Tiny Part TOTALLY Disabled This Mercedes! AND it's a Common Problem! 

It's very rare to find a genius mechanic like that; like engineer-level.

Hey 'Wizard', David, you were seriously blessed to get a talented person like Grimes to work in your shop. He is very knowledgeable. Best wishes for another great year of business.

Honestly Wizard , Grimes is a goldmine find ! I hope he is well compensated , because I don"t think you"d want this talented technician going anywhere else ! INMHO ❤

We'vd been conned in Europe by so much stuff on cars having to be coded. It may help with theft prevention on rare occasions but for keeping older cars running it's a disaster for owners

My Audi A6 had the same kind of issue. It required an entire new steering column, because the small electronics module that failed was not sold individually. Ended up paying $3500 as it also took them half a day to register the new module with the rest of the car.

I like how Wizard knows the answer already, but lets his technician do the explanation. This is how I lead my PLT.

Grimes seems to be a top notch mechanic . Glad to see you got him there so you still work on old cars. Thought it was a big mistake to stop working on old cars

Y'all are a very thorough shop that likes to get to the root of the problem and that's why I watch the videos.....keep up the great work wizard

It's absolutely criminal to design cars like that.

When I saw the front wheels on dollies I immediately knew what was going on, I've done tens of these within the 5 years I was working at the Benz dealership. There's absolutely no need to take out the entire steering column, I didn't even take off the steering wheel. Take out the back two bolts and back out the front two bolts as far as possible and leave the column hanging. This gives you more than enough clearance to get in there with a 1/4 ratchet and take the nut off. In cases where the lock was absolutely stuck and we had to drill it out, we had a 1 meter long drill bit that fits into a regular hand drill to easily drill out a hole in the top right corner. This gives you acces to the teeth of the motor engaging the lock in order to unlock it. This way you're not finnicking with getting the steering column out and back in which can be a pain in the ass. I agree it's absolutely stupid that this little engineering flaw pretty much bricks your entire car and the part is ridiculously expensive however the amount of work needed to fix this is over exagerated in this video. Grimes seems to be an excellent mechanic but I don't understand why he's still taking out the entire steering column if he's experienced with this repair. I probably did these in 45 mins to an hour top and that included vacuuming the car after having to drill out the lock.

Grimes knows his cars, a great mechanic and very intelligent man 👌👍👏🙌

I have two 2009 c-class mercedes and both have experienced this failure in the last two years. I really can't complain though. Based on my experience as the original owner of these cars I don't think it is fair to say that it will fail again in 3-4 years. Before this module failed I enjoyed 12-14 years of flawless service from each of the two cars.

I had great success by tapping the ESL with a small hammer and inserting the key in the EIS. Once it unlocks, removing the ESL is easy without removing the steering column. Then you can install the emulator if desired.

Not the old BENZ BEWARE OLD MAN WINTER RETURNS WITH A VENGEANCE 😢

EVERY w204 knows its always the ESL. and theres cheap fixes for it, happens to someone on the forums/owner's groups every other day. Mine had it done with the previous owner under CPO warranty

When I saw this video thumbnail and title, I knew exactly what this was 😂 I had bought a 2009 C300 new at the dealer and around 80k miles this exactly scenario happened. Outside of warranty of course. Tow was free to dealer - but repair was $1200 😭

Grimes is a smart guy. Love seeing him on the channel and with Jake.

You are the best... I have been working on cars for over 50 years and I learn something new eveytime I watch one of your videos... and yes the emulator work around makes 100% sense. I just replaced the CATS in my 2006 Jaguar VDP with the Arnott kit to avoid the unnbelievable expense of the OEM air shocks. Guess what It even drives and handles better and a lot less like a floating road sofa!... sometimes a work-a-round makes perfect sense. Keep up the great videos.

The module can be repaired for $9.00. The little motor inside can be found on ebay. I've had do do two of these repairs. Replacing the little motor in the module means that repairing the module with the EIS isn't required. But as The Wizard and Grimes have pointed out. It's the labour getting the steering column in and out which is the killer. I didn't need to remove the accelerator pedal though. Be very careful with the clock spring - don't try and move it around.

