w204 - c200 2008 - Rear Right Door won't remote lock/unlock?

[John20]

Hi guys. So I have a random and sudden problem. My rear right door has decided that it no longer wants to unlock/lock if I use the remote keyfob or driver's side master button. All the other doors are operating fine.

I managed to get my hands on a fault code reader, and code 98b111 is popping up. We cleared it, and checked it was cleared. Used key fob to unlock/lock and poof. It appeared again. From what I have been searching online. It seems the "actuator" is at fault and needs replacement. This part alone is £200-£250 and labour is making it about £350 there abouts.

Firstly just wondering what everyone's thoughts are here. Is it fair to say that there's a very high chance that it's the Acutator and not some other fault? The reason I ask is the garage has said they'll charge more if they open it up and find its not the actuator. But I can't see how it wouldnt be the actuator from what I've been reading?

Secondly , is it worth getting an OEM part or should sticking to the meredes genuine part be the best route given that this is the lock on the door?

 

[AMGeed]

I had exactly the same problem last year with the n/s/r door on my 2009 S204 C180 estate.
It's certainly the door actuator and I paid £203 last June for a replacement plus labour.
Get it from the main dealer using your Vin# and don't be tempted by cheaper Chinese ones from e-bay. The electrical connections are different.
If you can get the job done for £350, consider it a good price. It's a really fiddly job with rivets to drill out apart from dismantling the inside of the door.

 

[John20]

Thank you for confirming, yeah I'm debating on trying to do it myself or going with the 350. If I buy the genuine part, it sounds like after I'm done buying the tools and the rivots I'll probably close to that 300 mark anyway so maybe it's easier to just get the garage to do it . havign said that, I#m also thinking maybe next time one goes, I know what to do and how to do it and will already have the tools? decisions decisions lol. The rivets are the 99.9% thing that holds me back on this job.

 

[AMGeed]

Thank you for confirming, yeah I'm debating on trying to do it myself or going with the 350. If I buy the genuine part, it sounds like after I'm done buying the tools and the rivots I'll probably close to that 300 mark anyway so maybe it's easier to just get the garage to do it . havign said that, I#m also thinking maybe next time one goes, I know what to do and how to do it and will already have the tools? decisions decisions lol. The rivets are the 99.9% thing that holds me back on this job.

Unless you have a special torx bit that is a Mercedes part only according to my mechanic, you'll not be able to take the old actuator out.
He had to borrow the tool from his mate who works at the main dealer. He said no 5 or 6 point torx bit would fit.

 

[John20]

Unless you have a special torx bit that is a Mercedes part only according to my mechanic, you'll not be able to take the old actuator out.
He had to borrow the tool from his mate who works at the main dealer. He said no 5 or 6 point torx bit would fit.

I think the mechanic wasn't totally honest with you. I know you're trying to help and I appreciate that but yeah. I think the mechanic that said that to you was probably just trying to stop you from doing it yourself (if you ever wanted to) because there are videos on youtub e showing people doing this job at home and no special tool was needed. The torx you can obtain yourself, the only part that stops me really from wanting to do it myself is the fact that if I weigh up the cost of the tools and materials plus the part, I'm gonna be pretty close to the same price as a garage doing it. At least if the garage does it and messes up, they'll have to fix whatever they damage. For the sake of £50 or so , it seems better to just go with the garage.

But I did see on this forum someone else is doing their own actuator at home, and from sounds of it they've done it all now except now they're upto the point of putting the that metal sheet/trim/cover back on and were asking about the rivet size to use. This is the biggest part that puts me off this job is the rivets...I just know I'm gonna drill too much or mess it up lol.

This guy Rear passenger door won’t lock | Interior if you click his profile you can see his posts and stuff, where he mentions the rivets etc.

 

[AMGeed]

I think the mechanic wasn't totally honest with you. I know you're trying to help and I appreciate that but yeah. I think the mechanic that said that to you was probably just trying to stop you from doing it yourself (if you ever wanted to) because there are videos on youtub e showing people doing this job at home and no special tool was needed. The torx you can obtain yourself, the only part that stops me really from wanting to do it myself is the fact that if I weigh up the cost of the tools and materials plus the part, I'm gonna be pretty close to the same price as a garage doing it. At least if the garage does it and messes up, they'll have to fix whatever they damage. For the sake of £50 or so , it seems better to just go with the garage.

But I did see on this forum someone else is doing their own actuator at home, and from sounds of it they've done it all now except now they're upto the point of putting the that metal sheet/trim/cover back on and were asking about the rivet size to use. This is the biggest part that puts me off this job is the rivets...I just know I'm gonna drill too much or mess it up lol.

