The door catch on the front drivers door of my S500 has become loose and makes opening the door difficult and noisy.

From reviewing some other posts this seems to be a common problem.

The issue is the plastic hinge unit that prevents the door from opening too far. It has come loose at the car end.

Has anyone else had this problem? If so, how did you fix it and how much did it cost?

How can I take the panel off from the inside of the car to get to the other side of the hinge unit?

 

check maybe the hinge is loose, or try adjusting it

 

no, the hinges are good. It's the black plastic arm that prevents the door from opening too far. Has anyone else had a problem with this ?

 

Its usually the bolts on the door that get loose and causes the latch to make noise. Tighten up the Bolts!! If its still noisy then you prabably need to replace the "door check strap". You have to remove the door panel to do so. Good Luck!

 

Thanks for the tip.

you're right. The bolts were loose. not on the door side but the car side. The bolts are under the black plastic cover. this pulls off so you can see the bolts. It's not immediately apparent at first. They've used some weird star shaped bolts but a some good quality gripping pliers allowed me to tighten the bolts.

you're right, its' called the door retaining strap.

cheers
Aaron

 

It's the black plastic unit that stops the door from opening too far..

[IMG]local://upfiles/12913/E54328BCF9AC4A5EB3F1060F283B1FAD.jpg[/IMG]