300 locking cylinder blues
 

The cylinder failed without any warning.The key goes all
the way but will not turn. The steering wheel moves a bit from side to side so I don't think its binding and causing the key not to turn.
Picked up a new cylinder(126-460-06-04) from m-b today. The clip that holds the cylinder in (and the thing the wire tool pushes down for removal) is on one side only.It's made of some type of spring material and does not look all that strong.
I've read most of the posts and it seems to be a big problem.
Has anyone had any luck using a slide hammer to yank the cylinder out? I know it's crude but drilling and
grinding will still require me to buy more parts.
The car is a 1989 300ce.
Thanks Jimmy

Cylinder removed!
 

After close examination and reading more treads I realized that grinding the lock was the way to go .
Following the factory manual, I removed all the mats and trim pieces to get a good look from below.
Having the new parts on hand I was able to get an idea how thick things are and how deep to grind.
Instead of using a dremmel with small wheels I had more than enough room for a small DeWalt cut-off saw .
I used a thin kerf diamond blade. A few lite passes along the bottom to get a groove started and a deep groove across the face got things rolling.
A WORD OF CAUTION SAFTEY GLASSES A MUST
Also pay attention with the saw, wires in the area.
Nice and easy ,back and forth.
When it looked like it was starting to expose the housing I used a large screwdriver to pry it open like a clam.
With the collar removed the lock cylinder came right out using the 2MM wires.
The saw was the hot set-up,the whole grinding job was less then ten minutes.
This was done on a 1989 300ce Good Luck & Thanks:)