zkeller

Any of you guys ever have this problem? I guess I will have to hold the damn door closed for the drive home.

I am really starting to believe that MB has serious quality issues with the W211.

emoving

Did you wash the car and are you in a cold climate. Maybe it is iced up.

zkeller

It was washed a couple days ago. this happened once before and I thought it was just a fluke.

I will need to pull the door panel off and check it out.

emoving

Maybe it is gummed up. I would try cleaning the latch area with WD40 or something before pulling everything apart.

zkeller

I will give that a shot. thanks for the input. if that does not work I will fix it by driving it off a cliff.

ALLDATAdiy INFO

How is the alignment of the door when it's closed?

I wonder also if the door opening assist motor is malfunctioning.

zkeller

I am tending to agree with you on that becuase I hear the actuator making a funny noise when I command it.

Do you think that I can disconnect the actuator connector to make it happy for now?

zkeller

I called the Stealership and they said that they have had quite a few 211 cars in for the same thing. the latch mechanism prematurely wears out on some cars. I took the mechanism out and the issue is inside the unit.

Forrest Gump 9

Same thing happened on my rear driver side door. Went to the stealership, $500 later it fixed.

zkeller

$220 for a new one and I will install it. I am convinced that MB has issues with these cars. My car is an 04 with 81k miles on it and within the last 6 months I replaced two door switches, brake switch, brake hydrualic unit, rear brakes, supercharger clutch, fuel sending units at the tank and the siren unit.

way2evil

81k miles and you are *****ing about those few things? Ive seen more stuff break on Hondas at 81k miles.

zkeller

You do not buy a MB and expect to have to hold the door shut all the way home, period. **** poor design.

way2evil

No. **** breaks. Get over it. If you wanted something that would be cheap when it breaks you should have bought a Chevy. Every car has things that break.

emoving

Shoulda bought a lower mileage car. Who knows how that thing was serviced. It's always the cars fault.

snail45

I am going to have to agree with you. MB has a lot of little gizmos that do unfortunately stop working. Regardless of the price to fix it, that is a lot of money to pay for a car that has more failures than say, my wifes first car, a 1998 ford escort. 100,000 miles and all that has been replaced are tires, battery, and spark plugs. Everything that was designed to work, still works.

MB is a buy it new and get rid of it brand. Long term reliability is very bad aside from a few cases from what I have seen.

snail45

Didn't see him complaining about the price. He seems upset that things are breaking.

zkeller

I did not ask for your elitest opinion. I can afford it.
It's the whole idea. I tend to do most of my own work as a hobby. Isn't that the purpose of a forum? not make smart *** comments.

I tore the lock mechanism down. Found the small electric motor in the door release is failing causing the trigger gear to not return to it's fully closed position.

way2evil

I don't get it. Are you complaining that you bought a high mileage car and things are breaking or just that you have to do some work?

snail45

He was asking if anybody else has had the same problem. Then he had a few responses on how to fix it. He then figured it out.

zkeller

I may have "complained" a bit but hopefully if someone else has the same issue, they will know what the problem may be.

80k is not high miles for an 04. Fuel leaks from gas tanks at 80k are not acceptable regardless of whether it is a MB or a Hyundai for that matter and doors that do not latch further adds to the frustration level. What if my pregnant wife would have been driving it, seatbelt on or not? Or what if my 2 year old decided to light up a cigerette in the back seat?

emoving

Go drive an escort then. How do you compare a piece of crap escort to a MB.....that crap box had a 4 cyl engine...crank Windows, manual locks, and 12 inch tires. How does that compare to a super car with all the technology these cars have. There's nothing to break. You could drive a base neon...I bet it dosnt have a power trunk and keyless go that will break.

way2evil

Then you'd have one hell of a problem on your hands. If your pregnant wife is driving your E55 and the door pops open you better hope shes belted up. If your two year old is smoking in the back seat maybe you should re-evaluate your parenting methods.

Seriously, things break on cars. It happens. You can ***** all you want but its still going to happen, especially on a high mileage car.

snail45

I was saying that MB does have all of those extra things that break. I do drive the escort from time to time. It keeps working. Was just saying, if you would have read and comprehended my most, that MB has more technology but the technology is not reliable.

I know technology costs more to fund and buy. Just wish it was more reliable. Trust me, I liked my MB's more than the escort. Will be in another one sometime too. Don't be an a **. I am on your side.

zkeller

I get your point. I guess it's just the severity of the issues at hand that got my panties in a bunch. It is a bad *** car no doubt and worth it to keep on the road. Looking at from another angle, I paid 28k for the car, the original owner paid a bit over 100k new so stop my ****ching 8>)

emoving

Right, so you would agree any high dollar car.....A8...S6....Bentley.....is gonna cost money to keep up......and the higher mileage......the more required. That's what's going o with these cars now.....they are so cheap....people that couldn't normally afford them can now and the still expect to pay escort maint. on them. Just saying....not arguing.