marathonrunner

2004 E320. The electric switch on the door and the key will open the trunk, no problem. But it will not open using the handle outside in the trunk deck. I assume there is a cable or arm from the handle to the latch that is broken or come loose? Any thoughts? Thanks in advance.

Racin_fool

Do you have any malfunction messages in the cluster for any of the bulbs not working? Do your license plate bulbs come on with the parking lamps? More than likely you have a broken wire or 2 in the trunk wiring harness near the hinge.

have a headache and just re-read it.. If you can access the trunk area, open it and remove the lining on the inside of the trunk lid. You should be able to see if something has just popped loose. If everything works just fine aside from the outer release handle with no bulb malfunctions, then the release handle on the lid is the likely culprit. There is a small contact switch in the assembly and I'm not certain if you can get that part separate from the release handle itself. Either way, its a relatively easy fix

marathonrunner

No messages in the cluster, and I already fixed the wire bundle in 2015 (thanks to MBWorld) I assumed the handle release was mechanical since the electric releases will work fine.

If it warms up this weekend, I'll see about taking the lining off to look.