Dave The Hippo

Hello, so in the near future I am swapping the outer door panel with another that does not have rust. It would save me a lot of time and headaches if I dont have to swap the airbag onto the new one. If I dont swap the existing airbag to the new door would it present any problems with the airbag system?

khomer2

From this diagram, door skin and door frame are separate components

Typically, a bodyshop replaces the entire frame and skin in one piece, when damaged beyond economic repair.
If you are replacing only the skin, then you dont need to touch the airbag assembly, which is riveted to the door frame.
If you are replacing the entire door with another, then yes, you need to remove the air assembly and reinstall.

ihaveaquestion

I am going to operate a similar procedure on my 2000 C230 Kompressor (W202). In fact, the doors are on their way to my house as I am typing out this message.

Looking at this diagram, the door skim and shell are separated just like the W210

I believe it requires soldering skill to get them separated and otherwise, is that correct? Mine will arrive with the entire frame and skin in one piece.

khomer2

Soldering is not the correct term to use. Soldering is for electrical component/wiring work.

ihaveaquestion

Thanks. I think that is beyond my skill at this point. I will just go ahead and replace the whole thing.

The thing about the airbag is that it's held by rivet, which I've never worked with. Will be interesting when I get to that point....I may have to buy a riveter just in case.

khomer2

Quite easy to remove.
Regarding the rivets. drill them out and either replace them with rivets (you will need a HD rivet gun - rent one if you dont own one). NOT the cheap ones.
Or you can use machine screws with nuts and thread lock.
There are plenty of good youtube videos that demonstrate rivet removal.

ihaveaquestion

I've decided to restore my W202 because I just love the square body of old Mercedes despite Geico pronounced it totaled (dead) 4 years ago.

I got the passenger doors (front & rear) from eBay so I will be working on them very soon. Just doing as much research as I can before I get my hands dirty.

illest

Swapping the air bag over is easy. I replaced the front and rear doors on my car because of rust. You just need a drill to drill out the rivets and a rivet gun I got mine from Harbor freight for like $15.

Dave The Hippo

illest, they may be easy but when I bought the door it came with the airbag still installed with the door including the mirror, etc. The only things that were missing were the speaker as well as the computer. The main question I have is that will there be any issues with the airbag system if I do not swap the airbag that was original for the car into the new door?

bbirdwell

Air bags are not coded to the car. You want to have the car powered down when disconnecting/connecting the air bag; if power is on the car when you disconnect/connect the air bag the computer "sees" the disconnect/connect process as an intermittent connection. That throws a code that requires STAR or equivalent to clear since it is seen as a safety malfunction.

Dave The Hippo

Awesome, thats all I wanted to know because it would be the worst if I had to deal with that after I got the door in. I grabbed on an awesome deal to fix a large amount of the rust and I took it and I thank all of you for helping me figure this all out!