I'm so pleased that Omega has the highly talented Grimes able to work his own type of magic on the cars. You guys are at another level to most mechanics I encounter. Great job! 👏👏👏

In the 80's I was a fan of Mercedes I had 4 of them, the last one from 1999. And then, I have now for 10 years, a 15 year old Toyota Yaris, well you can feel the difference, no stress of weird breakdowns that cost a fortune, starts all the time, even at -20 degrees, no brake change every 8-10 months, etc... In short, happiness...

C5 Corvettes have the same issue. I had 4 C5s-All had it. Solved it with a $120. Bypass.

You were lucky to add Grimes to the stable!

My best friend is a master tech for Mercedes and the technology and performance from these are amazing.hats off to you guys working on them!

Yup, had this happen on my w204 c350, on the day I was going to sell. I obviously had to cancel it and then the guy didn't reschedule. After that, didn't sell the car until last year. Car lost most of its value by then.

My last German car was a VW Rabbit. The radio antenna lead ran under the front fender, exposed to all the road rain and snow and salt. All that stuff would run down the cable and through a rubber grommet, further on down the cable until it reached the low point of the cable, which was directly over them main car fusebox. Total fusebox failure within a few months. Car also had overly small taillight housings that caused the taillights to overheat and burn up. Also the rear brake lines ran inside the car, alongside the driver's door, where snow and salt from your boots corroded away the brake lines. The car still had some aspects of quality German engineering, like the Bosch fuel injection system. Oh, I forgot, on our honeymoon, way out in the Colorado high desert, just after sundown, a almost unreachable alternator hold-in bolt loosened up and the alternator pinged and vibrated itself to death. Some pluses but many minuses!

I've had the same year. Most reliable car I've owned

I drive a 1992 ford f 150, Last year it needed an engine ,it made sense instead of buying another truck. I doubt that new trucks will still be providing good service thirty years later.

Great video! Kansas City Auto Electric here: I have told my customers for years that these cars are built for the new car buyer only. They have done the science and marketing research to tell them exactly when these things will break. They will run fairly well up to the warranty expiration. At that point the original owner will be trading it in for a new one anyway. They profit from the way overpriced sale of the new car and double dip on the secondary owner in parts and labor. They are well aware that these cars take a dump on resale. It is called "planned obsolescence". This is not your father's Mercedes anymore and has not been in decades. The bean counters are the ones building the cars, not the engineers like they used to be. These cars are specifically designed to make money till the smart ones junk them and cut their losses. I truly beg my customers NOT to buy a used BMW, Mercedes, VW, Porche, Audi, or any make of German descent. Most listen and the ones that do not cry like babies when they get my bill and I do see them regularly.

Grimes is getting worked hard as the Merc Guy!

9:03 My X204 is 12 years old now, i do a lot of short drives (work is less than 10km away) so it got many starts in the years since i bought it. Meaning that thingy has used it's motor each time twice (to unlock when starting and to lock when stopping) Haven't had that problem so far, so the "it will fail on you again in maybe 3-4 years" sounds a bit over dramatic to me.

Sometimes rocking the steering wheel will cause the ESL to unlock which makes life very easy. ESL will come out with minimal disassembly. There is a tool to open ESL so that PCB can be transferred over to a donor ESL. Obviously, this is the "shade tree" solution which a shop will not want to guarantee. Emulator is more shop friendly.

Very common issue on 2000s Nissan Maximas, Altimas, and Muranos as well as Infinities from the same time period

The VW one is annoying too, the lock gets stuck with key inside and you have you break it to get key off anyways unless you get lucky or it fails and you can't insert key in unless you wiggle it and luckily you get it to align but the next time it's over

I remember dealing with that issue way back with the W202`s 25 years ago, nice to see the Germans still maintaining their legendary build "quality" 😆

I remember in the "olden days" in Southern California knowledgeable fellows like Grimes were a dime a dozen; whether you had a Simca or Opel or Lancia. And all the shops were there to support them. Now it's all gone.

Sounds like a candidate for recall to me. MB should do it just to improve their image of a highly engineered, top of the line vehicle brand.

This absolutely explains why, even 4 years after the covidfraud and crappy car markets, that dealers continue to build new state-of-the-art facilities for $20 million dollars. They get unsuspecting customers to keep their shop humming at $100-250/hr per tech.

Great video! About 6 months late for my daughter’s car. (Sigh)Her 2011 e350 went dead. No codes. Finally called a locksmith, who reprogrammed it for her. $500.

