Anyone whom has owned a Mercedes W126 for awhile will soon know what a broken door strap/stop feels like. When they break or become jammed up the door might make all sorts of noise, plus it may prevent the door from opening all the way.

While sometimes you can lube them up and everything is fine, other times it will take a little more than some grease. When they break is the worst, and usually it will prevent the door from opening all the way. This causes people to ram into the door plus its just a real pain in the ass.

The door check strap is located in between the door hinges. It will have a flat portion of steel that connects via a pin and c-clip. I have inserted photo that shows a good door strap next to one that was broken. You should be able to see what happens.

They are easy to change out. You must remove the interior door panel and it has a total of (3) 10mm bolts. You must also remove the pin and C-clip. Easy job if know how to install and remove the door panel. Cost of these items are relatively inexpensive. One thing to keep in mind is the color. If you do not buy one used from the same color vehicle its likley you will have to have it painted to match your vehicle as this part will look odd if it does not match the color of the car.

Enjoy the photo.

I have some used genuine Mercedes door stops for sale in white and smoke silver if anyone is interested. I am not sure how well built the aftermaket ones are, but I have seen them for sale as low as $15.00 on E-bay. They appear to be made of that gold plated metal and are not color matched. I wonder how well they would stand up on a nice wind gust. Im sure everyone has had that happen when a big gust of wind picks up just as your opening your door and damn near rips it off. I hate that.

-- Edited by SELLC at 22:57, 2009-01-29