This guy Rear passenger door won’t lock | Interior if you click his profile you can see his posts and stuff, where he mentions the rivets etc.

Fair comment. I can only go on what I was told. At no point did my mechanic think I was going to do the work.
The fact is, he is cheap. Rough, but cheap. I wouldn't have taken my AMG anywhere near his workshop but this is a 4 grand run around.

I'm glad you can do the job yourself but I think you are wise leaving it to someone else if you think the riveting may be an issue.
Let us know how it works out and the cost.

 

[Petrol Pete]

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[John20]

Fair comment. I can only go on what I was told. At no point did my mechanic think I was going to do the work.
The fact is, he is cheap. Rough, but cheap. I wouldn't have taken my AMG anywhere near his workshop but this is a 4 grand run around.

I'm glad you can do the job yourself but I think you are wise leaving it to someone else if you think the riveting may be an issue.
Let us know how it works out and the cost.

Hi from what I been seeing, I think the special tool he might of been referring to is the one to remove the Rivets, this would match with what I've been seeing on these tutorial videos because all of them just tell you to drill them out but maybe that special tool allows you to remove them and re-use them etc? Hard to say. But yeah, the riveting is the part that holds me back, 50% that, and 50% the cost of the part + tools is gonna be about the same to let a garage do it in first place lol. Decisions decisions....

 

[Petrol Pete]

You can't re use a pop rivet , the 'special tool' just mills the head off it to stop some butcher drilling out the rivet and into whatever is behind it ...or even straight through the door into sunshine outside (seen it done on a van ) . The 'special' G cramp tool is pretty much the same , un necessary if you have the basic skills needed to drill out a pop rivet.

A battery drill with the correct drill bit , small hammer and punch and a £15 pop rivet gun is all thats needed for this job.

And the skills

 

[John20]

You can't re use a pop rivet , the 'special tool' just mills the head off it to stop some butcher drilling out the rivet and into whatever is behind it ...or even straight through the door into sunshine outside (seen it done on a van ) . The 'special' G cramp tool is pretty much the same , un necessary if you have the basic skills needed to drill out a pop rivet.

A battery drill with the correct drill bit , small hammer and punch and a £15 pop rivet gun is all thats needed for this job.

And the skills

OHhh yes that would make sense. So the tool is to make it safer to remove the rivets. Gotcha. I did think this was a very bad way for mercedes to make this part of the door.... I mean, people will at somepoint need to access behind there.... but I guess its because of the nature of what is behind there they added an extra layer of security. Rivets requiring a special tool. lol.
This is actually giving me more confidence to do this myself. I guess my biggest concern now really is just getting the part....and a good quality part too or original mercedes one.

I managed to speak to mercedesgenuineparts.co.uk and they're refusing to give me the part number due to "mercedes policies" (seems odd to me??) but said they can supply the part (no refunds allowed as its a special order item) and it would be available for £126. Not knocking it but it seems a bit cheap compared to what I have been seeing so far? but is that a genuine mercedes website? The link they gave me for my part is this:

Custom order - CN -Rear door lock RIGHT door w204

Part (10) on attached picture. This is not a stock item and needs to be ordered, this usually take 2-3 working days.Special order - non returnable part.

mercedesgenuineparts.co.uk

 

[Pontoneer]

I think the mechanic wasn't totally honest with you. I know you're trying to help and I appreciate that but yeah. I think the mechanic that said that to you was probably just trying to stop you from doing it yourself (if you ever wanted to) because there are videos on youtub e showing people doing this job at home and no special tool was needed. The torx you can obtain yourself, the only part that stops me really from wanting to do it myself is the fact that if I weigh up the cost of the tools and materials plus the part, I'm gonna be pretty close to the same price as a garage doing it. At least if the garage does it and messes up, they'll have to fix whatever they damage. For the sake of £50 or so , it seems better to just go with the garage.

But I did see on this forum someone else is doing their own actuator at home, and from sounds of it they've done it all now except now they're upto the point of putting the that metal sheet/trim/cover back on and were asking about the rivet size to use. This is the biggest part that puts me off this job is the rivets...I just know I'm gonna drill too much or mess it up lol.

This guy Rear passenger door won’t lock | Interior if you click his profile you can see his posts and stuff, where he mentions the rivets etc.

