Mercedes Door Lock Repair - Bouncing Lock Fix - EASY

This was done on a 2004 Mercedes C230 Kompressor Sport Coupe. The issue of the Mercedes door lock actuator bouncing up and down affects the W203 C-class and W211 E-class models. This fix does not require you to remove the door panel. You’re welcome.

[@pigletgolf]

I drove my car for at least 6 months with this issue then I found you. OMG the easiest fix in the world. I want to thank you so much, thank you, thank you. Sorry the fix was on a 2005 C240.

[@josem.arellano7893]

My same story. I finally decided today would be the day I took the door apart and before starting, did a quick search to find this video. Thank goodness. 2005 C230

[@umustdv81]

Awesome. Good to hear.

[@ckeller07]

Great tip. I used black heat shrink tubing as the door lock pin is not removable on my ML350. A little heat and the tubing shrinks to fit :) Works perfectly!

[@pacman-qt1ix]

I got a 2003 have the same thing going on

[@kndrkaye1]

OMG I just did this and it FREAKING WORKS. I am beyond happy. This door has been plaguing me and locking me out for 2 YEARS!!! Thank you so much

[@umustdv81]

I'm glad it's working for you.

[@wernerdanler2742]

You're a bloody genius man! I saw a vid where the guy replaced the spring. What a fracking nightmare. German engineers have never learned since the war. KISS

[@andyroid5028]

They fully well know what KISS is. But... the KISS principle won't push people into the local Mercedes stealership. Sad to see most cars are designed to fail these days.

[@wernerdanler2742]

@@andyroid5028 I am German and was born in Germany. I have always thought the Germans over engineer things. So much so that during the war they could not fix their equipment in the field and had to abandon it. They are still doing it and that is why the Japanese and Koreans are outselling them. I have owned two Mercedes an Audi and. BMW. My current 2001 Mercedes is so complicated I cannot fix anything on it and I have been working on cars since I was a kid. It drives great but has constant problems.

[@andyroid5028]

@@wernerdanler2742 Hi Werner. Thanks for the follow up. I am in COMPLETE agreement with you! I sort of always wanted to drive/own a MB since I was a teenager. Just this past year (2018), I was given a great opportunity to purchase a 2002 C320 from a close relative below blue book value. It came with these 'pros': ° 1 owner ° 70k original miles ° garage kept ° dealer maintained ° new tires ° everything functions as new Looking back, I should have IMMEDIATELY sold it on the open market as soon as I became the owner. I say this because I've had SO many issues with this car since that day. And what is sad to me, is that MANY of these issues could have been prevented at the design level (aka at the MB design team's think tank). One of the glaring issues with this particular model is that there is NO ENGINE OIL DIPSTICK! Huh?!! Yes, some idiot at MB decided that not having an oil dipstick makes the 'oil circulatory system', evidently, 'better protected' from external contaminants. Huh?!! I've never heard of or seen with my own eyes... anything so ridiculous as not having a reliable analog method to check a car's life blood (aka: the engine oil)!!! I've heard/read that other car manufacturers are designing some of their models in this same idiotic manner. ANYWAY, thanks for reading my rant. I'm just HIGHLY disappointed in the MB brand. Don't get me wrong, there are several aspects of this car that are made quite well. But MB has designed most things (at least on this model car I own) so badly, that it is quickly becoming cost prohibitive to own/drive this (otherwise solid) rolling MONEY PIT. OK. Rant over. BTW, when I sell this 'car', I'll likely be replacing it with a Toyota or Honda & forever avoid Mercedes (and likely all German-designed cars)!

[@wernerdanler2742]

@@andyroid5028 I'm sure your not the only one ranting about their Mercedes and its numerous problems. I'm pretty much stuck with mine now since I am 70 and retired. I owned a toyota tercel back in the 80's and though it was small had no a/c and was way underpowered, I drove the piss out of it all over San Diego and it never gave me any trouble. I only had to keep the oil changed and gas in it. Good old days. Lol

[@umustdv81]

Right. I saw the video to replace the spring. I even bought the kit to replace the spring. I started to take the door apart and got half way and said... "This is going to be a pain in the b$%#t." lol. I came up with an easier way. I've gone 3+ years with this method working just fine now.

[@pushbbcp]

This absolutely worked like a charm! Thank you so much. I took my door apart yesterday but couldn't figure out what's wrong. My 06 C230 lives on!! (with bandages)

[@umustdv81]

I'm glad it worked for ya.

[@mikedemarco1913]

Thank you so much for posting this quick fix! I have a 2004 C320. With two laps of electrical tape ($.98) I fixed this annoying issue!

