ot1

Yep I see that now, they are only partially chromed.

bultaco956

I'm new to the forum - I bought an 07 E63 about a month an a half ago.


MB world has been worth its weight in gold so working through the E63's list of minor squawks.


The keyless go drivers door handle would lock but not unlock the car. All of the other handles worked fine. I read this thread carefully and figured it would take about 20 minutes to replace the door handle with a new one I bought online.


Everything went as described until it came time to insert the new handle. It went in partway but would not seat cleanly. Then it jammed. I could not get it in or out. I pulled pretty hard but it would not come back out. When I connected the front electrical connector I could see that the female plug had a mount but I didn't see any easy way to get it back in the mount so I just pushed it back in the general area. I stopped and went back to this thread and read another post that said the window broke this connector left hanging loose, and it was a real PITA for that owner to repair the broken connector.


So with a jammed handle and a known unseated connector I took a deep breath and went over to the W211 door panel thread and got a pdf from the factory manual with pictures showing how to remove the door panel. I went slowly and that went fine. These cars are so well built compared to my string of Detroit V8s with their cardboard and vinyl door panels.


With everything off the inside of the door, the back side of the door handle mount is -- of course - up high behind sheet metal, but you can get on the ground and crane your head and use a high intensity flashlight to look up in there, I was able to see that the electrical connector was not jamming the door handle but it was clearly hanging out of its mount in possible danger of being snagged by the descending window.


Satisfied that the handle was not jammed by the connector or unusually stuck I went bask to the outside and stuck my finger in behind the "L" part of the handle and pulled that out and with a firm tug was able to free my new $180 handle without breaking anything.


2 lessons here:


1. I think the handle jammed because (a) I did not seat the front gasket against the door before inserting the front part of the handle. There is not a lot of play once the wire is reconnected but there is enough room to seat the gasket separately before inserting the front part of the handle. There is a tab on the back side of the front gasket and ridges that locate the gasket precisely in the door hole. I think the tab on the gasket ended up outside the door jamming the handle when I tried to seat the gasket and the handle at the same time. (b) When you insert the "L" at the back part of the handle it make sure it goes behind everything it needs to. It was hard to see but it seems like there are two plates there and I think the rear part of my handle only went behind one plate when it jammed. Reach in into the rear hole when the handle is completely out and pull/feel the release plate(s) and you will see what I mean. Another poster reported success using a small screwdriver to pry/move the release plates out when inserting the rear "L" of the handle.


OK - so my handle went in cleanly on the second try.


2. Going back inside the door -- the front female electrical plug has two small molded in plastic pins on the outside of the plug - you can see those if it is loose and you pull it out of the door when the handle is out. Inside the door there is a plastic mount/cradle with two small holes for the pins to click into. I studied the mount with my flashlight and reached up and was able to get the plug it to click in after a couple of tried by feel. Remember at this point my male and female plugs are connected because I have already seated the handle. I am not sure how you would ever get the female plug back in its cradle without taking the door panel off if it pops out when you are disconnecting the male plug , but I suppose it might be possible. Anyway although taking the door panel off was a PITA, at least I know the window is not going to hang on a loose electrical connector.


One final lesson. I put the door panel mostly back together and closed the door to try the new handle. The locks were not working properly. I finally noticed there was a "door open" message on the dash with the doors all closed. I had not put the plastic cover back on that surrounds the door latch yet. That plastic cover must be on to depress the switch in the door frame signaling the door is closed. I put that piece back on and viola, the handles all worked!


So it took a good deal longer than 10 minutes but I was patient and thanks to this thread keyless go is now a go for me!

alboogiee

Sorry to bump an old thread--I tried swapping front and rear handles but they are drastically different; 2007 E63 wagon for reference. And thank you Jake for the write up!

DubVBenz

deleted because I was being a frustrated *****

daniwheel

The images are not opening for me.
Anybody else has a copy of them?

corsican69

Pictures are gone! HELP!

anomadtoo

bumping this and hope someone has the pictures from the first post as they are not showing. thanks!

Teambft

Ditto......bumping this and hope someone has the pictures from the first post as they are not showing. thanks!

Found this on the tube.....fast forward to about the 4:30 mark:

ot1

Rovel

This thread is very helpful. Unfortunately my keyless door handles started going off one after another. I am not sure why but they all started failing with difference of few days. Anyhow... I was able to follow the steps and replace the handle just fine. But something is hitting against the glass as I hear some noise when rolling my window all the way up. Has anyone had similar problem? What could it be?

I am worried that it could be the connector on the female connector on the front. It pops out of its place when you pull the handle out. I am not sure how you would ever get the plug back in its cradle without taking the door panel off if it pops out when you are pulling the handle out.