I presume at 2009 yours is a W204 ... I had a similar issue with two of the doors on my S203 C270CDI ( most unreliable car I've ever had with just the possible exception of my 1977 Austin All-Aggro , and its a close thing ) .

Anyway , ever since M-B changed from the reliable and silent vacuum operated locking systems sometime in the 90s ( my W140 still had them ) to the solenoid operated locks used on later cars , issues have been commonplace . I had an issue with the n/s/r door also on my S203 and when the remote locking was operated , the actuator would 'machine gun' for a couple of seconds , with it being a lottery whether or not the door was locked , usually just a few attempts and you would get lucky . Same thing happened later with the drivers door .

Yes the complete actuators were expensive , but much discussion here on these forums , and it turned out the culprit was a small spring within the actuator , which was prone to eventually break - and the springs were only a couple of quid - so if you were prepared to strip the door down , drill out the rivets and remove the actuator , you could then repair your existing one for the cost of these springs and a bit of your time , then put it all back together again .

Mercedes seemed to specify some 'special' steel rivets ; I never saw the point and used standard aluminium ones that I had assorted boxes of anyway ; reasoning if it broke I'd just get the correct rivets from M-B , but I didn't bother .

Both doors took me a Saturday afternoon to do , and both were fine when I sold the car on - but the turbo blew several months after I sold it , but it was a used car and the guy accepted that ; especially since I'd previously spent £2 grand replacing all five injectors , and numerous other repairs that made it one of the most expensive cars I ever owned .

Search through these forums for the bouncing lock issue and see if it seems familiar .

 

[Pontoneer]

You can't re use a pop rivet , the 'special tool' just mills the head off it to stop some butcher drilling out the rivet and into whatever is behind it ...or even straight through the door into sunshine outside (seen it done on a van ) . The 'special' G cramp tool is pretty much the same , un necessary if you have the basic skills needed to drill out a pop rivet.

A battery drill with the correct drill bit , small hammer and punch and a £15 pop rivet gun is all thats needed for this job.

And the skills

Exactly , that's how I did it , but I have all these kinds of tools anyway ... but I LOVE any excuse to buy and collect any special tool , or indeed to fabricate one !

 

[SpikyMikey]

I managed to speak to mercedesgenuineparts.co.uk and they're refusing to give me the part number due to "mercedes policies" (seems odd to me??) but said they can supply the part (no refunds allowed as its a special order item) and it would be available for £126. Not knocking it but it seems a bit cheap compared to what I have been seeing so far? but is that a genuine mercedes website? The link they gave me for my part is this:

Custom order - CN -Rear door lock RIGHT door w204

Part (10) on attached picture. This is not a stock item and needs to be ordered, this usually take 2-3 working days.Special order - non returnable part.

mercedesgenuineparts.co.uk

That's Mercedes Benz Edinburgh (who also have an eBay shop) and many member here have used them - including myself.

 

[Pontoneer]

OHhh yes that would make sense. So the tool is to make it safer to remove the rivets. Gotcha. I did think this was a very bad way for mercedes to make this part of the door.... I mean, people will at somepoint need to access behind there.... but I guess its because of the nature of what is behind there they added an extra layer of security. Rivets requiring a special tool. lol.
This is actually giving me more confidence to do this myself. I guess my biggest concern now really is just getting the part....and a good quality part too or original mercedes one.

I managed to speak to mercedesgenuineparts.co.uk and they're refusing to give me the part number due to "mercedes policies" (seems odd to me??) but said they can supply the part (no refunds allowed as its a special order item) and it would be available for £126. Not knocking it but it seems a bit cheap compared to what I have been seeing so far? but is that a genuine mercedes website? The link they gave me for my part is this:

Custom order - CN -Rear door lock RIGHT door w204

Part (10) on attached picture. This is not a stock item and needs to be ordered, this usually take 2-3 working days.Special order - non returnable part.

mercedesgenuineparts.co.uk

That link isn't opening for me , but i expect it will be the relevant page from the mercedes EPC ( electronic parts catalogue ) .You can get access to it if you are a member of The Mercedes-Benz Club - the official club affiliated to mercedes-Benz , but there are various websites which are unofficial clones of the catalogue , such as the one below , and almost always the part numbers on it turn out to be correct when you go to the parts counter to order things . Here is a link to one of them

https://mb-teilekatalog.info/?lang=E&mode=BM&class=1&markt=AG

You can enter your VIN at the top right hand corner to search for your vehicle ; it seems to work well enough . Does help if you speak German , which I do . On some of them there is a 'Sprache' button - which means language , and you can select English - this one doesn't have it . One of the catalogues was from the MB Club Russia , and Russian isn't one of my languages - I tried to learn it in the 80s but gave up because of the Cyrillic Alphabet which confused me no end - it was no harder phonetically than any other language , because many of the words sound the same , but reading and writing it was a real struggle , for me at least , and I tend to pick up languages quite easily .

