In the past 4 months I have had failures of (we assume original) ignition lock/steering lock assembles for both a 129 as well as a 124 series. That's not the annoying part.

During the repair of both vehicles my independent mechanic ordered the replacement ignition lock/steering lock/key assemblies directly from the Mercedes dealer to avoid quality control issues. He ended up ordering three assemblies from the local dealer for the 1992 500 SL. and even the last one is hanging up (began within days of installation) now and will not allow you to turn it all the way off or it will remain locked in the off position and require substantial fidgeting to get it to turn. One ends up leaving the key in position one and locking the door with a separate key. That was the best of three new replacement switches ordered directly from the Mercedes Dealer, and which came in Mercedes boxes, with Daimler/Benz embossed on the assembly. Then my 1992 400E followed suit and the ignition key locked in the assembly and would not allow any rotation. as the steering was also locked along with the automatic shift in park, I had to have the car towed (from the rear) to the shop. We are now on the third new ignition / steering lock assembly from the Mercedes dealer, and it none of them will work right out of the box. That is six out of six defective ignition lock assemblies supposedly coming right from Mercedes (so says the box and the embossing on the part). There is another 124 (320E wagon) sitting in the parking lot unable to move because it has suffered the same fate...a brand new ignition lock assembly that get's installed and fails withing a few cycles.
That is seven out of seven failed, new and very expensive to repair parts, which have been shipped as genuine Mercedes parts from the dealer.

Have any of the rest of you been experiencing the same thing? I am thoroughly pissed and disgusted with this kind shoddy workmanship from a company that portrays itself as a paragon of excellence. NOTE THESE WERE NOT ORDERED AS CHEAP "ALTERATE SOURCE" AFTERMARKET PARTS, BUT RIGHT FROM THE LOCAL MERCEDES DEALER.

I have had a couple of ignition switches fail around the locking mechanism on high mileage cars. I had my indie cut off the locking bolt....problem solved. Perhaps this would work for you?

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

These were not really "high mileage" cars, one had 52,000 miles, another 115,000 miles, and the other 130,000 miles.

The real problem is ordering seven new ignition lock/steering lock assemblies directly from a Mercedes dealer, for three different cars, and having all of them fail within minutes or be bad right out of the box.

Yes. Seems odd. I'd have to wonder if your indie is doing something wrong in the installation...?

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

I think the technician is ok, some of the parts would not work right out of the box, they were locked and could not remove keys, or turn same.

Kind of odd. You may need the Chinese quality ones. Making ignition locks is kind of old technology. One might wonder where Mercedes sources them from these days.

When I was sourcing the primer pumps out of China some years ago. The bosch box they arrived in would fool anyone. I also wondered if they were the ones Mercedes themselves might be vending. Buying them from bosh.

I have not had the same problem with W123 ignition locks. The only problem with brand new locks with keys purchased directly from Mercedes is the rubber key head breaks off within a few days. There is an obvious quality control problem. What does your Mercedes dealer say about the problem? At the very least I would contact the Dept of Consumer Affairs in your state.

Answering both last threads....Dealer says...hmmm "must be a bad batch". It would not be a great surprise to find that "counterfeit" parts masquerading as oem parts are being supplied...perhaps even with the complicity of the dealer.

I also went through the same situation with "OEM Bosch" parts for several 190E's. That said I have also purchased some aftermarket parts that performed as well or better than the Mercedes Dealer supplied parts...and for a fraction of the price.

This might sound dumb, but....

Perhaps your Indie could buy a lock assembly from a wrecking yard? He could clean it up a bit inside with some cleaner and lube it with some 3-n-1 lock oil and then install it.

You would know it was working well when it was pulled so there would be no question of if it was in working order when you received it.

Not the most graceful solution but it might be the best one.

And if no wrecking yard near you has one then Ebay is always as close as your keyboard.

we finally got a new one that works.

X2. 7 in a row? Unheard of. Last one is working, seems to me much more likely someone learned how to do this making a small mistake numerous times at MDE3's expense, and the last one was finally installed properly.

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I had 3 different new ones,the last which is good came from Pelican Parts.

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1999 w140, quit voting to old, and to old to fight, a god damned veteran