When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
6 years later and still saving people money... love the forums!!
My 2007 had an added tie wrap that held the bundle to the curved trunk support. Brown wire broke right where tie wrap restrained the bundle. Looks like the 'fix' was worse than the original problem. I removed tie wrap and wrapped with cloth electrical tape.
Thanks too for the thread...I was going to go down the path of chasing fuses on my 2008 E320 Bluetec, but decided to check to forum first. After fixing my severed brown wire, one hint at the end of the reassembly process.... Make sure the trunk key is back in the original position, so that the trunk release handle makes an audible click. You can remove the key with the trunk still locked (valet position) and think you flubbed up the repair!
Good day everyone. My sisters e350 is having the same issue and I going to help her out this weekend. One thing I am unsure of is how to remove the left trunk panel. I tried pulling the two pins and unscrewing the two tie-down clips but it didn't want to come out easily.
Any pictures or videos of this being pulled out? Any guidance is greatly appreciated!
Good day everyone. My sisters e350 is having the same issue and I going to help her out this weekend. One thing I am unsure of is how to remove the left trunk panel. I tried pulling the two pins and unscrewing the two tie-down clips but it didn't want to come out easily.
Any pictures or videos of this being pulled out? Any guidance is greatly appreciated!
I just did this today after the trunk started only going up or down half way and then stopping on my '09 550. I would also get the license plate lamp warning intermittently.
Sure enough, the brown wire was cut. Works like a champ now! Many thanks to the OP and the rest of the forum.
As for removing the liner, I was stuck for a bit as well until I removed three of the clips that hold the plastic piece at the bottom of the trunk opening to take a look behind it and there is one little nut that needs to be removed. Smooth sailing after that.
It was a rainy morning today in Dublin so when dropping my daughter to school, I popped the trunk and grabbed the Golf brolly. 10 minutes later on my return, popped the trunk to replace the brolly, and hey presto... nothing happened, tried a few times, gave it a couple of smacks, boot release button in the drivers door.... all nothing!!!! Oh Oh!!
Dashed home to grab the other nipper and had a few minutes to kill so a quick google of "E class boot won't open", led me to all sorts of irrelevant stupid stuff, about the cable being snapped and the physical key not even working....... ah the key, I hadn't thought of that..... sure it is well hidden and I have never used it!
Brought daughter no 2 to school then and while she was getting in, I had a go with the key, phew, it opens! Quick look around for something catching and saw nothing obvious so figured I have a problem.
Jumped in the car and then noticed the dash board warnings 3rd brake light, and left & right number plate light. I had never gotten any of them before, so figured a fuse or something blown. I wouldn't have a clue!
I toyed with the idea of a quick visit to the MB dealership on my way to work and then thought better of it, pulled in and decided another google of the actual warning and you guys saved the day!
Well I hope you have anyway. I just bypassed the dealer, and am now at my desk. I'll get a bit of time one of the evenings this week to strip down the boot and hopefully locate this rogue brown wire. Will keep you posted, but thanks to all for the advice.
Still, I have the car over 5 years now and this is the first fault which has materialised.
Originally Posted by oldcarguy010
I printed the instructions and took them to my local Independent MB shop. When I picked up the car which they did cheap and they thanked me for the help!
Just purchased a 2008 CLS 550 two days ago. A day after my purchase I kept getting the "3rd brake light" message and confirmed the 3rd brake light wasn't working. Trunk didn't seem to operate smoothly.Was hard to open(took some effort),sometimes it would not latch. Being new to Mercedes I wasn't aware the trunk closes and opens with just a push of a button. Took it back to the dealer yesterday,they did a quick diagnostic and said there's an open wire and said they lubricated the latch,because it was sticking. They asked me to drop it off for the day when I am able to,so they can repair it. Because of the hours I work, the earliest day for me would be in a couple weeks. So I left the dealer and no "3rd brake light" message. I opened the trunk at work this morning.When I left work I got the "3rd brake light" message again. Tried to open trunk ,now it won't open with the remote or switch in drivers door. Searched online for answers and found this thread. Pulled drivers side panel back and removed the drivers side hinge cover and found the brown wire severed. About 15 minutes later I had everything back together and it works as it should.This also fixed the interior trunk light,which I didn't realized wasn't working. Now it opens and closes with a touch of a button.
