VroomVroom

Is there a way to lock the rear doors while driving so that they couldn't be opened from the inside? I remember there was a feature like this in older cars (not sure if in Mercedes) where you could press a button on the door itself and it would only be opened from the outside.

scorchie

Change the door pins to the kind with no flare at the top. In the US, these are commonly used on the W208 CLK. You can get them at the dealer for $5 or so for two. After installing them, the back seat passenger will not be able to unlock the door, or to unlock it either.

These pins are supplied on the W210 and W211 in Europe. Interestingly, the door mechanism is different in Europe such that if a rear seat passenger tries to open a locked door, it automatically unlocks (like the front doors). I guess in Europe, primarily adults would sit in the back of an E-class; in the US, primarily children.

I always change to these pins and have often considered changing the door opening mechanism to the European one so that rear seat passengers can get out by themselves, but it appears you have an application for the original mechanism!

Well, that's how mine works. It appears to have a hole for a "child lock" mechanism but there's nothing there... some newer models, the rear doors may unlock automatically..

-s-

bmms8

or you can just take out to pins, but than be a hassle if you need to put them back on a lot. gl

northbenz

Interesting. This was Consumer Reports biggest complaint about the E Class - no child lock feature. Guess Mercedes is more worried about adults suing for not being able to get out of the E Class in an accident than about a child escaping while the car is underway. Let's see the average jury verdict for wrongful death of an adult is $300,000 plus while the average jury verdict for wrongful death of a child is $50,000 minus. Guess it all makes good economic sense - at least to the bean counters.

VroomVroom

That's exactly why I'm trying to find out how to lock them - child safety. Will look into changing pins though.

glojo

I am regularly being surprised by the amount of 'de-specification' that takes place on US E-class vehicles.

Child Proof safety locks on rear doors are something that has been standard on the great majority of all motor vehicles for many years. How sad that the fear of litigation has stopped this option being fitted to US vehicles. I wonder if this is also the reason why electric folding exterior mirrors are not fitted, or the very useful SBC Hold??

Before coming onto this brilliant forum I thought that US spec. vehicles would contain all the ‘bells and whistles’ including some that we are not offered. So far the only ‘extra’ fitting I have noticed is the indicator repeaters on the front bumper, ooops nearly forgot that very popular US 'beep, beep', Keyless Go option that you appear not to like.

No DVD manual
Cut down version of COMAND
Restricted Lingtronic
Reduced option list for CDI range
No Child locks
No Electric folding mirrors
ASSYST Plus ??
Lack of car radio options from the steering wheel

As the months go by and we talk more and more about this wonderful vehicle no doubt more of these differences will come to light.

Regards,
John
Sunny Torquay

Apollo

Hi

Do we have child locks on the UK vehicles?

Now I am beginning to see why USA is getting these vehicles much cheaper than Europe.

Either that or the risk of suing. In the UK America have a bit of a reputation for suing for everything. Maybe this is unfair but maybe this is how Mercedes see it also.
I could just imagine what would happen if SBC Hold came off and bumped the car in front, or worse and hit a pedestrian.

marksatex

I have a Chev Suburban, the consumate Soccar Mom family tote vehicle and it does not have child proof locks. The point being that not all cars we expect to be so "family oriented" are equipped with this either.


I will say that it has such stiff mechanical action required to unlock the rear doors that a child has difficulty.. Never the less, This ommision seems hard to imagine other than the liability calculation someone already mentioned.

glojo

I certainly do not disagree with the reasoning, but I also find it 'strange'.

There is not a month goes by without my reading about someone who inadvertantly puts there foot on the accelerator instead of the brake, causing either injury or damage. I have yet to hear of a vehicle manufacturer being sued.

Likewise the E-class has a foot operated parking brake. I wonder if anyone has inadvertantly applied this brake instead of the clutch?

Can US owners sue MBUSA for NOT fitting SBC Hold because when doing a hill start the vehicle rolls backwards\forwards into a stationary vehicle?

I find it terribly sad that litigation is now a major worry in all aspects of life.

Regards to all you lovely lawyers out there
(I've got no money, no property, no future and no hope so please don't sue me)

John
Sunny Torquay

glojo

Yes (on Estate cars anyway) Page 73 refers.

John

Otto

good points, I brought it to this forum but a lot of royal mb lovers defensed it for mbusa.

my point is at least mbusa provides sbc hold as an option for buyers. (how much does it cost? hundreds of bucks? for a sefe reason, this feature should be included, I don't see any buyers care for paying money on sbc hold feature. if this can be retrofitted in US, I will install it right away.)

frankly speaking, mb sbc is NOT a great feature at all. I don't feel it better than the brake system in my old e39. safer? no; noisy? yes.

Barry45RPM

On my '04 E-500, when the door locks automatically engage at 9 MPH, the front doors can be opened up by simply pulling on the door handle to open the door. The locks will unlock & the door will open... To open the rears, pulling on the door handle does nothing, the doors must be unlocked first from the switch on the dash, and then you can pull on the door handle to open the rear door from the inside... so a child in the rear can't open a locked door without parental permission (unlocking), right? Isn't that child proof locks by default?

glojo

You are getting slightly confused. The childproof lock is a little plastic type switch located actually in the rear door right by the door latch. Each rear door can be individually 'locked', by which I mean only opened from the outside.

