My W124's driver door will no longer unlock with the key. I can lock it okay, but I can't turn the key to the left a single degree. The only symptom I saw before this happened is that the driver's door lock would occasionally fail to trigger the central locking. I attributed this to heat (it's been triple digits here for most of the summer), but it was 10PM when I tried to unlock my car last night and discovered this.

What gives? I'm using the Mercedes steel key, not a brass replacement, so there are no shavings jamming the tumblers.

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RIP:
2011 E350 BlueTEC, Schwartz 81k (totaled by uninsured drunk driver)
1964 Unimog 404.1 (wrongfully towed by the city)
1994 E320, Brilliantsilber 208k (transmission shuffled off after sudden catastrophic fluid loss)
1982 300D, Silberblau under a blue repaint 256k (sold for parts)
1995 E320 Polarweiss, 131k (sold for parts)
1995 E300D Polarweiss, 287k (totaled by drunk driver)

Could just be wear. Assuming it works find on pass side? Got a spare (or three?)

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http://superturbodiesel.com/images/sig.04.10.jpg
1995 E420 Schwarz
1995 E300 Weiss
#1987 300D Sturmmachine
#1991 300D Nearly Perfect
#1994 E320 Cabriolet
#1995 E320 Touring
#1985 300D Sedan
OBK #42

When this happened to mine, I was told by my indie that the cheapest solution was to switch the driver and passenger locks....so that's what I did.

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14 E250 Bluetec "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 153k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 171k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver, 142k mi, wastegate conversion

19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

When it happened to me, I shot two cents worth of LPS-1 (greaseless lube) into the lock and it has worked fine ever since.

I think I'm gonna pop the door card off and see what's what, cos it feels like something's jammed in the mechanism. When I unlock the door with the lock pull from inside it's real stiff and feels like things in the mechanism are binding.

__________________
RIP:
2011 E350 BlueTEC, Schwartz 81k (totaled by uninsured drunk driver)
1964 Unimog 404.1 (wrongfully towed by the city)
1994 E320, Brilliantsilber 208k (transmission shuffled off after sudden catastrophic fluid loss)
1982 300D, Silberblau under a blue repaint 256k (sold for parts)
1995 E320 Polarweiss, 131k (sold for parts)
1995 E300D Polarweiss, 287k (totaled by drunk driver)

Bet you will see the problem when you take the door card off. That's what happened to me. Found a stiff wire (like coathanger wire) had slipped off the lever it pulled; easy fix.