I recently replaced my W210 driver front door after (shamefully) parking it into a metal pole... which completely dented the driver door. I managed to get hold of a complete driver door in same color - and decided to tackle this job myself. First of all, I removed the interior door panel. There are two screws that need removing with philipshead screwdriver. The first screw is located under the door handle, protected by a round plastic cover. Just remove the cover and unscrew. The second screw is located behind the plastic cover located behind the metal door handle. You can easily remove the plastic cover with a normal screw driver. Remove the screw. Then, remove the little screw of the door lock cover (smallish plastic cover around the lock on the side of the door). Remove plastic cover. Then, remove the (black) plastic strip / cover that runs alongside the top of the window. You can just pull it off easily. There is only one more step before removing the door panel. At the bottom of the door, pull out the light unit and disconnect the wires. Then, simply lift up the internal door panel and put it aside. Now, you only have one cable connected - which is the door handle cable. you can just lift the little cable hook out of the connector, which releases the door panel. Remove the pink plastic carefully as you will have to put this back on later.
That is half of the job done! We could now remove the door, but still have the wire loom connected to mirror, speakers, window motor and lock. First remove the mirror in order to disconnect the mirror wires. The mirror comes off with 3 simple screws, you need a philipshead screw driver. Then, pull the wires through to the inside of the door so they are free. Then, disconnect the speaker wires and the window motor wire. You already disconnected the wires for the door light. Now, you will run into two remaining jobs which need some attention before doing.
1). Airbag (yellow) tube. This is connected with a plug which you can pull off. But before you do, you need to remove the negative cable of your battery. If you don't, like I did, the ASD light will come on and will need resetting. When I pulled the yellow cable off, the car did an automatic test for the airbag and I heard air blowing out of the cable which surprised me. To avoid this, just disconnect the negative cable of your battery (before any airbag job).
2). black electric cable that runs behind the airbag unit, connected to the power lock. This cable I could not disconnect as I could not reach behind the airbag unit - and I simply cut it - and later reconnected it with a cable connector. (cut in the middle, about 10 cm left from the airbag unit)
Now all cables have been disconnected and the powerlock cable cut & the yellow cable for the airbag disconnected, you can now remove the rubber in between the door hinges and remove the cables. You will notice though, that a metal bracket will hold the cables together inside the door. you can easily bend this and lift it up with a strong screwdriver - and release the cables before pulling them through. Then, pull the cables through and this makes your door ready for removing.
Then, remove door hinges and centre hinge with special screw bits. By the way, the two hinges have 3 screws. The middle one is just a screw to centre the hinge in its place. I purchased a cheap set from the local warehouse - with a long metal handle in order to put more force behind it - as the bolts are pretty tight. Make sure someone is holding the door when you do this job as you don't want the door to crash. I supported the door with a plastic box and a cloth.
Then, I put the new door back on, starting with the hinges and get it in place. Luckily, my door was complete with window, motor, speaker etc. so I did not have to change anything apart from the lock cylinder (see further in article). After the hinges were tight, I ran the wire loom through the gap in the door - and reconnected everything, re-using the plastic caps to hold the wires in place (they come out with a screw driver and can be re-used). Also, I used some plastic tie ribs which worked well to get everything in to place. The black wire for the power lock I reconnected with a cable connector. Then, I put the pink plastic back in its place with tape - and put the door panel back on. Don't forget to run the wires for the door light in the right place so you can reconnect this easily when in place. If you forget this, you have to get the panel off again and find the gap for the wires (as happened to me). After putting back the screws and the plastic cap for door handel + plastic cap for lock, the door closed - but slightly hit the lock. I had to adjust the hinges slightly but once it was done, it closed perfectly!
Then, I put the mirror back on (which was not easy as it has a tight spring). I put a wooden block after pressing it open- to keep it open). Then, I reconnected the wires and put the mirror back in place with the 3 screws. Not easy, but doable!
