Hey Guys,

I'm trying to order some painted door handles for my 2002 C230 coupe & caps and so far I got everything except for the passenger side cap. Could anyone help me out and confirm a North American part no for this (color code 9197)?

Here are the parts I have so far:

203-766-08-01-9197 Passenger Door Handle
203-766-07-01-9197 Driver's Door Handle
203-766-03-35-9197 Driver's Cap

And I need this one:

203-???-??-??-9197 Passenger Side Cap (Preferably with IR hole)

(Note: The passenger side cap shouldn't have a key hole)

My dealer's parts people can't seem to figure this one out either. Anyhow if anyone can help me out on this one it would be appreciated.

Rich...

Can you paint the ones you have?

Well I could, but I decided on OEM for hopefully a better an exact color match & hopefully better durability.

Plus the price wasn't too bad: $168.92 CAD (incl. 14% tax) for everything but the passenger side cap which they are still trying to track down.

The thing is I *know* they exist because what is a person with the painted door handles to do if they get in an accident?

I'm just trying to expidite the process by giving them a part #, or just buying it from some dealer that knows how to work the "parts computer" a tad better

Rich...

$170 for each or for all 4 of them?

Nope that's for 2 ....luckily I have a coupe so it was within the realm of what I was willing to pay (~$200).

I hear you can get them painted for ~$200 CAD based on my travels in various "door handle" threads on here.

Anyhow....hopefully further harrassment of my dealer's parts dept will turn up the passenger side cap I need. A part number I will post on here for everyone else .

Rich...

The IR cap module is part of the security system and has to be painted. Everything else is just a swap part.

The keyhole module is worth about 10X the price of the other parts and if you want on you have to apply to Mercedes for permission to purchase it.

I'm not sure I understand....I have the cap cover for the driver's side (complete with keyhole & IR hole), why would the passenger side be any different (aside from the fact that it doesn't have a keyhole)?

Could you elaborate a bit?

Rich...

All passenger door handles are generic, they are nothing more than cover plates. This includes the cap at the end as well as the handle itself.

The keyhole with IR sensor on the end of the drivers door handle is security coded to the car. So replacement requires special recoding of the car and anti-theft permission from Germany.

IC....well I wasn't planning on replacing the IR or key assemblies, I just wanted the cover pieces (all of which I have now, except for the elusive passenger side cap).

Some have suggested these part #'s on MBKlasse:

203 760 18 77 9197

And:

203 766 04 35 9197

The last one looks right as the driver's side cap is 203-766-03 35 9197 (and if the 3rd set of #'s are even they are supposed to be passenger side).

Anyone care to confirm?

Rich...

i would assume so. ill ive read before said odd was left side of car and even was right.

The first number is japanese version of right cap for left hand drive cars.

The second number is right cap for right hand driver cars.

Try A203 760 16 77 and of course 9197 is obsidian black.

I think the confusion has been that you must look only in the L versions (LHD) and then find the [954] option which matches the right door. Personally I dont know how the japanese version differs other than it might not be in Germany for dispatch.

Get those three things together and you should be ok.

Ok I'll talk to the parts dept on Monday morning and see if I can finally get things straightened out. Does this part number you have suggested include the hole for the IR sensor? I suspect those that don't are the cap for the right rear door in the sedan which don't need the IR hole.

Oh, and what does this "954" option mean? Will the dealers parts dept know?

Rich...

I dont know anything about an IR hole. I just quoted you the option in the parts list.

[954] = Avantgarde

The only purpose of the IR hole is to open/close the windows. So why would the passenger have the key ? Unless of course you are such a nice guy that you always open the door for a girl and then hate the idea of walking all the way over to the other side to close the windows.

Ok, I just returned from the dealership and got them to check out that #:

203 760 16 77 9197

It came up as a "cover" so that's good. And the price was about right ($36 CAD and change). So I told them to go ahead and order it. The only question that arose was the option # Avantgard (954), Sport, Elegant etc. What's the difference on the parts between the various trim levels? Is Avantgarde just painted and no chrome or anything?

