Boot Lock Saga

[Ian B Walker]

Me is not a happy bunny. 3 Months ago I ordered a lock set for my beloved. Set duly arrived a week later. Having already changed a set on the shed I thought this was going to be a breeze. Door locks, easy peasy, Ignition Lock, a tad on the frustrating side, boot lock, this is where I am now really annoyed. When I went to fit the boot lock I found that it was the wrong one. Ok so back to friendly Stealers and pointed out to them that the lock was for an estate. They ordered one from Germany. Two weeks passed and no lock. Went to Stealers to enquire only to be told that Frankfurt had cancelled the order. Ok, being a reasonable guy I asked if they would order a new one. Order processed. Another two weeks went by and I once again enquired on the status of the order. It had been cancelled once again. Mr. Nice Guy was by now a little cross. I asked what were they going to do. "Bring in your car and we will change the barrels from the wrong one to the old one" Not ideal but a solution. Took the car in and they took the barrel out of the new lock. "Sorry Sir but we are pushed for time, can you fit it yourself?" Ok being me said yes.Now armed with the barrell this weekend I set about changing the barrels. Stripped down and photographed the proceedure (for the Howto), took the lock apart. Hang on, these barrells are different Went to stealers this morning and started being a not so Mr. Nice Guy. Had a few words to say to Said Parts Manager. Dumped all lock pieces on his desk and told him to sort it out. I was then told that my lock is no longer available and thats why the order had been cancelled twice. Communication? Non excistant! I am now going to have to settle for a second key to open the boot, I am not happy. Ok rant over, just wanted to get this off my chest.

 

[pammy]

aaaaw - how cr*p

 

[Kinky]

Have you got a remote contral locking system?

If so - then the inconveniece would only be when you specifically wanted to manually unlock it?

K

 

[Ian B Walker]

Have you got a remote contral locking system?

K

Nope, not that posh

 

[pepper&boulou]

Ian I can understand your frustation. the service from your dealer is diabolical,they should have come up with a better solution than that after all older mercedes are ambasadors for the marque and they should not forget it .I can honestly say my not so local stealer has been very helpful with me ,and when I order parts over the phone if I 'am not to keen of their responces to my queeries I ask to speak to Martin the parts manager that soon has them jumping through hoops ,anway good luck with the locks and don't settle for second best after all you are paying for their sevices .

 

[Sp!ke]

I am amazed that they no-longer make this part.

I mean your cars not that old is it?

I would suggest that you have a right for a full refund at the very least. You bought a complete lock set so as to have a single key. Having spent time fitting all the locks to then find yourself in this position means you wasted your time and money.

 

[Tan]

It may be worth checking with another dealership or with MB directly to get confirmation that the lock has been discontinued because thats sounds very odd. Besides what would have been the solution had the boot locked been damaged which is often the case if a vehicle is broken into.... I am sure that there must be a solution. If they do find a complete lock set that works I would insist that they either fit the parts tehmselves or compensate you for your wasted time.

Good Luck

Tan

 

[saorbust]

I thought one of the best things about Mercedes was the ability to order any part for any model, forever. In other words they had the entire parts / spares line available for you to back order if you needed it.

Confused now...

 

[sym]

I thought one of the best things about Mercedes was the ability to order any part for any model, forever. In other words they had the entire parts / spares line available for you to back order if you needed it.

Confused now...

well, . . . not entirely true . . . .

At the Mercedes Classic Centre, in Stuttgart, they hold all the blueprints for everything ever built, and sometimes have to hand-craft particular parts from the blueprints for very very old models, which i guess can take some time (!) . . . however I don't think Ian's car is old enough for this to need to happen !!! Well I certainly hope not, anyway !

S.

 

[Ian B Walker]

Update

I received a phone call this afternoon. Aparantly and this is from the parts manager, my car has Comfort Control, whatever that means, but according to my chassis number it hasnt. So they have ordered this lock unit. I am to phone them in the morning to see if it has arrived. Lets hope that this will be at long last correct. BTW what is Comfort Control?

 

[Kinky]

Don't MB have a policy of having parts available for 20 years after sunset of a model?

K

 

[Ian B Walker]

Yesterday I received my lock. The right one thank goodness. Went home with said lock and fitted. Not the easiest task and will update the how too in the non too distant future. Put my key in the lock and guess what? It doesnt fit. So I am now back to square one. Have a lock set and key to open doors and turn on ignition. I will need a seperate key to open boot. NOT what I wanted. Mb in Milton Keynes are going to get a call in the morning I want my money back and some compo for the trouble that has been caused. Am I being unreasonable? Views please.

 

[Brian WH]

Yesterday I received my lock. The right one thank goodness. Went home with said lock and fitted. Not the easiest task and will update the how too in the non too distant future. Put my key in the lock and guess what? It doesnt fit. So I am now back to square one. Have a lock set and key to open doors and turn on ignition. I will need a seperate key to open boot. NOT what I wanted. Mb in Milton Keynes are going to get a call in the morning I want my money back and some compo for the trouble that has been caused. Am I being unreasonable? Views please.

You tell them Ian, it's service like that that give MB a bad name.

 

[andy_k]

my car has Comfort Control, whatever that means,

this means that if you turn and hold the key the sunroof and windows will close as well as locking the doors.

On the W124 you should be able to tell if your car has it by looking at the door handles. if they have a chrome insert then it should have comfort locking. I think it became a standard feature about '92 but I could be wrong.

Good luck with the stealers and don't take any crap off them

Andy

 

[NormanB]

Ian

You have the high ground, give then both barrels (not a pun) and take no prisoners.

Tell them you are not alone and have back up in reserve!

Regards
NormanB

 

[Ian B Walker]

Result

Collected my NEW lock set 2 hours ago. They are all correct (at last ) Just done another complete lock change. Photoed the boot sequence and will update the howto over the weekend. Total time for everything 45 mins. (including the glove box lock which is the hardest)

 

[NormanB]

Ian

I am so glad you have finally achieved what you set out to do so long ago.

Has the dealer 'made good' for the obstacles they put in your way.

I look forward to the 'How To'

Regards
NormanB

PS: Thanks for the offer of help with posting pics - I just need a spare couple of hours to sort and edit them.

 

[Howard]

Comfort locking ?

my car has Comfort Control, whatever that means,

this means that if you turn and hold the key the sunroof and windows will close as well as locking the doors.

On the W124 you should be able to tell if your car has it by looking at the door handles. if they have a chrome insert then it should have comfort locking. I think it became a standard feature about '92 but I could be wrong.

Good luck with the stealers and don't take any crap off them

Andy

Hi Andy,

I'm new to the club and was just browsing when i read your reply on comfort locking, i have a 92 w124 230ce with the chrome inserts on the door handles , so went out to try and see if it shut the roof and windows like you said , (it didn't) , i was just curious as to where you heard this from, because it sounds cool to me and if the cars meant to do it, then i shall see about getting it fixed, is there any other way to tell if its fitted at all, before i bother my mercedes man and he says 'oh your models not got it'

Many thanks

H

 

[andy_k]

you should be able to tell from the car spec if you have the original documents but I would have thought it was fitted to a 92

Failing that a trip to your dealer with the chassis number and they can give you all the details about the car - a tip here - do it on a quiet day with the parts guys, you should get all the info for free, go to the service desk and they'll charge you

Andy

 

[Ian B Walker]

The other way to check is look in the boot at the lock. If a wire comes out of it, it should have "comfort control". This is what caused all my problems. BTW its the wire in the clip on the left