Wherein I go to the source of a "Meyle: Germany" part
 

Once in a while I order car stuff from Hong Kong or mainland China through eBay. Late nights and lubricating beverages are often involved.

Enter one Hong Kong special, $13.99 (shipped) ignition switch (supposed to be for a w123, they sent a w126 one, so off to PayPal this goes).

Lovely markings: "Meyle Germany"

Markings are very similar to the Hans Pries/Topran switch I got last year....

Meyle is notorious for abusive labeling. It's pretty safe to assume a Meyle part is definitely a Chinese part. Unless it specifically says "Made in Germany" it's not. Price seems to be right, though.

it'll work in a 123...

no dealer nearby? 20ish for a new tumbler vin matched...

$200-ish in Canada (or at least at the local dealer here).

... SERIOUSLY?
for a 123? that's INSANE!

I think, as a business, I pay around $16...

Waiting now on a return call from the dealer, their parts system is having issues this morning.

The original estimate was from the parts manager. When I called he said more or less "It's going to be north of $200, do you want me to confirm the actual amount?" I said forget it. I have a good relationship with them so I had no reason to question what he said.

I talked to one of the staff this morning and explained the original conversation and the apparent price differential. He said he would look into it.

Confirmed: price for w123 is $135, better than what I was told originally, but....

I just got a new key for my W126 last week. $18 ordered by VIN.

-J

Are you talking about the same thing? Maybe one is a tumbler and the other is a switch assembly.

Sixto
87 300D

That font looks like the classic font you find on a lot of Chinese goods. I wonder if they just threw the Meyle name on there and counterfeited it