SL350 boot problem

[woansleftpeg]

Got a bit of a problem with my SL350 on an 04 that I bought a month or so ago, and the dealer I bought it from have been absolutely diabolical in their after sales service (I'd be delighted to tell you who they are so you can avoid them, but as a newbie on Petrolheads I don't know if that's allowed?). Basically, the electronic vacuum lock thing has stopped working, so I have to fairly bang the boot down to get it closed. Anyone know if this is a common problem, and is it something I can do relatively easily myself or do I need to get it sorted professionally?

Thanks in advance for your help.

[Gouki]

Hello,

Just a small suggestion - have you checked that a fuse hasn't blown? I've just had the central locking and self closing doors stop working on a Mercedes S500 1999 and I traced it down to a fuse that had blown under the rear seat. If it's anything like the S500 you'll have a fair few to go through and there should be a fuse map with the toolkit.

Also, what does your toolkit look like? The toolkit on my SL55 is just a few tools wrapped in blue cloth (I take it/hope this isn't standard).

Regards,

Pierre

[woansleftpeg]

I haven't, but will do so - thanks. Given my utter lack of faith in the dealer (non-Mercedes) that sold it to me, I'm tempted to put it into an MB dealer anyway to sort and get them to give the rest of the car a once over as well.

[woansleftpeg]

Follow up to this is a bit odd - I sent it to MB Stratford who called me to say that they had done a print off of the original spec and that the car isn't fitted with the soft close function. They've fixed the boot so that it does actually close properly, but there was definitely a soft close mechanism working when I first bought the car. Anyone know if this could have been fitted by the dealer, or if MB's records could be wrong, or what the hell might be going on?

[woansleftpeg]

Sorry to bring this back up but the bloody thing still isn't working. After MB Stratford told me that the car isn't equipped with soft close, I spoke to the original supplying dealer in Basingstoke who said that all SLs of this age (2004) were fitted with a soft close function on the boot as standard. Anyone got a similar age car who can tell me who's right on this?

[Mikey_W]

If you send me your chassis number i'll have a look at the original spec

[woansleftpeg]

OK thanks mate, will look it out and mail to you.

[Orb the Impaler]

FYI my 2002 SL500 has soft close on the boot (nowhere else though)

[woansleftpeg]

Thanks all for help, stopped into MB Lakeside today and they confirmed that soft close was a standard fit on the boot of all SLs of that vintage. Now booked in to be fixed next week, am bracing myself for a big bill.

And a big raspberry to MB Stratford who insisted that it was only an option and that the car was never fitted with soft close.

[Lhsags]

I have owned an SL 350 2003 for the past 4 yrs, just started to have problem with the soft close function of the boot, .local garage fitted a new boot latch mechanism but still not closing fully. Any ideas?

[Lhsags]

Did you finally solve the problem, what was the outcome, I have a similar problem?

[JohnnyAMG]

It's a common fault with these cars.

If your door central locking is still working then the air pump in the boot is ok, if not the pump might be knackered. However If the central locking is still working then it is mostly likely the plastic case of the boot locking mechanism which has 4/5 small air outlets. The casing cracks over time and you get air leaks which cause the control mechanism to trip out the boot lock. If you remove/install the fuse for the pump which is located under the storage box behind the drivers seat it will reset the control mechanism and it should start working again. However this is normally short lived and you will need to replace or repair the locking mechanism soon. There is a DIY on the MB forum mentioned above. I did it on my car and it solved the problem. Cost me about £5 in glue. I think a new locking mechanism is several hundreds pound.

[JohnnyAMG]

https://mbworld.org/forums/sl-class-r230/355467-ha...