NikleinR6

If your Vario roof stops working one day, it could be that the trunk flap is not sitting tight against the trunk lid. Sensors monitor the positions of these flaps, and these sensors might not be tripped by a flap that is sagging too low. I never had problems with my roof not working, but after reading through various posts of others that had, i decided to check out the condition of my flaps. To my surprise my passenger flap was sagging quite a bit (my drivers side was fine). I then discovered that Mercedes released an updated part to resolve this issue. The new part is heavily reinforced and will resist bending much better than the original part.
Also, don't bother with the adjusting screws as they don't work very well for adjusting the tension of the flap. I ordered the new supporting parts from parts.com. The came as a pair, so i decided to install both sides. This way i will never have to worry about my top being stuck because of a silly cheap part.
Here are some pics and instructions for changing the parts.
The right side took 20 min. , and the left side took 10 min. because i new what i was doing after learning from the right. Basic tools are all that's needed, and very little skill.

NikleinR6

Quiet1

Another outstanding tutorial NekleinR6. It's these kinds of contributions that make this forum so valuable to fellow owners. Kudos to you for producing and sharing it. You da man!

Rick SL55

I do have those spare parts at home, now with this tutorials I'm ready for installation.
Thanks!.

robdog

Thanks Nick - I feel I may have to send you a check for all the repairs you're helping me with. BTW the flap and the soft close were both denied repairs by CSC Maxcare 5/70

Anyway, my question is I'd like to install an MP3 jack (05 SL500) and I've been quoted $600 - or $1k if I don't want to lose my cd changer. 05MY doesn't have a jack in the glove box. From what I understand there's an RCA connector under the cd changer. Any experience with this?

It's amazing how many 'options' there are on a $100k vehicle - my Escalade came with satellite and an MP3 jack. Go GM. Thanks.

bojangles27

thank you for your info on the trunk flaps! I will check that out.

cheweedog

Was it difficult to line-up the gears. Is it easy to adjust?

robdog

A little difficult to line up - but very important. The pieces need to fit together snugly before they're secured. Also, make sure the flap is TIGHT against the trunk lid before securing. The adjustment after installation doesn't work well in my experience.

1bad55

Dealer wanted $575.00 to fix. Bought the part for 60 bucks and followed your instructions. Worked like a champ except had a very difficult time lining up everything for the torx bolts. Mine is an 2007 and may be a little different. For whatever reason the Flap itself was preventing me for getting it into position with the flap bracket all the way up. The trunk kept getting in the way. Easy fix,,,,, just pushed in the taps on the back of the flap and removed the screws that held it to the flap. Now I had plenty of room. Put everything back then screwed the flap onto the bracket and snapped the flap back in place. Thanks for your post.

jschade

Just did mine today and had the same exact issue. This extra step really made it easier, in fact I think it would've been impossible to do it without removing the flaps.

dank1dad

Just wanted to thank you, NikleinR6, for this amazing posting. Although the dealer agreed to pay for the bulk of the repair (since it broke the day after I bought the car used), it was a great relief to understand the problem when I drove into the dealership, also knowing that I could fix it myself if need be. Thanks again for a great posting.

RMBMW

I have a 2007 sl550. Is the part number that you used the same for my car? Also, what is the exact name of the part? Thank you!

dank1dad

Mine was also a 2007 SL550. I showed the dealer this posting and the sagging flap on my car, and he knew immediately what to do. There's a repair kit available, and I'd guess they're all the same, independent of model year. If you go out to parts.com you'll find the parts, as shown in the posting.

RMBMW

Thanks for the quick reply! How much did it cost for the whole fix from your dealer? Also, do you know the exact name of the part?

dank1dad

Cost me about $350, with the dealer supposedly splitting the cost with me. They said it requires several hours work to install the new part and to go thru repeated raise/lowers to get the parts adjusted right. I figured I'd let them do it, just to be sure it was done right (after all, it was only the second day I owned the car, and I was anxious to use the convertible top).

Anyway, I think the actual black rod shown in the photos above may be called a "toothed rack", according to another site:
http://www.justanswer.com/mercedes/2...flap-boot.html

RMBMW

I've actually owned the car for 3-4 weeks myself! I've ordered the part from parts.com. Is parts.com a trustworthy site? Thank you!

EDIT: Also, I think the part is called the mounting plate right?

Dnorth

Thanks for this post! This is the fix I needed for my car!

purefct

Awesome proceedure! I ordered the part from parts.com, cost $48.99 with CA tax and shipping Took me 25 min on first side (reading, thinking, tool collection), then less than 10 for the second!

lenzhotrod

Did my wifes a couple of years ago. Dealer wanted $875.00. Parts were less than $50.00 and took less than 30 minutes for both sides. 20,000 miles later still works great. Called back the dealer and let into them. They tried to play it off as "critical adjustments", alot of us must just be lucky.

Lsomerville

After checking my flaps, the left one is definitely the problem. I went to AutoParts .com and keyed in the product number. It located it but said their records don't match my model. I have an 04 SL 500. Do you think it's because its an updated part? I would hate to order it and it be wrong.
Thanks for any info you can give me

Brusin1

Does any body know an easy way to replace drivers side front bulbs

Brusin1

Does anyone know how to change front drivers bulbs on SL500 2003

purefct

I also have a 2004 SL500, the part listed in this thread is correct

Lsomerville

Great! Thanks so much!

1BGS

Wow...that was a quick fix as I ordered the parts from parts.com which actually came from a MBZ dealer in the Midwest. Then followed the install steps and within 20 Minutes it was fixed..the post about removing the flap made the install real easy..
Thank you all and I am sure this saved hundreds of dollars and wasted time.
Great forum tuturial...
Regards,
Bruce