tripwalking

Worse than I thought... I ended up taking apart the plastic motor assembly, and there's an aluminum piece which holds a gear in place. That gear is part of both the soft close feature and unlock feature. The aluminum piece broke, which is why it was working sometimes and not other times. There's really no way to fix it. It's too small to fabricate, and good luck trying to find a replacement. I guess 13 years was a decent run... but the latches on my 68 Dodge truck are working perfectly.

tripwalking

I shot a video of the inside of the latch mechanism for your entertainment.

tripwalking

Update: wow, I didn't realize how long my 8 year old was holding the hatch closed with a bungee cord!
Bought a replacement latch from a fellow who was parting out a wagon...... $50!!! The hardest part of the re-install was getting the big interior panel back on the hatch. I ended up holding it in position, then closing the hatch with me inside and pushing on it while I banged down with my fist. Little DIY tip.

dogfood1

I had the exact same problem last summer. I bought a new unit off eBay for like $100 and just replaced the whole thing. You are right, the hardest part was getting that interior trim piece back on. If only replacing the automatic struts were as easy. Someones going to get decapitated...

expbaby

Has anyone tried using an OEM part from China? I'm in need of changing out my Hatch Lock Latch and wanted to know of anyones experience with the OEM versions. here's the one I'm looking at on ebay

tripwalking

Nope, sorry.

Mine's started acting up again. It's hard to train people not to slam the trunk...

expbaby

Looks like this part is pretty common in a lot of cars. Just found another OEM version for $166. @tripwalking, you think you would roll the dice with one of these? or would you only use genuine parts?

tripwalking

I'd give it a shot if you can't find a Mercedes one easily. Up to you though