[@mikedemarco1913]

11 months later my passenger side door started to bounce. I used this same trick again and worked perfectly! No need to take the door apart.

[@mrbedrock33]

Just did it to my 2006 e320 cdi on the front passenger door . Worked like a dream and just saved $400 !!! Thanks for the share !

[@frankcard9461]

Thank you so much!!! I fixed my 2007 Mercedes Benz C230; You saved me a lot of money!!! I am very happy that I fixed it right away!!! God bless you!!!

[@MahmoudElHamalawy]

This works! I put one and half round of tape around the middle part only, as I thought that's the only part that needs to have some friction. And you can't tell that there's anything there. I used some 3m black electric tape. Works like a charm. Can't notice it. Definitely much smarter than digging all the way through the door! Thanks man, you are brilliant 😀

[@Eli-gk8qz]

Thx. The C300 use a keyfob does tape suggestion apply to this model. Where does the tape go...middle or end of key? Thx much

[@Mercedes.W203]

Thanks very much, Dane! This has been malfunctioning for over a year; the spring replacement videos make it look difficult. Just tried your method today with a couple of turns of 3M Scotch Magic Tape and it works! The 2002 C180 Sedan (W203.035) door lock actuator did not appear to unscrew; Magic Tape is thin and very adhesive.

[@britishsauditrainingcounse2243]

Well! Guess what all ! on my CLS500 same bouncing door lock on the front passenger door , I bought a new actuator today and this trick worked ! Returning the actuator ! Thanks a lot mate.

[@jamesford1544]

You are the greatest! Thank you so much 😊 for posting this fix. It’s work perfect. I got an offert from mechanic to change the door lock actuator ( remove/replace) for the amount of $224.98 + the new door lock actuator $283.88 a total of $ 508.86 that would cost me to fix the dancing lock on the passenger side. It cost me 58 cents an electrical black tape from Walt Mart

[@patrickoreilly745]

Thanks for this information. I tried it on my W211 Mercedes E Class which had two door locking mechanisms which bounced, I put two layers of tape around each pop up button and it worked. Best of Luck.

[@umustdv81]

Good to hear. I'm glad it's working for you!

[@painful7949]

Thank you so much! I just bought a used c320 with a jumping lock and I feel proud that I was able to fix it in a matter of seconds.

[@BenDanielUS]

You are a frikkin genius. I've been putting this off for months and it finally came to a head today and I started looking for a kit to fix the lock pogo-sticking...this worked beautifully, hopefully the tape stays attached until I can get the springs replaced! Truly brilliant guerilla hacking :)

[@umustdv81]

Glad it worked out for you. I did the same thing. I bought the kit to fix it and waited a month and just knew taking the door apart was going to be laborious. I can do it. I took the door apart to replace the door handle, but I wasn't in the mood to do it again. lol. Can you believe the day I fixed the driver side lock the passenger side started to bounce too? Yikes!

[@mwklahr]

What a genius repair!!! Thank you for sharing this fix with me and saving me money and aggravation.

[@iNeedVitamins]

Dang dude, didn't even need to add the tape! Got a 2006 c200 kompressor, just unscrewed that thing to look inside and screwed it back in and it fixed it, thx a lot!

[@fishface7052]

This really works and is so simple. Amazing. Just a bit of tape wrapped around the lock button. Thanks so much. Sorted out bouncing lock on 2003 CL203 (C Class coupe).

[@rickhudsondrummer2796]

Fish Face hey mate, I’ve also got the coupe. Where you able to unscrew the button out?

[@DaBlackOpsMan101]

Just did this on my 03 E55 works like nothing was wrong ! Thanks for the tip !

[@taoh3473]

Sam BamBam how do you do on a E klass ? You can unscrew like he did on the video ?

[@naydee2311]

Brilliant. Just happend to my w203 c200 on yesterday. Fix it last night with your idea and the problem solve. Tq so much for sharing. Easy fix. 😍

[@umustdv81]

Great!

[@danihellz]

Dude, you're my hero. You saved me a lot of money, time and headache.

[@umustdv81]

Great! Glad it saved you some $.

[@nadmeldev]

OMG...Fixing this issue was on my tomorrow's To Do List. My brother had this same issue on his 2004 E320 and after months of the lock bouncing, it finally died. My 2006 E320 lock started bouncing a few months ago and I knew I had to fix it before it is too late. I just found your video, went to my garage and the lock is working like a charm again after investing 3 minutes and one inch of electrical tape. My big question to you is....HOW IN THE WORLD DID YOU FIGURE THIS OUT?..OR WHO DID?....simply genius. Thank you.

