JohnVincent

Hi Everyone -

Encountering a bit of an issue with the left rear door of my G550. It started with the window not moving up or down, initially think it was a regulator issue. I tape the windows up to hold it for the night and the next morning the door didn't open. Both from the outside and inside of the car.

Took it to the Benz Dealership and they're quoting me for a Left Rear Door Panel. The mechanic thinks that there's no way to get the door open to diagnose without ruining/damaging the door panel.

Have any of you guys encountered this with your Gs? Any DIY fix or anything I can potentially tell the mechanic to try? It's around $4K alone to replace the Left Rear Door Panel plus everything else wrong with the window. It's killing my pockets smh.

shiann

What happens when you pull up he lock pin? Is here any resistance when pulling the interior door handle? You can take the door handle assembly out to check the cable from that end, but besides that, you can't really get at much without removing the door panel.

To remove the handle, use an interior pry tool on the front side of the plastic surround and pry. There is 1 clip holding it in from the front, so you'll have to wiggle and get creative as it's designed to be removed from the inside of the panel.

In the absolute worst case, you'll have to get a new door panel. They can destroy that and get access to everything inside the door.

Eric C

Mine did the same thing yesterday. My mechanism was gummed up. From the outside, I squirted some WD40 in and around the door button. The part you push in from the outside. Pushed it in and out many times and kept squirting WD40 in there to loosen it up. Now works great!

JohnVincent

Unfortunately there’s no lock pin for this door. I’m missing lock pins for about 3 out of my 4 doors.

Is the 4K+ price range accurate for this from the dealership? That’s pretty steep smh.

JohnVincent

Interesting. I don’t have the car currently as I’m getting light issues fixed. Once I get it back, I’ll try this out.

shiann

For where the lock pin is supposed to go, you can pry off the lock pin surround to get a little bit more space. Shine a light down there and try to find the threaded rod. It's possible it got stuck somewhere down in the door where it's not able to move at all, thus not letting the door unlock.

Stick something in there to try to find it as when you lock the doors without the lock pin, it can get really lost down in the door cavity. Keep using the key fob to lock/unlock the doors to maybe see the threaded rod moving around.

When you hit the lock/unlock button, is there any sound coming from inside the door?

If you can find the threaded rod in the door and hold it clear of the surrounding metal (maybe with a straw or something to guide it up around he metal towards the hole), you can push the unlock button and maybe actually unlock the door.

I would also do what Eric C suggested. Lube up the push cylinder, and also stick the WD-40 straw into the door gap and lube up the actual latch mechanism.

Worst case, he dealer can cut through the door panel to remove it and access the inside of the door to open up the latch mechanism. There is no need to have to get a new door.

You can check here for used door/door panels if you end up needing it.
http://exoticsalvage.com/search#q=W463

Floobydust

^ Yes, what he said. I have had the lock pin (rod) get stuck while working on the door, and viola, the door won't open. Without a cap, the rod will drop just far enough to wedge under the door cover and prevent the door from opening. Try fishing it out as described above.

JohnVincent

Just wanted to say thanks for the tips above. It worked! I was able to get the rear door open. Now back to either Benz or an Indy to get the window fixed. Most likely need a new regulator.

shiann

Great news! Definitely beats cutting open a door and the costs associated with that.

Be sure to replace the lock pins so you hopefully don't run into this issue again. Now the door lock actuators + window regulators, that's a different story. Be prepared to replace those more often than expected.