HELP! 2011 C220 (W204) REAR RIGHT DOOR STUCK CLOSED FROM INSIDE AND OUTSIDE

[itsmattyjayy]

Hello everybody! I'm new to the forum, as you may be able to see? I recently bought my first ever Mercedes, I got a good deal on it because the rear right door wasn't able to be opened from the outside, the handle just pops out when you pull it. No worries, it still locked as normal and was openable? from the inside so I made do.

A very confident friend of mine said if I switched the switch on the inner of the door - which I now know is the child lock switch - the problem would be solved. Well, you guessed it, I now can't open the door from the inside OR the outside.

I took it to a local garage and he said he has no idea how to fix it, without breaking the door. I'm wandering whether I can somehow get a coat hanger in there and 'flick' the child lock back up, allowing access from the inside after which I can then get the door handle repaired.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. If anyone is a competent mechanic or bodywork specialist? I'm in the Bolton/Manchester regions and would be happy to pay for the privilege of opening my door once again if anyone knows a fix or has done it themselves or knows of someone (or a garage) that can fix such an issue reasonably.

Thanks!
Matt

 

[c180081c]

I once had a similar issue on my w203, I sacrificed the door card as it was the cheaper option, once removed you can access the latch mechanism and open the door, reattach to the outer handle and your away. Fairly tricky but I wouldn’t have them break the door


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[itsmattyjayy]

I once had a similar issue on my w203, I sacrificed the door card as it was the cheaper option, once removed you can access the latch mechanism and open the door, reattach to the outer handle and your away. Fairly tricky but I wouldn’t have them break the door


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hey buddy, thanks for taking the time to reply!

Good news is it's fixed! Better news is nothing was broken in the process on the car. I did break my younger sisters Nintendo stylus trying to use it as a lockpick.

I had two ideas, one off which was from a YouTube video titled handle broken, child lock on by a dougiemaine so many thanks to him for his idea, although it's not what I used to fix my car but I'll mention it as I think it would also work!

What he did was use a lockpick to engage his broken door handle, where once opened he could disengage the child lock. I don't see why a trained lock Smith couldn't do this however when I went to Timpsons they simply weren't interested, I was going to call local locksmiths tomorrow.

An idea I then had was to use thin card from the Inside, trace around from the upper portion of the door so when it gets to the area of the child lock the card can slide in. I got the card under but then realised the actual door latch was blocking the card.

I then tried again from the outside, expecting it to fail due to the water seals but the card fit in fine! Using the location measured from the working door I found where the switch was HOWEVER the card wasn't strong enough to disengage the child lock through a downwards flick motion, it was hitting it as I could hear it, but not hard enough.

In I went knowing I'm so close and I ripped apart that handy Amazon box I'd been meaning to recycle, and after a few attempts I heard a hard click, after which I leant my hand inside the window, and wala, I could once again open my door from within.

First thing on my to do list tomorrow is take the car to a garage to get the handle fixed before I do something stupid like this again, and hopefully my solution will also help someone else!

 

[itsmattyjayy]

Hello everybody! I'm new to the forum, as you may be able to see? I recently bought my first ever Mercedes, I got a good deal on it because the rear right door wasn't able to be opened from the outside, the handle just pops out when you pull it. No worries, it still locked as normal and was openable? from the inside so I made do.

A very confident friend of mine said if I switched the switch on the inner of the door - which I now know is the child lock switch - the problem would be solved. Well, you guessed it, I now can't open the door from the inside OR the outside.

I took it to a local garage and he said he has no idea how to fix it, without breaking the door. I'm wondering whether I can somehow get a coat hanger in there and 'flick' the child lock back up, allowing access from the inside after which I can then get the door handle repaired.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. If anyone is a competent mechanic or bodywork specialist? I'm in the Bolton/Manchester regions and would be happy to pay for the privilege of opening my door once again if anyone knows a fix or has done it themselves or knows of someone (or a garage) that can fix such an issue reasonably.

Thanks!
Matt

 

[toolman1954]

Great result, and thanks for coming back and explaining your method. I did wonder how you would manage to resolve this.

Steve

 

[jelleman]

Thanks for posting this! I'm in the exact same situation and spend about an hour trying to swipe it down with some plastic I cut from a shampoo bottle but from the inside.
By the sounds of it you managed to get it right from the outside using cardboard. Do you mind giving me an idea of the thickness if the cardboard you used? I'm quite desperate to find a solution.

 

[jelleman]

Thanks for posting this! I'm in the exact same situation and spend about an hour trying to swipe it down with some plastic I cut from a shampoo bottle but from the inside.
By the sounds of it you managed to get it right from the outside using cardboard. Do you mind giving me an idea of the thickness if the cardboard you used? I'm quite desperate to find a solution.

Just to follow up- I’ve tried this technique with a fairly thick piece of cardboard. First go and click it worked. I can confirm this technique WORKS

Thanks to OP.