[@umustdv81]

Well, I bought the parts to replace the actuator and was about to start taking the door apart. I unscrewed th e part that bounces and saw that it was a pretty tight fit with the door panel. Right then I knew all I had to do was create a little resistance and it would fix the issue. I'm sure if you don't fix it and let it bounce for a few months that it burn out the actuator.

[@michaelwilliams418]

$2 verses $538 🎉 dude, you rock!

[@rjdimonda]

I don't know how you figured this out but it is very clever. The videos regarding how to fix this ridiculous problem look like it is extremely difficult and time consuming. Thanks. I had a few trial and errors putting too little tape and too much before I wound up with about 2-3 laps and then a touch of WD-40 and it is working well. Obviously the knob has to be able to move up and down but, as you say, it does need a certain amount of resistance in order to function properly. Also another thing is to wrap the tape counter-clockwise around the knob so that when you do go and tighten it the friction you have created will continue to wrap the electrical tape in a direction that doesn't cause it to bunch up, unravel and make a mess.

[@tjperez25]

#Richard diMonda Thank you for the tip about wrapping it out counterclockwise. It was the cheapest way to fix it.

[@AndrewGibson22]

Just did this on my W203 and it worked perfectly! Thank you!

[@umustdv81]

Awesome. Good to hear.

[@exmotorsports]

Well, That explained how it went from being the Left front door with the bounce to being the right front door fixed. Lol Thanks for explaining that at the end.

[@umustdv81]

Yeah. I was surprised the right door broke the same day I fixed the left. lol

[@smugsock]

Thanks for the video. I'd had good success thanks to this. I put my comments below with some observations that I found while working on my W211. A very low tech solution for the W211 is to unscrew the door lock peg, and wrap electrical tape around its base up towards the top. You can experiment with how many wraps or how long of a piece to use. I used progressively smaller pieces and stretched them more. I think the tolerance/spacing is very minimal. This closes the air gap that is likely created by a failing seat or boot within the air lock mechanism. I also found the base of the door lock peg to be more of the place to experiment with the electrical tape. After 4 attempts I stopped and am going to work with what I have... I used about 2 inch piece stretched tightly and my lock works about 80%. I may see how it works and then try different tape lengths/thicknesses. The real fix likely requires removing the door panels, removing the lock mechanism and replacing a failed spring or the entire door lock mechanism, likely resulting in a dealer trip to at minimum activate the door lock with your fob.

[@RM-rh1qf]

You are my life saver. Worked out pretty good on my 2004 C240. Thanks for sharing your idea.

[@britbh]

It worked! Thanks man, and mine is e350 2005 Actually, going retrospectively now, I noticed that in hot weather the problem kind of disappeared. Now I think it is due to expansion., kind of same mechanism as your trick

[@umustdv81]

Yes. I see this too. When the temperature drops, it'll bounce again, but the next day when the temperature goes up, it doesn't bounce anymore.

[@ramarahimi6535]

I was so excited that i went down in the dark to try it on my 2002 class mecedes and after adding and removing some tape i found the perfect amount of electrical tape and it seems to be fine, i guess as the time passes and tape gets slippery i may need to add a bit more 9 or maybe not !) but for now works perfectly fine, you are genius sir. Thanks

[@umustdv81]

Glad it's working for you!

[@mrbedrock33]

Exactly , i just did mine and it works like a dream . I wonder how long it will last before a redo

[@kanilijohnson60]

Good stuff man! 04 clk320 and worked accordingly..thanks for the vid!!

[@cooleypope]

wow thanks a zillion ! we just bought one with the same problem, gonna give it a whirl - hello from Detroit

[@umustdv81]

Hello there. Hope it worked for you.

[@asforme762]

@@umustdv81 Genius!!! Worked for me. Thanks for the video "McGuyver". You may be too young to know about the entertaining show McGuyver.

[@user-mm2jd2bm7s]

GENIAL !!!!!! merci beaucoup DANE.Now it is ok for my E w211 200cdi . Mille merci from FRANCE

[@kings-art957]

GREAT FIX, SAVED ME SEVERAL HEADACHES

[@izzigogo]

WOW, that solved my problem. I was so frustrated and hopeless....thanks, you made my day!!!

[@kattembody3540]

worked great for my ml350 rear passenger door . estimate was $857 . this good enough for me :-)

[@umustdv81]

Right. I'm sure if I took my car to the dealership, it would be about that much to fix it. No thanks. lol

[@ckeller07]

I used a short piece of black heat shrink tubing on my ML350.... seems to work perfectly. The heat shrink was used because the plastic shaft is not removable. Thank you for the great tip!

