Help: E350 Trunk doesn't close when button pressed
 

Hello All,
When I press the "red" button/switch on the trunk to close trunk lid, it doesn't close automatically. I have to shut the trunk manually. Is it the fuse or something that needs to be replaced?

I checked the fuse, and it seems as though it's not the "Fuse" .

I have a 2004 E320 but i never knew about this feature?? is it something that is not available in 2004 E320 models???? I have had the car for few years now and i have been manually closing the trunk. where is this red button and does it even work on older models w211??

It is an options foe those who hsve the automatic trunk closer, normally those equipped with p2 packages. Not sure about the older models though

i have a 2006 350 e , the trunk wont automatically close , the red trunk button stop working, it usually lights up but not now, iam thinking fuse ? i found the fuse boxes and the fuse labels , but nothings is label trunk button or trunk open switch ? wheres the fuse located ? also i am also getting a message that my license plate light is out left and right
help !

bulb is good , 3rd fuse block is located next to battery in rear trunk ! theirs no fuse block under rear seats , no diagram or as you say piece of paper in block next to battery ! the only diagram ( piece of paper ) i have came from front fuse block !

It is a little bit of a stretch, because the symptoms don't all match, but consider checking the trunk wiring as per this link. The license plate lamps going out as well may be more than just coincidence.

https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...ate-lamps.html

Trunk open halfway, license lamps out, brake light not working
 

I just checked my wiring harness in the trunk, as my interior trunk lights and license lamps and 3rd brake light were not working nor was the trunk opening electronically.

I pulled the interior panel off of the trunk lid and removed the hinge plastic covers, I then removed 2 plastic rivet holders on the left side of trunk holding the side interior panel on, where the 12volt receptacle is. I gently pulled the panel down, but did not remove and found 3 broken power wires, Mine was brown, blue, and dark brown in color, completely fractured and severed. I spliced it back together with an electrical connector and suddenly had interior lights back on. All the lights are now working, the trunk was open more than halfway. To fix it, I had to pull the key inside the car and hold it for 5 second to set the trunk door, not it opens all the way.

Trunk Button
 

Is there a answer to this question?

There probably was in 2010.


Do you have a question?

Red Trunk button inop
 

So, my red trunk button no longer lights up or closes the trunk. Is this usually a switch or a severed wiring issue? Thanks!

Usually the severed wire also shows up with third brake light and license plate lights out.


But you might have snapped different wire.

2004 e211 trunk button and lights
 

E211 - trunk assist button and the two lights within trunk not working.
* trunk can still be opened from outside and within the car, but only close from within diver side door.
* lights outside trunk - rear brake, middle brake, and license plate lights ALL work
* removed plastic cover - disconnected - reconnected trunk button
* checked wiring for split or broken wiring a b**ch but all good

Any ideas before I try ordering new bulbs and a new trunk switch? Fuses to check possibly???

Exactly the same problem I am having ... any solution to this?

This is a pretty old thread and there could be a few causes. Exactly what problem are you having? Do the buttons light up? If you have no lights on the button check the wiring harness by the trunk hinge, usually a wire is broken and fixing that restores full function. If you have a light and maybe changed the battery recently, you many need to renormalizing which is opening and closing all windows/sunroof and holding the button up/down for an extra 5 seconds or so afterwards. Also does the button inside close the trunk? If not, worse case after trying renormalization, bad motor. Also is your keyless go battery fresh? Does it start to close and then stops?

So trunk closer works from driver door button & keyfob. The main issue is the trunk red buttons to lock / close trunk do not light up and do not work. All other lights work fine (although not sure about the trunk lights in the arches .. they may be faulty - trunk light in lid is fine).

I replaced the trunk controller with an ebay unit and that got the trunk closer to work again. Now heres the messed up bit. The trunk closer lights and buttons worked when I jiggled a bunch of wires going toward the rear of the SAM. Then lights out and nothing. So clearly there is a dry contact broken wire .... somewhere. The wires going from the button to the trunk closing controller have good continuity (and also checked for cross shorting and all is good.). So there is an issue with one of the other wires going to the controller ... two of which go to the sam (good continuity) and the rest make their way into trunk lid (the ones above I have checked) and the rest make their way to the trunk latch at the bottom.

There is another wire/module/gateway that is at fault here and I have pulled the entire harness from the SAM, nav etc to try and locate a fractured wire/ shorted connection .... for hours.. and found nothing. I am beginning to suspect the SAM at the moment as thats the area where wire movement seemed to bring things back to life albeit briefly.