This is an extremely common issue. It's been known about in the mercedes circle since about 2010. The motor in the steering lock module wears out, and is unable to unlock or lock and ends up not allowing the ignition to activate. I've ended up removing the entire steering column to get to it. If it fails I'm the open position, you're one lucky SOB! And to replace it, it's quite involved with the software and permissions. The emulator is easy. Stay safe!

Brilliant guys. Kudos.

Oh that’s a very interesting video you did Mr.Wizard!! I own a 2014 GLK250 (X204) since day one and I am touching wood that I won’t encounter this locking mechanism issue!! Thanks for all your very good videos!

As said below, where would the Wizzard be without Grimes.? You can do all the diagnostics that you want, but previous experience is what helps the most. Grimes is way beyond the spare part fitters that you find at most main dealers.

I regret buying a used Mercedes. It's about tracking down one little problem causing chaos.

I'm a little surprised that you put all those hard plastic pieces on a soft seat. Without any protective covering, it leaves dents, And I would be upset if that was my car. I love your channel.

I drive a w204 C300 and I had this ESL failure issue, my local German shop quoted $1700 to fix it and another shop quoted $2500. I bought the actual motor bit itself and it was only $5 plus the tools to get to it were maybe $20 and it took me about a day to do. It’s a wild problem and is better to just prevent with an emulator honestly if you plan on having one of these cars for a while.

Mine hasn't broken in 12 years! 😋

You can change the $10 motor in the ESL module as preventative maintenance, without removing the steering column. As long as you don't wait for it to fail. Lots of videos here to explain it. If you don't need a functioning steering lock, you can zip tie the module to the column after replacing the motor. Just to make for easier access in the future.

I think if I was lucky enough to have a garage like you guys and I had it explained to me then it’s emulator for days without a doubt 👍🏻

I've had a similar problem on my Lexus ES350 where the immobiliser ECU and the steering column ECU failed. My car had no lights on the dash but all other electronics worked.

Great video, guys. This is just another example of German over-engineering. Yet another reason why these cars aren't worth much on the used market. Keep up the great work.

Reminds me of the old 90s GMs with the diode "chip" key and how the cars ignition fails. You can actually bypass using an exact Ohm resistance "Resistor" Diode that I litterly bought at Radio Shack that emulates the GM keys resistance and allows the car to start everytime, forever. Thusly bypassing the primative GM security system of the 1990s. Namely on my 1996 Oldsmobile cutlass supreme W body. This isnt a new phenomenon, but an easy fix in the early 2000s when the problem started rearing its head as the roads were covered in said GM sedans.

Did this feature continue to the end of the w204 model production, or did Mercedes actually see it as a problem and revise the module accordingly?

Grimes was a good find for you Wizzard. Keep up the great work guys

Just love your unique combination of technical and communication skills. Thank you!!

Oh my god, when i saw the title i knew it was the immobilizer. These german cars are absolute trash for what they cost.

Wizard I see you are approaching 1 million subscribers. , your at 968I hope you get to 1 million soon enough and I believe you get a plaque or an award from Google RU-vid , hang it proudly on your wall ,you worked for it my friend.

grimes is an absolute merc guru! Y'all must be very happy to have someone like that in the shop.

LOVE that Grimes is in these episodes. Love ya all, but if Grimes is in it, I'm watching the entire way through. Thank you ALL!!!

Aah the beautiful W204, once had an 320 CDI v6 2008 sedan. Best car i ever had! Drove so smooth, inmense torque, looks, no failures in 6 years and great mileage. Bought with 50k miles and got rear ended with 150k miles. Did a total of 6 dealer service for 300 to 500 euro. The only expensive thing is the government, monthly tax was 180 dollars and insurance was 160 dollars a month. Full tank was about 70 dollars for 600 miles.

When i worked at mercedes i cant tell you how many of these i have replaced. It is not an if it fails situation, its a when

I was a tech at a Mercedes dealership about 16 years ago and absolutely DO NOT miss working on these things.

Had the tiny electric motor in the module crap out on my W204. It was an afternoon of disassembly, open the module to replace the motor, and reassembly. Replacing just the motor makes it so the module doesn’t have to be programmed. It was a PITA in an otherwise super reliable Merc.

It's truly maddening how such tiny, simple things can completely kill modern cars. It will be interesting to see what new ways automakers have found to do so in another ten years on cars being made now. If 2009-ish cars are like this, just wait until 2020-ish ones are 15 years old.

