Greetings all... The push buttons on my 2001 E320 steering wheel have the appearance like they melted or something... I suspect possibly some cleaning liquid the other half usedis to blame... The push buttons still work but I would like to replace them if possible. Anyone know how difficult (and expensive) it would be to do it yourself? The last thing I would want to do is buy an air bag in the process... [&:] But still, if I can do it and save some bucks I would like to... Thanks in advance for any feedback...

 

26 people have looked at this post and nobody can answer?

 

Do you mean that the pic on the button does not appear?

 

No... the buttons are sticky and nasty... kinda like melted... but still with form... just wanna replace the buttons if it's possible...

 

Mine were sticky also, I finally got them to "good-will" them. It seems they are not covered by my extended warranty, and they come as a set. The bottom line, note on invoice (customer requested goodwill and was granted by zone rep$325.44) replaced switches and R&R airbag .60hr labor
They were in stock 21 821 25 51 8h71 (tan)

 

It´s a common issue on 2000-2002 W210s. You need to replace them or live with them. 2003-2006 W211s are not much better.

 

Is this something that someone of medium mechanical ability do without setting of the airbag, etc or is it best left up to the stealership?

 

I have the same problem with 2001 E320. I decided to try and remove the coating. First i used a citrus solvent which softened the coating, then I carefully scrapped the coating off using my finger nail. This is a slow process since the softened coating wants to stick to the switch. After I had most of the coating removed except for a sticky film, i used rubbing alcohol on a cloth to remove the remaining residue. So far i have completed one of the 4 switches. Be very careful of avoid getting the solvents (primarily the alcohol) on the soft center (air bag padding) since it will take the color off. The cleaned switch turned out great. Be patient, it is a slow process. I am sure there are other solvents that would work but avoid any that could attack the plastic switches. Good Luck. I make no guarantee that this will work for you. Proceed with caution. Apply solvents with soft cloth slightly moistened to avoid any solvent running into spaces around switch.

 

Thanks... I'll give it a try...

 

Instead of scrapping the buttons with your finger nails, use an expired credit card or other thin plastic sheet. It works fine for my W210. By the way, I also used cleaning detegent "SWIPE" to help me removing that sticky coating. Hope this helps.