[@behzadmotamedi8768]

Thank you I did it for 2005 clk it works perfect . Hard to believe that !!!

[@lawsonstallings1955]

Five stars to you! I haven't tried it yet, but I will post again after I try it.

[@Amoona148]

I have this problem and it's really help me. big thanks to you man. continue to make more videos

[@umustdv81]

Glad this worked for you! :-)

[@partydudejasondj.m.c.entre9385]

Thank you so much man, it was driving me crazy ! Tried it and it worked you "Rock" buddy.

[@umustdv81]

Great! I'm glad it worked for you.

[@vgm006]

went to 2 Indy shop, both of them want about 550$. part plus 3 hours labor at 120$ a hour. $120 a hour?? i thought only doctors and lawyers supposed to be rich. thank you for this tip, it seem working so far !

[@LeisuresuitBrad]

Gonna try this on my Ml320. I just put my window switches in (broke 2 weeks ago from extreme cold on top of being 20 years old)!. This is next on my list.

[@carlydreal3486]

Thank you So Much!!!, I was Able to Sale a Car at my Dealership because of you. A person that Knows CarsHacks(tricks)...is a Super Super helpful person. I was trying to figure ut out but i couldn't. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!

[@umustdv81]

Good to hear. I'm glad it worked for you.

[@mercamg9312]

will try this out . Noise is so annoying and a large job to replace the spring. cheers.

[@Insidiousgaming420]

W211 also has that issue just a FYI great fix

[@bilalnas2030]

Can't thank you enough my friend..Great fix !

[@umustdv81]

Thanks. I still have the original tape on mine and it still works perfectly.

[@tomdouglas7466]

well done,just a thought you could maybe use shrink wrap instead of tape.

[@deadpro2020]

Bro, you saved me so much time thank you 😁

[@DaveButtons]

Well, you earned that “like”... Short sweet and to the point. Cheers

[@umustdv81]

Thanks. I appreciate it.

[@thomastran4197]

You are genius, look less than 2 minutes. Dam it works. Thanks

[@yvettewarren9840]

I did this and it works, wanted to thank you for your help

[@umustdv81]

Great! I'm glad it worked for you.

[@ronaldsmart1118]

HI, I DID JUST AS YOU SAID AND WOW NO MORE BOUNCE . MANY THANKS. RON.

[@konasteph]

Just wondering if this repair method has a chance of being a permanent fix. (which would be GREAT) The alternative, replacing the mechanism is just incredibly labor intensive, and again, due to some rivets that have to be drilled out and screwreplaced, some engineer thought that the door lock mechanism never needs replacing. What a crap. But You Mr. Dane Bryant deserve to get some kind of positive recognition! Thanks!

[@umustdv81]

I've been using this method since February. One time I had to remove the tape and reapply it, but since then, I haven't had to do it again.

[@billythekid9654]

Nice..i will try that..Hope that works

[@mrbedrock33]

Dane do think the sticky gum from the tape can screw up the actuator ? I guess if it does , thats when its time to replace the unit

[@annettejohnson1980]

Just tried this! It worked..thanks so much for sharing!

[@paulnyirenda9866]

this is insightful. Saved my money 💵

[@MusicRepostz]

same problem on the w211 series if you put too much tap on that piece it will work but i discovered that on my w211 the car unlocks itself after a couple of minutes im not sure its because of the tape or something else

[@peterrumsey1788]

Wow, thanks for that fantastic tip, will have a go at that for sure, and Hi from the UK.

[@umustdv81]

Hope it worked for you. Hello back.

[@Hhjvvccc]

they are right that works One question brother I have a Mercedes the same as the problem that when I put the second one if it closes automatically from the inside the controls do not work for me they will fix it for me normally I open it with Manuel key when I walk with it if they all close me the doors from the inside when leaving the same thing I have to close from the inside with the button inside the lock so that they all close, you know as if I queta that centralized locking

[@tommytinker]

Better yet use electrical shrink wrap tubing. The large size shrink wrap tubing is available at Harbor Freight and is black but this fix does work! Thanks!!

[@umustdv81]

I disagree. Shrink wrap is a set width and one piece may not work correctly. The tape is easier to add more if needed and to replace if needed. Not to mention the door part is plastic and most likely melts easily if you try heating it up. No thanks.

[@agalgonzalez]

Well done, sir!