Last job was the key cylinder. Because the door I purchased had a different key cylinder, I had to put the original cylinder back in. to do so, open the door, and at the height of the exterior door handle, remove the rubber seal by pulling it gently. A small hole appears just behind the key cylinder. This will fit an allen key - find the longest you can get. Unscrew and keep pressure on the screw as it might fall out otherwise. The cylinder will pull out easily. Just put the old cylinder back in and screw back into place.
A job well worth trying as even I could do it! I hope this helps if you require a similar repair.
That is half of the job done! We could now remove the door, but still have the wire loom connected to mirror, speakers, window motor and lock. First remove the mirror in order to disconnect the mirror wires. The mirror comes off with 3 simple screws, you need a philipshead screw driver. Then, pull the wires through to the inside of the door so they are free. Then, disconnect the speaker wires and the window motor wire. You already disconnected the wires for the door light. Now, you will run into two remaining jobs which need some attention before doing.
1). Airbag (yellow) tube. This is connected with a plug which you can pull off. But before you do, you need to remove the negative cable of your battery. If you don't, like I did, the ASD light will come on and will need resetting. When I pulled the yellow cable off, the car did an automatic test for the airbag and I heard air blowing out of the cable which surprised me. To avoid this, just disconnect the negative cable of your battery (before any airbag job).
2). black electric cable that runs behind the airbag unit, connected to the power lock. This cable I could not disconnect as I could not reach behind the airbag unit - and I simply cut it - and later reconnected it with a cable connector. (cut in the middle, about 10 cm left from the airbag unit)
Now all cables have been disconnected and the powerlock cable cut & the yellow cable for the airbag disconnected, you can now remove the rubber in between the door hinges and remove the cables. You will notice though, that a metal bracket will hold the cables together inside the door. you can easily bend this and lift it up with a strong screwdriver - and release the cables before pulling them through. Then, pull the cables through and this makes your door ready for removing.
Then, remove door hinges and centre hinge with special screw bits. By the way, the two hinges have 3 screws. The middle one is just a screw to centre the hinge in its place. I purchased a cheap set from the local warehouse - with a long metal handle in order to put more force behind it - as the bolts are pretty tight. Make sure someone is holding the door when you do this job as you don't want the door to crash. I supported the door with a plastic box and a cloth.
Then, I put the new door back on, starting with the hinges and get it in place. Luckily, my door was complete with window, motor, speaker etc. so I did not have to change anything apart from the lock cylinder (see further in article). After the hinges were tight, I ran the wire loom through the gap in the door - and reconnected everything, re-using the plastic caps to hold the wires in place (they come out with a screw driver and can be re-used). Also, I used some plastic tie ribs which worked well to get everything in to place. The black wire for the power lock I reconnected with a cable connector. Then, I put the pink plastic back in its place with tape - and put the door panel back on. Don't forget to run the wires for the door light in the right place so you can reconnect this easily when in place. If you forget this, you have to get the panel off again and find the gap for the wires (as happened to me). After putting back the screws and the plastic cap for door handel + plastic cap for lock, the door closed - but slightly hit the lock. I had to adjust the hinges slightly but once it was done, it closed perfectly!
Then, I put the mirror back on (which was not easy as it has a tight spring). I put a wooden block after pressing it open- to keep it open). Then, I reconnected the wires and put the mirror back in place with the 3 screws. Not easy, but doable!
Last job was the key cylinder. Because the door I purchased had a different key cylinder, I had to put the original cylinder back in. to do so, open the door, and at the height of the exterior door handle, remove the rubber seal by pulling it gently. A small hole appears just behind the key cylinder. This will fit an allen key - find the longest you can get. Unscrew and keep pressure on the screw as it might fall out otherwise. The cylinder will pull out easily. Just put the old cylinder back in and screw back into place.
A job well worth trying as even I could do it! I hope this helps if you require a similar repair.