Search the other threads. It sounds like it's the ground wire by the trunk hinge on the left side. Typically a brown wire. It's a little too tight back there. A very common problem.

https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...ate-lamps.html

Well I dont know what to say. I searched high and low and could not find any wire fault.

• I pulled SAM out, removed all connectors and refitted making sure the grounding frame pins were well secured.
• Cleaned and tightened central grounding point in inner upper left rear above SAM on chassis.
• Reconnected and fitted SAM.
• I also soldered the pins on the trunk switch as this switch has unsoldered push in pins (just in case).
• Tightened up connectors on the trunk closing module plug - just in case there was a poor contact.
• There was not one weak / frayed broken wire anywhere in the harness I could see.
• Checked the latch micro switch (ended up breaking connector and having to solder back in place).
• Nav, Radio and PDC modules are not connected currently - perhaps they need to be present for the trunk closing /lock switch to illuminate :nix:

So I found one of the interior trunk lights above the tail lights was blown and the other not present. I will replace these now. Maybe this is the root of the issue on this circuit but the ground wire has good continuity - I'll check if there is a short on this wire.

The result? Well the trunk button closes and operates the trunk fine now. However there is no light on the switch :wall: perhaps related to the blown / missing interior trunk bulbs ... not sure at this stage. All I can say is the trunk buttons work and thats a result. Bit puzzled why the trunk button will work and the light does not but there we have it. I am tempted to jiggle the wires again to see if the switch illuminates but worried that I may lose functionality ... again.

How did I fix it? No idea. My guess is there was a dry connection in the SAM, grounding wire or worst there is a frayed wire that is now making contact.

Will update once I got the new bulbs in.

You might want to check into just buying a new wiring harness. When I did a power trunk retrofit on our 2009 w211, The wiring harness was the only thing I bought new from the dealer. It was cheap at around $40-50 I believe. Everything else I bought used on ebay. The trunk panel with push button, latch, motor assembly...etc.

I hate electrical issues/gremlins. It's annoying AF. The simple fact that when you moved the harness it was working/not working should tell you it is wiring at least. So that is somewhat helpful. I'm not 100% sure but when I didn't have anything connected for the rear trunk as far as lights and things like that, it had no affect at all on the red trunk button being illuminated. For the face lifted version it gets it's power right from the harness so if that isn't illuminating for you, again seems like there has to be something with wiring. I guess it could be the actual trunk push button. If you know someone you can swap the button, it literally takes about 2 minutes to put a new trunk button on. If it lights up then that might give you a better idea. If it doesn't light up then it might make it easier for the wiring.

I remember when I was fiddling with my truck I kept having a similar situation that you are experiencing with a sensor. I checked all wiring and everything checked out ok. Nothing appeared broken from looking at the outside shielding. It wasn't until I pulled all my hair out for days that I started doing a continuity test on each wire as I was moving the harness about, and it ONLY then failed when it moved in a very specific weird way. After I found that it was an internal wire that was broken but looked fine and functioned fine up until it was moved in such a way that then it wouldn't work. Drove me nuts. I would have rather the entire harness been severed, it would have made it easier to trouble shoot and fix/time...etc.

-Nigel

OK so two bulbs fitted in rear and working fine. Trunk closer continues to work although they still dont illuminate. Wiggling wires does nothing now ... trunk continues to work and switch's light remains off. I am tempted to put 12v to the switch to see if it comes on. That will illiminate at least one culprit. Ill clean terminals on control unit and plug one more time and then wrap it all back up. At least it works and I can live without the trunk switch light not working - albeit annoying. Maybe controller needs to sort itself out too as I keep cycling the battery on and off as I am chasing a parasitic drain (another story entirely.... in another thread).

If it stops working again, Ill get a new harness and try that.

How about opening the switch to check for internal flaw, part # is 2208211479 if you need to replace.


https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...58184b986b.jpg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...631cb14e25.jpg

yup already had a look inside ... its a bit odd as the button contacts appear to be on the same circuit as the led lights. Looked pristine inside actually. Busy wrapping it all back up in cloth tape now. Of course once done it wont work again I bet...

Well I am golden. Trunk closes and switch illuminates. Looks like you need to reset the windows and cycle the trunk with the door switch and the trunk controller comes fully to life. I had also recalibrated the front windows but I expect it would be the door trunk switch that gets things set.

:woowoo:

Now to hunt down that parasitic draw....

:confused:

Had the same exact problem. Fixed the ground wire in the trunk and everything works but the lighted switch. Switch is lit, but it
does nothing. Disconnected the closer, so now I just have to close the trunk manually. Poor, poor, pitiful me..... Never really
cared for the closer anyway, always sounded like it was on its last legs.