In anycase, thanks for your help and hopefully when the part arrives it will be the right one.

Well in short [954] is the code dealers see next to a part. It is only used when there is a different code for classic and elegance. Otherwise you hardly see it.

There are some NON-Classic parts and you see it then too. As in Avantgarde + Elegance only.

The door handles for [954] have no chrome.

Ok cool, I was just getting worried when I saw all that on the parts screen. Now all I have to do is wait till the part comes from Germany (~2 weeks). With any luck it will even have the hole for the IR. If not oh well I'll just be happy to have this hole ordeal over with hehehe.

Rich...

The only reason you need an IR hole is to close or open the windows. If so programmed it will also move the sunroof.

Is that the thing you wanted.

If your car doesnt already have the IR hole then it is not wired to accept the part anyway. IR is part of the security system.

Well, I currently have the IR hole on both the passenger side & driver's side. So it would be nice if I could keep it, if not no big deal I'll just detach the sensor (I hope?).

Rich...

In that case you only need have ordered off the chassis number of an Avantgarde with the same body colour and the same style of door handle.

A walk around a dealership is all that one needs to acquire such information.

You can almost bet on a C32 in the same colour.

Hmmmm....well too late now . Hopefully the part I ordered has the IR hole.

Plus until I gave them part # 203 760 16 77 9197, they said I couldn't order the cap alone, they told me the cap with the IR hole was sold with the IR sensor as well for a cost of ~$150 CAD. This is the "guide" part mentioned in previous threads.

I also gave them a VIN of a 4 door C230 with painted handles when I was there and again they said the best they could do was get the cap + IR sensor for $150. All this kind of makes sense in that a cap for a car which doesn't have an IR sensor *can* be ordered without a sensor because it doesn't have a sensor there in the first place . If the car has a sensor for whatever reason they bundle the cap & IR sensor.

So I don't know. The whole thing was getting rather frustrating to get a straight answer, and so many part #'s flying around. Dear lord, can't MB just standardize a tad more? If it's the same cap...just give it the same # .

Time will tell....

Rich...

Well....the saga continues . First the good news:

Part #: 203-760-16-77-9197 IS indeed the cap for the passenger side. This however does *NOT* have the IR hole. Not a big deal, just detach the sensor cable and your are home free (minus the IR sensor on the passenger side).

The bad....I somehow got TWO passenger side door handles . I ORIGINALLY asked for these handle parts:

203-766-08-01-9197
203-766-07-01-9197

And what I got from the parts department was:

211-760-16-70-9197
203-766-07-01-9197

I originally assumed that the parts fellow must have swapped the 211 part for the 203 due to stocking issues, or a discontinued part. Plus 211 handles should fit perfectly fine on the 203's, so I see no problem with that.

Secondly, I thought the 3rd set of #'s being odd meant driver's side, and an even # meant passenger side, so how can both of these be passenger side?

So can anyone help me here in at least confirming that the parts I ordered originally WERE the right ones? And secondly, confirm what the heck these last two part #"s actually are?

Did somebody perhaps goof in Germany when they boxed these things? All threads I've read indicates 201-766-07-01-9197 SHOULD be driver's side, but that's not what I got.

I've no clue what to do now other that go back to the parts dept and make a scene .

Rich...

Well, I just got back from the dealer. They phoned up the warehouse in Toronto to verify the part #, and apparently the part number (203-766-07-01-9197) was correct: left side handle. So somebody at the warehouse in Germany or Toronto must have goofed when they boxed it .

As for the part swap:

203-766-08-01-9197 --> 211-760-16-70-9197 (Right side door handle)

That was fine because the 203 part # is an older part design, and they now use an updated part design which has a new # (hence the 211). The main difference is that the new one has some metal embedded to further reduce the gap tolerances.

To be sure things match they are getting me the new part revision for the new left side handle they ordered, so it should be a 211 part too. Anyhow....hopefully in a week this ordeal will be over, and then I can start making their lives hell again by ordering the clear CLK mirror signal lights, and perhaps the new 2005 grill design .