My trunk power button stopped working in driver door and trunk lid. I called my buddy who is a service advisor at a MB dealer and he advised could be a number of things, but certainly hundreds of dollars to fix at a minimum. I Googled, found this thread, realized I also had brake light and license plate lights out, followed instructions and this worked perfectly for my 2008 E63. Called my buddy back and he said they charge $450 for wiring harness fix! I did not solder the wires, stripped back plastic, twisted, and wrapped in electrical tape, it was the brown wire. Here are a couple pics. Works perfectly now, Thank you for a great post!
Originally Posted by hbamark
Hi All,
If your vehicle has lost power to the trunk unit, and lights, there is a very simple fix. This is fairly common problem on W211 models. The wires get caught it trunk hardware and get severed. The dealer wanted to charge me $250 for something that took me 20 minutes and less that $10 to complete. Here's what I did.
1. Use the key to manually open the trunk.
2. Remove two plastic pins holding carpet/panel on the driver side of trunk. Pull carpet/panel away carefully.
3. Remove plastic cover on left trunk hinge by unfastening pin at top of cover.
4. Follow the wires until you find where they are severed.
5. Strip wires slightly.
6. Put a piece of shrink tubing over one side of the wires.
7. twist severed wires back together where you stripped and exposed the copper.
8. Solder the wires.
9. Pull the shrink tubing down over the exposed copper.
10. Heat the tubing so that it shrinks around the exposed wire.
11. rewrap wire so that it follows the left hinge in a manner that is will not get cut again. (I wrapped the at risk area in duct tape, not pretty, but it was effective).
12. Reinstall Panels.
Sorry for the lack of pictures, but this is a real easy fix. I hope this procedure saves some $$$ for someone.
Thanks for the heads up on the 2007 black tube!!! That was a big help. Fixed!
Originally Posted by Pekkle
This is such a great post, but I hit a snag.. Not sure if they added tubing on the 2007 cars. but my wires are protected inside the black tubing and the tubing seems in excellent condition, there is not wear and tear from the opening and closing of the trunk. Not sure where to look for the broken wires now. BTW, I have the motorized trunk closer if that makes any difference.
EDIT: Fixed, took me a while to find the broke wire. But at the end, it's really not that much different than what the OP stated. The broken wire was actually located inside the very top of the tubing. I can't believe the wire will still break inside the cloth tape and tubing.
Once again Thanks go out to the OP and all other people who chimed in with photos. You have saved many people's $250 from the dealers.
I checked the wires as far back as I could get and there are no breaks or frayed wires. When I check the voltage my meter reads 0.15v. Any ideas? I even pulled off the clothe sleeve and seperated the wires, inspected every wire.
I checked the wires as far back as I could get and there are no breaks or frayed wires. When I check the voltage my meter reads 0.15v. Any ideas? I even pulled off the clothe sleeve and seperated the wires, inspected every wire.
When I turn the lights on, turn the knob completely to the right and pull out the knob, the right side trunk / backup light is out. When in reverse the same light is out.
I get power (12v) to the the left side red fog light. I get (0.15v) to the right side red fog light. I pulled checked the wires all the way back to the left side of the trunk, wires look good. I swapped out the blue socket bulb holders, still with no luck. I removed the left light assemble and plugged it into the right side plug, no luck. I plugged the right light assembly into the left plug and it works.
I'm assuming the power to the right side plug is suppose to be 12v?
Last edited by jdblu; 08-08-2015 at 11:08 PM.
Reason: Added pic.
Ok so I put the brown wire back together and my trunk worked for about 10 months. Now all of a sudden it is gone out again. Could it be the fuse? Where is the fuse for this? The wires are still together. Could it be another wire?
6 years later and still saving people money... love the forums!!
My 2007 had an added tie wrap that held the bundle to the curved trunk support. Brown wire broke right where tie wrap restrained the bundle. Looks like the 'fix' was worse than the original problem. I removed tie wrap and wrapped with cloth electrical tape.
Thanks for this info, E63 AMG- same problem. Fixed in 20 mins
06-12-2015, 07:03 PM
BTW, I have the motorized trunk closer if that makes any difference.