I can't speak to whether it is a genuine part , so that is a chance you'd have to take for yourself - why not make a trial purchase with them of a cheaper item that you might need anyway , like an oil filter or a bonnet star , and see what they supply , if it is in a genuine M-B box etc , or does it look fake ?

 

[AMGeed]

£ 126 is an excellent price for an OE door lock actuator.
MB Poole charged me £203 last June for the same part on the n/s/r door.

 

[Pontoneer]

£ 126 is an excellent price for an OE door lock actuator.
MB Poole charged me £203 last June for the same part on the n/s/r door.
View attachment 157681

And THEY are meant to be an M-B Classic parts Specialist ... I think Mervyn Wright must have shuffled off into his retirement , nice chap he was .

 

[John20]

£ 126 is an excellent price for an OE door lock actuator.
MB Poole charged me £203 last June for the same part on the n/s/r door.
View attachment 157681

So I was thinking exactly that. Why is it seemingly cheap? So I went to another local dealership and asked them to quote. they qutoed me for the lock assembly, the "cover" and the rivets for 256.46. I asked them, why is it another dealership quoting just 126. I'm sure there's something I'm missing please explain. Also this is the first I've heard about a "cover" ? what is this as I'm sure the other dealership is not quoting for that or the rivets.

They explained:


"They have quoted you for the box standard actuator, your vehicle has anti-theft protection fitted (code 885 on your vehicle build).

The actuator has been superseded, possibly modified, over its lifetime and the cover is an additional item that is now required (item 50 on the diagram)."

So I#ve responded back to the 126 dealership and see what they say. As maybe it's the wrong part they quoted me on seemingly? one without the anti theft protection.

 

[John20]

So I was thinking exactly that. Why is it seemingly cheap? So I went to another local dealership and asked them to quote. they qutoed me for the lock assembly, the "cover" and the rivets for 256.46. I asked them, why is it another dealership quoting just 126. I'm sure there's something I'm missing please explain. Also this is the first I've heard about a "cover" ? what is this as I'm sure the other dealership is not quoting for that or the rivets.

They explained:


"They have quoted you for the box standard actuator, your vehicle has anti-theft protection fitted (code 885 on your vehicle build).

The actuator has been superseded, possibly modified, over its lifetime and the cover is an additional item that is now required (item 50 on the diagram)."

So I#ve responded back to the 126 dealership and see what they say. As maybe it's the wrong part they quoted me on seemingly? one without the anti theft protection.

Had a interesting response. So I just queried with them that a local dealership has said (the above) and I want to make sure I get the right part for the cheapest price as we all do. Please can we just clarify that from what the other garage has said, it seems this part for 126 may not be the right one and apparently I need a more secured version along with the cover?

They responded back with: "...you should take your car to the local mercedes dealership and have it fixed their to avoid any confusion." lol. I think they got annoyed with me getting a quote from another mercedes? I just figured if my local one can get the part for the same price I'#ll go there... its closer. I don't know/see any options for delivery! but now I'm bit concerned do I need a different lock? and why are they so hush-hush about part numbers? Is the part number printed on the actual part itself? oh but I guess that'd be an "out dated" version of it? hmm

 

[AMGeed]

Get that eBay part the member in the other thread is selling.
You won't get it cheaper than £100.
The cover is the part that has to be drilled out and re rivetted.
Just re use the one that is already fitted. You don't need a new cover.

 

[John20]

Get that eBay part the member in the other thread is selling.
You won't get it cheaper than £100.
The cover is the part that has to be drilled out and re rivetted.
Just re use the one that is already fitted. You don't need a new cover.

Yeah I think that's what i'm gonna do. I did by chance see another on eBay that is claimed to be genuine for 125, I don't mind paying the bit extra because this one allows for returns. So if I get it and anything isn't quite right or I get part way into this and I'm like, this is too much! I can return it and just take the car to the garage. But I think yeah, I'm debating between the two still. I prefer the other member's part but no returns on that so gotter decide!

The other one is this one Mercedes C180 NEW Right rear door latch A2047304435 | eBay looks legit?

The cover that was my plan too, just reuse the old one and for the rivets I think maybe I will get those from mercedes.

Thanks all! I will let you know how things go