On the bright side I've become excellent at door handle removal , I can remove them in easily under 2 min.....so make sure you leave your doors locked :v.

Rich...

Hi Rich,
I'm going through the same exact problem with my door handles,
except I'm looking for color code 744 (Brilliant Silver).

Here's what I was able to gather from your thread, but still need some help !

Passenger's Door Handle part # 203-766-08-01 or
# 211-760-16-70

Driver's Door Handle part # 203-766-07-01 or
# 211-xxx-xx-xx

Understand the door handle parts are basically the same for 203 & 211, but...
What is the "gap tolerance reduction" thing about with these new 211 parts?
What is the new 211 part # for the driver's door handle ?

now for the fun stuff...

Driver's side Cap w/ keyhole & IR hole part # 203-766-03-35

Passenger's side Cap w/ IR hole part # 203-xxx-xx-xx
Passenger's side Cap w/OUT IR hole part # 203-760-16-77

so bottom line...........................
what is the part # for the passenger's side Cap WITH the IR hole.

I don't need the IR sensor, I don't need new key assembly, just the painted covers with the correct holes. My IR sensors work perfectly opening up the windows and sunroof before I get in the car on those hot summer days !!!

Please help, so I can go

Here's the low down:

Passenger's Door Handle
The 203-766-08-01 part number has been discontinued and you are supposed order the new 211-760-16-70 part number. I have this part, and it is visually confirmed.

Driver's Door Handle
Same deal here, the 203-766-07-01 part # has been discontinued and now there is a new part # 211-xxx-xx-xx, I've not gotten this part yet (should have it this coming week), so I'll post the # when I have it (and have visually confirmed it is correct).

Driver's side Cap
part # 203-766-03-35 is correct and there is no problem here. Again visually confirmed etc.

Passenger side cap
Here's where it gets annoying, according to my dealer's parts dept. and all the research I've done on the forums, you cannot order the passenger side cap WITHOUT the IR sensor assembly. Thus if you really want the cap with the IR hole you need to order another IR sensor assembly, this cap + IR sensor is called the "GUIDE" that everyone mentions on here (dont' ask me why). The result is a whooping bill of ~$150 CAD for JUST this cap since you don't even need another sensor assuming your existing one works fine (I don't have the GUIDE part #, as I didn't bother with this option).

After considering that expensive option, I decided to go back to the forums for more research. It turns out the other option is to get a cap WITHOUT the IR hole (#203-760-16-77 & again confirmed), which you can get with out the IR sensor because the cap doesn't have a hole for it . I suspect some cars in the US don't have the IR sensor on the passenger side for some reason or another and this is why this part exists.

So basically you pay $150 for a cap with an IR hole, or ~$35 CAD for one without it (you will still have a working IR sensor on the driver's side). I'm going with the latter option till I can track down a painted cap with IR hole or perhaps paint my old cap.

Difference Between 211 & 203 Parts
With regards to the "gap tolerance" I conjecture the following:

The Mercedes engineers (God bless their souls) were unhappy with two things about the old handles:

1. VERY minor gap where the "cap facing" side of the handle goes into the side of the car. Demonstrated when you can wooble the handle up and down when you pull it out somewhat.
2. And possible wear & tear issues regarding the handle plastic rubbing the metal door surface when you pull the handle in and out during operation.

To fix these problems they seemed to have embedded some metal in the vertical facing surfaces of the handle on the stem that juts into the car (again, cap facing side of handle). This metal juts out ~0.5 millimeters above and below this previously level surface, closing the gap, and providing some more robust metal on metal contact.

(Hard to picture in your head, but when you see the handles the changes are obvious).

At the end of the day it's just typical Mercedes-Benz attention to detail that I assume we all know and love . Handles still fit, and work the same aside from the noted two improvements.

Hope this all helps, and good luck!

Rich...

wow !! many thanks for the info... please do let me know the 211 part # for the driver's door handle, and if by a strike of lightning you find out the part # for the cap with IR hole for the passenger side, pass that too ! Thanks again for the research !

Now, how the heck do I take these things off !!!! 2 minutes huh ???

...Carlos