If you absolutely, positively have drive one these fine Teutonic lead sleds DO NOT BUY ONE! Please for the love of God & your sanity LEASE it. Let the dealership on their own dime deal with the incredibly complex and expensive repairs; make sure your lease agreement provides you with a loaner vehicle( not a 1974 Pinto) for the entire length the car is in the shop. Yes I know a lease is more expensive than buying it but do you really want to shell out thousands of dollars to repair their idiotic design failure?🤔🤔🤔

Things are way too complicated these day's on automobiles. Smart Man.

Two questions... 1. If it left the factory with a steering lock, does removing it affect theft insurance? 2. Surely if you buy a replacement module from MB, it comes pre coded for the car as it will be what Mercedes call a Theft Relevant Part. So the correct part will be plug and play. Yes it might cost $1,500 but that is probably more cost effective than insurance not paying out after it gets stolen because you've bypassed a part of the immobilizer...

I had this happen to my W204 in Queensland Australia with manual steering adjustment 6 years ago. I did the job myself and pulled out the steering column etc - drilled the lock stud out took the lock module out and sent it to a guy in Sydney Australia and he repaired it and sent it back within a week for $280 Australian dollars I refitted it and it works perfectly to this day.

This happened on my GF B200 as well.. they share the same garbage column lock on this.. the funny design of this garbage is that cheap tiny motor causes this.. and there's a position sensor that knows that it stuck on that so it kinda wont let you start the car at all.. 100 bucks bypass module that connects to the steering lock module fixed everything vs complete column, keys and programming

I agree with you and buying a used car without a warranty is not a good. I have an older car that has electronic parts which have disabed the car and had to find used parts to fix my car. The manufacturers have to provide parts for ten years and that becomes a problem for older cars.

Geesh, and they say Chevy’s and Dodges suck. A German engineer definitely got his wings on this one.

*TIMESTAMP **04:36* The look on Wizard's face as his eyes scan the disassembled carnage. His eyes say "Holy moly .... " :)

Wizard, awesome video. I like learning about common issues of a certain male and model.You should do more videos on Honda. I love the “buy this, not that” videos…

As a former W204 owner, I knew it was the ESL before I even watched lol.

Have replaced many of these electric steering locks and it's not necessary to remove all the parts that Grimes did to get the steering column out. Also the body of the lock can be split and the plastic gear turned to a position where the stud can be pushed in without grinding it off.

Why is this not a recall for design defect?

Once upon a.time, Mercedes was the epitome of quality and reliability. That time has long gone.

Am I happy I still drive a 17 year old Toyota Camry. It's simple, it doesn't break down, it's garaged and it's easy to work on, AND it has 330,000 miles on it.

Back in the old days I had two Mercedes diesels. 77 240D with 4 speed was like driving a 36hp VW Bug. Bought it for $2,250 just after the previous owner spent about $4,500 on the complete balanced engine overhaul by a well known Kansas private Mercedes repair shop when it had about 225K on it. He also spent about $500 on new sheepskin seat covers. Then the blower motor quit and that previous owner said he wasn’t going to pay the $250 or any more repairs so sold the car for probably a little more than any dealer would give him for a trade. That was in 1991. The wife and I ran that car another 200K until it rusted out. It was still averaging about 30 mpg when we sold it. Various repairs over the years but nothing that couldn’t be relatively easily repaired. No computer! I really like driving on someone else’s money. About 1993 or somewhere in there bought a 1979 300SD Turbo diesel. Also bought that one with something over 200K on it not long after the previous owner had rebuilt the engine after he didn’t notice the temperature gauge on a drive to their ranch in western Kansas when the lower radiator hose decided to give up the ghost. Warped the head and did whatever damage excessive heat can do to a cast iron block. Owner bought a new Mercedes head. Sent the bottom to a machine shop in Oklahoma City that specialized in MB diesels. Then put it back together themselves on their farm/ranch shop. I had to pay $5,000 for that one. Still considerably less than I would have had to pay from a dealer for that car with a new engine. It was in excellent shape and I could pass anything I wanted, uphill or down. We ran that one over 200K too with typical old technology MB repairs. Again no computer and driving on someone else’s money. Finally sold the 300SD in 2005 and bought a 1996 Lincoln Town Car with 111K on it. Got that one cheap too. Still driving it with 215K on it now. One thing for sure after Car Wizard detailing all the things that can go wrong with “modern” MB’s you can bet I’ll never buy another one even if I had cash to pay. I’m holding out for a Toyota Avalon built before the 2013 model year which is when Toyota screwed those up.