MSG 55G

I haven’t done door handle replacement yet; however, taking door panel off isn’t that difficult of a job. Search YouTube for instructions on how to and you’ll find it’s very simple and likewise on installing panel back on.

Rovel

From internet it looks like even if you remove the door panel you don't get access to where the handle is. You would have to reach from the bottom but only if one had tiny tiny hands. Doesn't look like it is the recommended method. I doubt that MB mechanics would have removed the panel if I went to them for door handle replacement.

Rovel

I hope somebody can help me here. I was switching driver side door handle. Put the new one in and then realized that the keyless go wire was getting on the way of the glass. I tried reinstalling the door handle multiple times with no success. Eventually some plastic that looks like a retainer for the keyless go connection came loose How do I fix it? Should I take the door panel off? If I should remove the door panel, how will I glue that black foam thing back on the door?

anomadtoo

I know this is old but what did you do to fix it? I plan on doing my front doors this weekend.

Rovel

I ended up not putting that plastic retainer thing back in its place. I removed the door panel but still couldn't easily access it because it is behind the actual metal frame. I taped the wire to the metal using an electrical tape to ensure that it doesn't get in the way of the window. Works fine since then.

mtupower

https://www.eeuroparts.com/Parts/657...1176011709999/

anomadtoo

this is not a good price as you can get them new, already painted to your car specific color, for this price.

cetialpha5

Basically the problem is that any company that resells MB parts basically has to buy it from the dealer and then apply their own mark up. So for MB specific parts, it's always cheaper going directly to the dealer although sometimes if you'd like the lifetime warranty it might be worth paying more at FCPeuro as I think MB parts just have a 2 year warranty.

Yuille36

Over a period of three years, I ended up replacing every single door handle on my 07 E63. And these OE door handles aren't cheap either.

6spdcoupe

This is completely false. First, a company reselling OEM parts is already buying it a decent bit lower than the dealership would charge then after their markup (depending on their volume status) it would bring it back up to or around dealership level. Secondly these companies are purchasing through a distribution hub (supplier) just the same as the dealership does. This is all basic reseller 101 and applies to just about anything 'resold'. Can the dealership price to consumer be lower on occasion ? Sure, but it's a rarity.

cetialpha5

I haven't found any reseller selling any OEM MB parts cheaper than a dealer. They're all only discounting 5-10% off dealer list prices. Many are just at dealer list prices. So I've just been getting them directly from the dealers which discount anywhere from 25-30%.

This is basically true of all the major euro vendors mentioned here. They have good prices for aftermarket parts, not for OEM parts.

YasS

Anyone know where to buy the driver's side door handle from? Can't see it on FCP Euro. The original links in this thread don't work anymore.

Both my driver's side handles are not working, but both passenger's side are working. Anyway to diagnose if it's the handles or the receivers in the doors?

My trunk handle looks stuck, it only pops open from the inside or by the key. Can't open it from the outside. I think I might need the actuator for the trunk.

cetialpha5

You're better off getting it from a dealer, they usually discount it more than parts resellers. Plus FCP probably knows not to carry it because they always seem to go after 4-8 years and they're in the $200-$300 range depending on color. You should get something that can scan MB specific codes so you'll know if it's the handle or something else. Lock and unlock doesn't work on both handles? You should also look at the dash and see what messages are coming up if any. For the trunk handle, those do stick, I'd like to replace mine but it's not that easy or a cheap of a replacement so I just spray some lubricant on the hinge which doesn't really help that much. I just manually move the handle back after opening it.

You could post your VIN and maybe some kind soul will look up the right part number for you or you could get a copy of EPC and look up the correct part number yourself. It's about $8.50 on eBay and also includes the WIS which is the dealer repair manual. Not that easy to use though.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2020-Merced...d/123730293730

Rovel

I also couldn't find them from anywhere other than dealers. Google OEM MB parts and sites such as https://www.mboemparts.com/ will come up. These are dealerships that have online sales. They are cheaper than walking into a physical dealership. It is common for the door handles to break around the same time as they age equally. In my car 3 handles started failing shortly one after another. I managed to save the last one using this trick . It is been 2.5 years and still works. I think it works. I replaced the driver door handle and been spraying it since bought to hopefully prolong its life.

anomadtoo

I replaced all mine this past summer. Cheapest I found new color matching was from https://www.autohauspartsdelivered.com/. I also order other parts from them. They are a dealership online parts store.

mit took about 20 mins each handle to replace. Also my passenger front door cable connection went bad so I ordered a used interior handle bracket from eBay which included the cable, and it works great after that replacement. So “could” have been the cable connection all along.