[@cookingwithlou7197]

Awesome I'm gonna try this right now, both my doors went out on the same day that's weird

[@umustdv81]

That is weird. The day I fixed the driver side door, my passenger side broke! lol

[@oranmorerepairs380]

When the lock starts bouncing, all i do is, i pull the door handle a little at the same time when it starts bouncing, and the bouncing stops. But will try this tomorrow too.

[@francisdebono3905]

thank for your advice l could not believe that it was going to work and it did

[@umustdv81]

Great! Glad it's working for you too!

[@randomemail3936]

Great video. This worked for me.

[@abdullahalazki7867]

Thanks

[@manishasaini3986]

this saved me so much time on a c32 goddamn

[@dereksingh1387]

YOU’RE A LIFESAVER !

[@roybustos123]

OMG! You're a genius!

[@problemsulfer]

nice, thank you. when my car does that it does not lock. i have to hit the button a few times until it locks. i'll try your fix right now.

[@umustdv81]

Right. I experienced the same thing. You had to push the button a few times to get the car to lock. With my fix, my car locks with one push.

[@umustdv81]

Yes, I had to do that too before I fixed it. I had to hit the button a few times too. Not anymore though :-)

[@vgm006]

do i must use black electric tape? can i just use paper scott tape? or paper masking tape?

[@umustdv81]

Any tape should work. I used electrical tape because it's black like the part. So you won't see it.

[@ajgameiro]

Does it works on the C220 w203? Thank you.

[@smpschultz]

Very good idea! I had the same problem. It works with the mopf models too. Thanx!

[@umustdv81]

Good info. Thanks!

[@costamesaa672]

You saved my months bro.thanks

[@janlubenga7452]

thaaaaaaaaaaaaankkkk youuuuuuuu man i love you i really love GOD bless you

[@umustdv81]

You're welcome! I'm glad it worked for you too!

[@daveanandmannie142]

thanks a bunch. quick fix till i get into the door. i will replace it when i redo the sound system ps sharing it with everyone with this problem great vid

[@meaghans4591]

Mine broke an half any ideas other than taking off the door panel 🙏🏻

[@ibrahimjad5455]

Thanks for the idea, but it didn’t work for me. ML280

[@mustafathamer4003]

Thanks a lot man! It is working again!

[@umustdv81]

Awesome! Glad it's working for you.

[@henrylong45]

This didn't work for me. I replaced the entire lock mechanism. I purchased it on line for about $30. It's been working PERFECTLY for over a year now.

[@szsamhuang]

My door lock actuator can bounce up but can't bounce down when lock, with the Door Open warning sign-on and beep, how to fix?

[@umustdv81]

This method should work for you. if it doesn't go down, you may have too much tape on it.

[@kevonthetrack]

Thanks for a 2005 e500. Worked!

[@umustdv81]

Awesome!

[@spencers.salime4885]

I have a 2002 Mercedes C230 Kompressor, but has problem locking with the remote. I need help from someone please..

[@maddoxboyd6584]

thank you for this

[@anonymous23722]

What sorcery is this, how did you even figure this out...? Works great on w203. Thank you.

[@tonyrush2144]

I noticed shows the faulty drivers door and then shows the working passenger door did not fix my car

[@umustdv81]

Wow. Good catch! lol I didn't even notice that. While I was making this video of the drivers side, the passenger side broke, so I ended up fixing both sides that day.

[@MrBignik321]

Does anyone know if this works on a 2010 GL450? Thank you for the video.

[@user-mr9uy9gj5l]

It would only cost you a little piece of electrical tape to find out!

[@robertmedina2000]

Thanks that did the trick for my car.

[@umustdv81]

Great!

[@RedaReda-ts3tm]

Et pour Mercedes comment Faire ...?? Merci

[@Gabriel-lp2jv]

Perfect!Thank you,very much!

[@umustdv81]

Sure. Good luck with it.

[@Emanual0607]

Fantastic!

[@alex59606]

OMG same at mine benz....thx for video...very helpful

[@umustdv81]

Cool. Glad it worked out for ya! It's still working out great on my car too.

[@AhsanKabir-ef6xb]

Thank you !

[@jollygreengiant787]

Does this work on a b120 ckass? We gave the same problem

[@cruzsalex]

It worked, thank you!

[@fatjonfati]

Any link to where you bought that door lock spring ?

[@umustdv81]

I got it off Ebay.

[@vandenhendemark]

Nice work!!!!

[@markcodysr]

Brilliant.

[@JoseFlores-nt7kk]

It works!!!

[@1muecasfan]

I will try it tomorrow😀😀😀😀😀

[@666huntufireman2]

Fantastic, thanks.