I’ve replaced many of these 1. If the ESL fails in the unlocked position you do not need to remove the column just undo the 4 bolts & lower the column & remove the 13mm nut holding the stud then push it in & remove. 2. In the locked position on a manual adjustable column will need to remove the column not that hard can remove in 1/2 an hour. 3. Rather than cutting the stud off just drill a hole in the housing & wind the plastic gear wheel back till the stud pushes in. 4. If you have the electric adjustable column it’s definitely more tricky to get out as in this case. 5. The ESL is generally reliable mostly older higher mileage vehicles that suffer failure which can be predicted by the sound of the motor, when working correctly will release quickly on failing motors it is sluggish to release if yours does this remove the ESL in situ before it fails in the locked position. Buy a new ESL fit it leaving the old one connected take to a main dealer & have them just code the new ESL in ( just needs the wiring plugged into the new one & a coding key inserted into the EIS for a few seconds then good to go, you will need to have the dealer order the coding key to chassis along with the new serial number of the ESL & provide proof of ownership) 6 W204 is very reliable otherwise.

BMW had a similar problem in 1984 with the steering wheel lock; temporary solve back then was to use pliers to turn the key

One thing to keep in mind when considering the emulator is that you may fail the annual technical inspection, if you have such things in your region. The US seems to have extremely relaxed technical inspections, if they exist at all.

Knowing this, I won't ever buy one of those cars, without a warranty that always guarantee a free replacement for life.

Its the little dc motor that craps out. The brushes just wear out. Just like a starter mortor. You can buy the little DC motors and replace it if by any luck you can get the motor to turn by tapping it with something while turning key.

Sometimes you get lucky with hitting the steering column with a rubber mallet and cycling the key at the same time.

It's amazing how these automotive engineers come up with more and more ways to make cars more complex. All cars have had mechanical steering locks for ages that worked well and didn't cause a problem for the most part, but mercedes had to go and motorize it so it could fail and leave you a huge expense to fix.

Hey car wizard you can use a grinder and cut part of that steering column lock housing and access the gear, you can turn the gear with a screw driver and manually turn the gear and it will unlock the mechanism

oh look, my 90's corolla also locks the steering wheel, but thats fully mechanical whereas mercedes was like "oh yeah lets add a motor and wires and circuits and software to this thing, and lets make it all out of tin and plastic"

When is saw the W204 an the term "Common Problem", i knew it was the steering lock without even watching the Video. Very smart way to deal with it!

I always wanted to buy one of these C250 Sedans. The base model with the 6 speed manual and rwd. Seems like a decent daily and wont be too expejsive w the basic NA V6

Grimes is the man, feature him more!!

Just done this job motors are $10 on ebay and can be swapped easily. if locked a small hole can be drilled in module body to wind gear to unlocked to allow spring loaded bolt retraction no need to remove column just slacken top bolts remove bottom two , if NEC chip is blown here in uk warranted rebuild services only £100 more than an emulator lots of youtube how to videos, just ensure correct reassembly position before power up … hope this helps someone?

well done, I hope these guys are paid well.

Thank you Wizard and Grimesy, nice video. To paraphrase the Wizard, “Buy a Toyota/Lexus”.

I'll hold on to my 92 accord.

The saddest part about this video is that this exact same thing happened to my Aunt's car. Same model and everything, I popped the hood and serial plugged up the car's battery to drain residual electronic gremlins for about 15-20 minutes. Outside of having to reset the radio, the car came back to life like nothing was wrong. I can just imagine how much it would cost someone to do what the Car wizard and his mechanic did to fix this problem. Cheers

Grimes sounds like a great dude! A talent!

And why using hydraulics for steering assist is better than electric motors. You also get better feel and road input through the steering wheel with hydraulics. And having your key manually unlock the steering wheel is a much better system. Thanks Car Wizard, great video.

i believe C5 corvettes have an emulator thing that you can retrofit for a similar issue also. I installed it on mine so that when the steering wheel lock goes bad, it won't leave me stranded.

In the antipodes MB Adblue temperature sensor failed, stealership will only change the whole Adblue tank for $5000 not the sensor for $120.