Review: Üro Ignition Lock Cylinder 116 462 02 79

[Diseasel300]

Üro Parts recently announced that they have an aftermarket solution for W116 and early R107 ignition lock cylinders in this thread: Ignition Lock Tumbler Cylinder w/Key, 116 462 02 79
I have an '83 500SL that came with a worn out aftermarket ignition lock all the way back in 1998 and has been a frequent source of trouble due to the wear. Sourcing a replacement has been difficult, and now they are NLA, so when Drew at Üro offered to send me one in exchange for an unbiased review, I jumped at the opportunity.

Since I've never had the original lock in this car, I'm unable to compare to OE quality, but I can compare the Üro part to the 90s aftermarket part that I replaced.

So what's in the box? Basically a lock cylinder and 2 OE-style keys:


The old cylinder that was installed in my car was a double-edged key arrangement with a brass Ilco key. The fine ridges and brass construction made it difficult to insert and remove the key, and it frequently got stuck and required jiggling. I'm not going to pretend that the original key operated this way, and nobody will claim that much life was left in the lock:


The construction of the Üro lock seems to be several steps above what I replaced and has a solid feeling to it. It operates smoothly, turns easily, and was easy to install. Fit and finish is good, and it looks OE at a glance, especially compared to the 90s aftermarket part that was in there.



So my impressions of this Üro lock cylinder are initially high. The fit and finish is good, the fitment is good, and the operation is good. I do expect that this lock cylinder will hold up much better than the one I replaced.

I've been fairly harsh on Üro on this forum for fit/finish/quality issues in the past, but it does seem like they may be listening to us and trying to step up their game. We can certainly hope they take us seriously! Having a high quality aftermarket supplier keeping our cars going with parts that Mercedes discontinues seems like something we'd want around! Having handled and used this particular product, I can say that I'd confidently spend money on it if my car needed it (and mine definitely needed it!). Thank you to Drew at Üro parts for the opportunity to repair my car and to review your product!

[cwmoser]

Great review.
Did not know URO is supplying these.
I've found URO rubber parts to be mostly good quality - just had an issue with the Soft Top Cover Seal and the seal on the Soft Top over the Windshield Header. All other rubber parts I have been pleased with.

I think the Steering Knuckle that I replaced was URO and it was fine.
Might be some other parts I used were URO but don't recall now.