On the estate version there is also a childproof lock on the tailgate.

Regards,
John
Sunny
Torquay

W210

It appears that child proof locks are essentially built in if the rear doors cannot be opened from the inside, unless unlocked first by the driver in the front with the master switch.

Seems like a better solution to me than the manual plastic switch.

I'm guessing that in an emergency situation after a crash, the system can automatically unlock all doors so that passengers can escape, something which the mechanical childsafe locks will not allow?

glojo

Noooo....
Childproof locks are completely seperate. From all the previous comments US vehicles do not now have this option.

Oslo is the clever 'chappie' that can take pictures and put them on the forum and "a picture would be better than a thousand words".

If you open a rear door and look at the door latch that is on the actual open door, there is a black plastic toggle type switch.

When the door is closed the switch is then hidden in the seal between the door and bodywork so it cannot be accessed. The only way the door can be opened is by using the external door handle.

There is no button, switch, etc that can be used from anywhere inside the vehicle when all the doors are closed.

Regards,
John

Fastbuck

To avoid confusion, the "Master" switch is still present in UK models. However, if the child locks are engaged, the Master switch will still unlock the door but the internal latch is inoperable and the door cannot be opened from within.

ATS

In Canada, when the rear doors auto lock or I press the lock on the dash the ONLY way to open the rear from inside if for me to press the dash unlock button...

(I'm glad.. I have a 2 year old..)

W210

John, I understand what youre saying and have seen those mechanical switches. But if what Barry45RPM is correct (sorry haven't got time to check my own car!), and the rear doors cannot be opened by themselves from the inside door handle when the doors are locked, does that not serve the same purpose as childproof lock?

I do not see the added advantage of the manual switch inside the door unless your child is desperate enough to know how to pull the pin (in which case you can still unscrew the pin). Like I said, in an emergency, don't we want all doors to be able to be opened from the inside?

W210

Thank you! Mine is only 4 months.. I guess your 2 year hasn't figured out how to pull the pin first

glojo

I agree with what your saying and 'childproof' locks have perhaps been overtaken by modern technology.

My Nooooo was typed with a big on my face. Please do not think I was trying to be rude.

Nice speaking to you,

John
Still very hot
Torquay

Barry45RPM

That's what I'm saying...it is not necessary to actuate little plastic levers in the door edge to elect to make make the rear doors "childproof". When the doors are locked electronically at 9 mph, the rear door handles will not open the rear doors from inside. Someone in front must first open a front door, which unlocks all the doors, or electrically unlock all the doors by using the switch on the dash.

Therefore "childproof rear door locks" are in the car by default "electronically" and the need for a user default mechanical interface in the door edge is not necessary. The slot on the door edge is probably all that is left of the old mechanical set up.

By the way, my car has keyless go, so maybe this is only on cars so equipped. (My 20 yr old son was stunned the other day that he could not get out of the rear. Usually I am out faster than rear seat passengers are, so the door would open for him, but I was fiddling with the sunroof & he tried to get out first and couldn't.)

scorchie

Can't you just unlock the door (you know, pull the pin up) like everyone else?

It's been a long time where Mercedes rear doors in the US do not automatically unlock, and in Europe they do.

A lot of people get stunned by things they don't understand... many people are stunned that they can't get out of my G-class (front passenger too) until I open/unlock the door. In reality, it is just harder to pull the handle when the door is locked, and they aren't used to it.

-s-

scorchie

Apparently Mercedes at some time thought that the extra switch was important.

The W210 had them; the W202 had them; I am unsure if the W203 has them.

These are US-spec cars.

Also, the application is not just "child-proofing". For instance, if you wanted to outfit your car as a police car, this would be a good feature to have.

-s-

Barry45RPM

A "kid" can't just pull up the pin from a child seat or booster seat, and since a child had never seen a door unlocked by pulling up the pin (non electrically), why would he even try?

The child proof locking feature as it exists in the W 211 is an electronic improvement over the old mechanical method. . and if the car were to have been a cop car, along with the many other special options that go into the car, they could incorporate the old way if necessary. Look how many versions of the car actually exist since the car is sold all over the world with different wheels, wood colors, transmissions, radios, packages, RH drive, LH drive, 6 different engines, different fuel requirements, etc. etc. etc.

So to answer the original question... the car has "child locks"... different from the way they used to do it, but sufficient to do the job.

Next topic...

scorchie

I really don't understand how they are still childproof locks.

The "old system" was EXACTLY the same as the "new system" except the old system had "childproof locks" whereas the "new system" doesn't have that feature.

You were writing about your 20 year old kid. You mean to tell me he's never seen anyone pull the lock pin up to unlock the door? If you read what I wrote, you would understand that I was asking about your 20 year old kid... why can't HE just pull the lock pin up to get out, like everyone else?

I apologize if I didn't edit out the other parts of your message to make it clear... so I've clarified.

And if you're addressing my response to Will (W210), he wrote that "Someone in front must first open a front door, which unlocks all the doors, or electrically unlock all the doors by using the switch on the dash." My point is that's not true at all, all one needs to do is pull the pin up first...

-s-