it is hidden in a recession just like in my W123?
Shan.

dkiogora

Thanks Shan. I looked, even the tech at MB of Chandler checked yesterday and said none was installed. It's probably the dumbest thing I have ever asked a mechanic - "would you please activate child locks?"
Anyway, I'll probably just unscrew the locks (my girls haven't tried to unlock them but I won't be taking any chances)

tommy

Just update the door pins and problem solved. Yes, it sucks that MB didn't allow for this safety feature. Yes, they should have. Yes, there's a very cheap fix for this that takes 5 mins to do to all four doors (if you're going to do the rears, might as well do the fronts - the golf tees are ugly and get in the way of resting your arm there when the window's open). And finally, yes, you people are making a mountain out of a molehill.

dkiogora

I chose to just remove the door pins and not replace them. We never use the pins to unlock the doors anyway. Like you said, no big deal - just a surprise to discover it wasnt there.