Hi All,

The tumbler on my 1984 Mercedes 300D failed. I pulled it out and am temporarily using the screw driver to run the car. I once drove into town and realized I forgot my keys at home :-) Anyhow, I would like to have the tumbler re-keyed. I have called several dealers and locksmiths and nobody seems to know anything about this. I have done it in the past but many years ago. Does anyone have a source -- dealer or locksmith that could rekey to the OEM key?

Thanks,

Dkr.

It's a pretty easy DIY. From memory, the leaves inside are numbered from 1-4.
Hit a junkyard and harvest as many leaves as you can. Slot your key in and insert leaves until you've hit a combination that leaves the barrel flush against the cylinder. (Write the number sequence down).

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1981 240D 4sp manual. Ivory White.

Huh? How do you get the leaves out at the JY without a key?

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79 300TD “Old Smokey” AKA “The Mistake” (SOLD)
82 240D stick shift 335k miles (SOLD)
82 300SD 300k miles
85 300D Turbodiesel 170k miles
97 C280 147k miles

There are no junkyards with W123s anywhere near where I live. I need a locksmith preferably that can work with UPS/FedEx.

Dkr.

The trunk tumbler is the easiest. Provided everything is unlocked, that one you can smack out pretty easy once you’ve removed the assembly. Doors a little more onerous. After a night parked in SF I had multiple tumblers to repair : /

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1981 240D 4sp manual. Ivory White.

Good to know Shern. I never thought to check if the leaves are interchangeable. Now that I think of it I think I got a door lock at LKQ for my 300D. I cannot recall exactly how but I must have succeeded. My door lock was missing that little trap door plate and I replaced and rekeyed the entire core from a JY part.

That crazy car had 3 keys when I bought it. I eventually keyed all locks to the same key.

I was trying to figure out how to pull a steering column lock at the JY a couple of years ago. Without damaging it of course. I gave up.

OP, it sounds like your locksmiths don’t want to do the work. This is a very basic job once the cores are out of the car. Any (real) locksmith can do it once you place every core on the counter with the desired key. You’ll have better luck if you pull the cores for the locksmith but once you’ve done that you might as well swap leaves till you have one working key.

ETA - found this in my old rebuild thread. I’m losing my memory. At least we have the forum. This is my kid’s car now.

Post #33.

Got a 1985 300D turbo

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79 300TD “Old Smokey” AKA “The Mistake” (SOLD)
82 240D stick shift 335k miles (SOLD)
82 300SD 300k miles
85 300D Turbodiesel 170k miles
97 C280 147k miles

Another option, albeit a little bootleg, is to remove the tumbler, insert the key you'd like it to match, and file down the leaves that protrude. Before you file, cycle the leaves you have so that you're as close to a match as you can get. Provided a few are still sticking up when you remove the key, you won't be able to start it with a screw driver. It's honestly not a bad option.

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1981 240D 4sp manual. Ivory White.

Exactly what I did to my drivers door tumbler, although just with the old, correct key. 3 of the outermost worn leaves, needed a slight filing. Went from notchy to butter-smooth. Watch out for any small springs.