I thought I would add a picture to this thread for the benefit of those who follow on down this path. The arrow shows the location of the hole that you have to poke to get the key cylinder / tumbler to release and come out. I was able to use a large size stiff paper clip to accomplish this. Note that you can't see the hole directly: it is pretty close to the back side of the dash surround, so I had to use the mirror to get the clip into the hole. But it works, so that is all the good news.

The bad news is that when I tried to order a replacement cylinder from the dealer here in Portland, Oregon they told me (eventually, after I had placed the order and driven to work) that they can no longer sell me a coded (meaning coded to my VIN number) cylinder. They only have what they call a "workshop" version tumbler / key cylinder for these early 123's. The workshop version comes with a key that doesn't match your doors; you have pay some third party to code it to your door locks. Oh, and the workshop version costs nearly double to boot! $165 or something like that, versus $90 for the coded. For all that trouble and expense I will probably just order the Peachparts generic tumbler.

By the way, the VIN number break between old (pictured here, with pull-off tumbler cover) and new (with screw-off tumbler and release detent on the face) is 110xxx on the 240D (may be different for the 300 series).

Kurt

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- '79 240D - engine swap complete! Engine broken in! 28-31 mpg! Lovin' the ride!
- '86 190D (W201-126) - 2.5 NA engine, 5 speed, cloth interior, manual climate controls, 33-34 mpg (sold to forum member).