W210 Steering wheel Airbag

[louwdj]

How do I remove the steering wheel Airbag on a pre-facelift (1999) W210? Apologies for such a basic question but I only recently purchsed this car (with only 53,000kms!!) and have not yet found/bought a service manual. I heard a rattle in the steering wheel and now the left side of the airbag Hooter button is loose. I have disconnected the battery but cannot get the r/h side of the button/bag assembly to come off. Do I need to poke something in the holes underneath the steering wheel?
Thanks for anty advice.

 

[whitenemesis]

There should be two allen bolts holding it on, hidden in those holes!

 

[television]

2 x 28 torx screws in the rear, they do need to be 2" long to reach,,do not urn on ignition with the air bag removed.

To remove the wheel,,you need a 10mm hex key and this will be very tight and easiest to take off on a garage air line wheel torque gun

 

[bigasotonuk]

Be aware that this size torx bit does,nt seem to in most sets going from T25 to T30, and as Malcolm says they do need to be at least 2" long to go into the back of the wheel.
You may think its a T25 as it does grip but don,t be tempted to use it as it will damage the screw making it impossible to remove even with the correct size.
I found mine to be very, very tight indeed.

 

[whitenemesis]

There should be two allen bolts holding it on, hidden in those holes!

Yes, I meant Torx... :Oops:

 

[louwdj]

Thanks very much for your advice. It is appreciated.

It seems I will have to get a 28 Torx. I am slowly building up on these. I already have a long reach 25 Torx for a Stihl edge cutter and it was kind of pricey. The kids had Opel (Vauxhall in the UK) Corsa cars, since sold and I have been buying Torx as needed. I restored a Jeep Wagoneer some years ago so apart from metric, I already have SAE and even some Widworth (?) on hand. Does one ever stop buying tools? My attitude has always been to buy the required tools, its cheaper that let the stealership ruin it and your bank balance in the process!

Can you recommend a good workshop/repair manual for the W210?

 

[television]

Sadly no such thing as a workshop manual,, there are CD's onEbay but few get them to work.


With your steering wheel, I do recommend that you loosen the torx screws and then drive to a garage that has a wheel impact driver,, turn off the car remove the air bag by unplugging, use the 10mm hex key on the impact air tool, remove the wheel and fit the new one, plug in the air bag and drive slowly home where you can tighten it up 110nm.

Do have the wheel straight ahead with the lock on when you change.

I have tools coming oput of my ears as they have built up over the years, and gone from BSF /whitworth to unified and AF and BA, and all no use to man nor beast

 

[louwdj]

Thanks Malcolm.
Slightly off-topic (I cannot post in the DIY section - no a full member):

I have have found “Peter Russek Manuals” advertised locally by Autobooks.co.za

http://www.autobooks.co.za/mercedescclass.htm

but have no idea of quality. These manuals "are UK orientated and not from the US". ... "there is no E240 in the 1993-2000 version. (Only covers the 111 & 104 engines)".

I wonder if anyone have come across these manuals?

 

[television]

Thank you for that and no I have not heard of them, the site has been book marked now and this can be added when we get our new soft ware

 

[dougjoy]

I bought one of the peter Russek manuals for My E300 TD. They are very basic and never seem to cover the problems you want answers for. The pictures are very small and the sections cover the 124 and the 210 with the emphasis on the 124.

I would not recommend them. You get more information from the russian site.

 

[louwdj]

Thanks Dougjoy. Thats the kind of feedback I need. I now at least try to have sight of the manual before buying.

 

[SilverSaloon]

its Torx-25 you need.

I got a long screwdriver with a torx-25 end on it for a pound at a local market. - perfect for this job.

 

[louwdj]

Today I stopped at the agents and they kindly tightened the two screws holding the airbag. Problem solved. No more rattles, no need to remove the steering wheel. Why the screws had loosened themselves, remains a mystery.

The technician used a small "L" shape torx (same shape as a normal allen key) andccording to him: Size 30.

Thanks again to all who contributed.

 

[dougjoy]

http://w210.pietrzyk.net/I found this site that is sometimes usefull, see what you think.

 

[television]

http://w210.pietrzyk.net/I found this site that is sometimes usefull, see what you think.

Thank you I lost that one some time ago and its very good

There is one for the 129 somewhere out there