How worn is your key?

Looks fine to me....All the doors work with the key. I can see that the tumbler is loose so its gotta be broken. I'm gonna find the spare key and give it a try for the hell of it....if I can find it that is....the housing broke a while back...

Is this a dealer-only part or can I get it anywhere else? Do I need to bring my key or anything?

Also if anybody else has the correct place on where to drill that would be great! Otherwise, SLK if you could still get me that info it would be very much appreciated!! If I can avoid gutting everything that would be very nice.

Wagon is now a door...I guess, garage-door-stop for right now.

Hi there,

Yes it is a Dealer only part. Bring your vehicle ownership and ID to order the new tumbler, which will come complete with new key identical to your existing set.

I suggest you continue to try to get the key to turn to pos 1, to enable the tool to fit in and release the tumbler.

After trying "everything" to get the key to turn in my 92 124, I got a thin piece of hard wire and slightly bent the end which I inserted into the ignition lock and applied pressure on the tumblers as I dragged the wire out several times on the upper and lower inner edge of the tumbler. This worked for me but was nothing short of a miracle....really.

If worst comes to worst I think I would replace the lock assembly rather than drill. Alternatively perhaps the lock face will pop off or could there be something in the lock keeping the key from going in all the way????

Good luck buddy,
Acky

Our dealer charges $85 for a tumbler and key matched to the car. You can get a generic one with a key not matched to the car (two keys actually) for $20-25....I did that with my car....

For my W126 I had to go to the dealer, no generic ones are available.

I think I'll get keys to match the car....$50 is not worth having an extra key to deal with...

$85 doesn't seem too bad. Good thing I got a ballpark figure to go in with. I'll get that sorted tomorrow....
Then I just gotta get the correct drilling info and I'm ready to get the wagon up and running again!

ps2cho, try calling a local indie and see if he can offer any advice about replacing your ignition lock cylinder. I suspect any longterm indie has dealt with this situation numerous times and may share some tips with you. The indie may also offer to make a "house call" and repair your car where it sits.

$85 for a tumbler and and key? That should be $480...I just posted that I got a brand new key from the dealer for $38 and it has worked just fine ever since (and they were going through inventory reorog anyway and never even charged me for the key)...I'd just go get a new key...I bet it'll work.....good luck

The tumbler is loose in the housing...this is not just a key issue.

I found a generic tumbler + 2 keys for $17. That's so cheap its a no-brainer.

What happened to your tumbler was probably what was in store for me had I not changed mine out. It was very loose like yours. It came out in 2 pieces, the collar and the tumbler part with all the springs and pins. It is this collar part, where the key goes in, that is hardened steel and the tough part to get past for obvious ant-theft reasons. The rest is an aluminum casting with a bunch of slots cut into it for the brass pins and springs. The design fault is that the slots by the collar leave very little continuous metal. I'm amazed that they last as long as they do.

Now that you have the generic, you can see how the wire tool works in depressing that spring clip. Hope you can get that key to position 1!

glenmore
1991 300CE
2000 C280

Gotcha.

I have made the tool needed and it fits perfectly, but as you said, I gotta try and get that key to turn.

Got the new tumbler today and planning to drill after looking at it -- There is a small pinhole that lines up correctly when the key is in position 1. If I can drill at this correct spot, then it should be super easy.

Only problem is -- Can anybody here tell me which way is "up" ? Does that metal piece at the back reside at the top or the bottom when the tumbler is in the correct orientation? Obviously there are only two choices.

Here:
http://www.ps2cho.net/downloads/phot.../tumbler_1.jpg

EDIT: Managed to "just" about find one that gives it away
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/attachment.php?attachmentid=17610&d=1082134155

Fingers crossed gonna see if this works :2thumbsup

At least by the end of this, anybody else who has this problem will have pictures and directions on how to DIY it.

Ended up a failure....can't seem to figure out how to get the black shroud off. Tried to drill through it, but its metal and circular so that ended up failing too.

How does this ring come off?

http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w...d/image002.jpg

^ You can see here....Its the black inner ring/shroud.

ps2cho, the wire tool releases both the tumbler and the black shroud. As far as I know the black shroud is a hardened metal intended to prevent tampering with the tumbler. Spend some more time attempting to insert and turning the key to Position 1 so you can use the wire tool. Did you purchase the new tumbler from a MB dealer? It doesn't lool like the tumbler that the MB dealers sell, at least not the two I have purchased.

I had a close look at the tumbler and collar when I replaced my tumbler in the 300TE some months ago. I played around with snapping the collar back in WITHOUT the tumbler, to see what holds what. The base of the collar gets secured into the ignition lock assembly, not the tumbler, and it holds the tumbler in. As Ferdman said, the true purpose of the collar is anti-theft to prevent someone from using a puller to pop the tumbler out.

If I were you, I would get a Dremel moto-tool with the carbide cutting wheel to cut off the rim of the collar. Remove the chromed ring and dash trim piece first of course to give you room to cut all around it, and as close to the side of the collar possible.

As I posted in another thread, if you can cut the rim off the collar, the tumbler will just come right out. Then use the wire tool to release the collar. Yes, you will have to buy a new collar, and no I do not know how much it costs.

Good luck.

Edit- the collar or black shroud is officially the "ignition lock cover" and costs $16 ordered from Peachparts.