W204 Broken door handle!

[tonyloz]

Well, jinxed again, just when I thought the myriad of glitches my W204 ownership has experienced is over......BAM .
I park up , go to open my door and ...snap, interior door mechanism breaks.... really. A car thats only 17 months old and the best part of £33k...... COME ON!
My previous posts said I thought the worst was behind me but this is just ridiculous . Mobilo came out and did a temporary repair and the technician indicated it was a common fault. The solution?...a whole new door panel apparently... ordered by my local dealer for fitting tomorrow...so yet I take more of my own time to get it rectified.....added to the
1)Software fuel pump malfunction..stranded on motorway
2)Injector malfunction...stranded on road
3)Power steering recall.... day at dealer.
4)paint peeling of rear offside door handle ..replaced.
However as Mercedes tag line is "Nothing but the best".....REALLY!

 

[kamalpatel12448]

Sorry to hear about your troubles :-(

 

[jaymanek]

Yes I have heard about the door handle issue... And yes its true, you cannot buy it seperately... apparently our local dealer are replacing them daily... I wonder if they have actually modified the design!?

 

[st13phil]

I wonder if they have actually modified the design!?

What, to make it fail or to stop it failing

Seriously, does this problem only affect later W204's? I ask because mine is just over 3 years old and I've never had a problem (touches wood!)

 

[tonyloz]

all done!

Well, dealer replaced the panel and fingers crossed thats the last of the 'faults'. I half joked ,I'll be back in a month or so when the passenger door handle breaks! Met with a quick reply of "we've never had a problem on the passenger side sir"......we'll see!

 

[gusmagoo]

Same problem.
I have attempted a fix by gluing the broken bit back on then drilling tiny holes to allow a picture wire loop which I tightened by twisting and covering in glue gel. Thank you to everyone for links tips and advice on this annoying issue. (found on various posts on here)
Door panel removal can be found here
Mercedes-Benz W204 Front Door Panel Removal - (2008-2014) C250, C300, C350 | Pelican Parts DIY Maintenance Article
Alternatively you could buy a fixing kit from the USA by going here
http://www.agatools.com/door-lever-repair-kit
Or there are sometimes replacement handle kits on popular auction sites but I thought $99 was a bit too much before attempting a fix myself.

 

[garycat]

Same thing happened with my Dad's '07 W169 A-Class. maybe they have a common weak part inside the mechanism

 

[190]

I've heard the door handle problem has been around for several years so it's a disgrace that:

a) They didn't fix it in manufacture

b) They didn't make the part available separately.

If mine fails I will engineer my own solution that couldn't be worse than MB's effort.

 

[gusmagoo]

Yes they do have a weak spot simply by being made entirely of plastic instead of metal. Very shoddy if you ask me... I will post back when I've refitted the door panel with an update...

 

[gusmagoo]

Oh and I've taken photo's of my fix so when I sus out how to post them I will!

 

[paul73mt]

mine snapped also took the door card off and the plastic had snapped right across the center of the whole where the metal arm goes in. Repair was to drill a hole further back (right where it bends as its thicker) the attach metal bar to handle with a small cable tie been like it a year now and not failed