TPAbnz

So I followed the advice provided here and ordered the trunk floor luggage net. The packaging diagram shows hooks for installation in cars with the fold-down rear seats but none was included. So I ask the dealer who looks the part up and says the package should have included hooks and he'd contact MB parts and get them for me.

A few days later, he says that MB reports all nets shipped to US were missing the hooks and this is a "known issue." He offers a refund or suggests a visit to Home Depot for some S hooks.

I wrote to MB and asked for the hooks. Here's the reply:

Thank you for your recent internet inquiry.

At this time, the luggage net accessory (B6 7 66 0072) is not available for
vehicles equipped with the pass-through rear seats due to possible safety
issues.

I'd love to know what the "safety issues" are. Probably that it is unsafe to the bottom line to re-package the missing parts!

SAguirre

In this highly litigious society, I would be willing to bet you that the reason they did without the hooks and are calling it a "safety issue" is because the net is not strong enough to stop larger objects from flying forward in the event of a sudden stop (and if the rear seats are reclined forward).

I imagine someone must have had the pass-through open and the net hooked up, then something must have hit them in the back and now MB is doing damage control. This is all my guess, there are no facts in what I am saying, but I would be willing to bet that I am not that far off.

Steve

DWP

Our '03 does not have the fold-down rear seat, and it came with hooks preinstalled. The trunk floor cargo net we bought in late '03 didn't come with its own set of hooks. I'm guessing that, for the reason suggested by SAguirre, M-B installs hooks in cars without the fold-down rear seat, does not install them in cars with the fold-down rear seat, and does not sell the hooks separately. No doubt somebody with a fold-down rear seat and preinstalled hooks will disprove my surmise, though.

BudC

Only in America. For the insanely remote possibility that someone might be kidnapped and put in the trunk by a criminal that would know enough to double lock the trunk, we have to give up the Valet key function.

At least BMW isn't as **** retentive as Daimler-Chrysler.

SAguirre

DWP, I think that TPAbnz is referring to the issue of the net itself is not bringing any hooks. I have the folding rear seats option and I still have the hooks (loops) in the trunk. But who knows, I could have read this wrong.

Bud, we still have a valet key, MB want you to lock the glove box with the little metal key and then you can lock the trunk so that it is not a slave to the rest of the locks. Then, at the valet parking curb, you only give them the smart key without the metal insert part that stays on the key ring. I find this to be quite handy now.

A convenience store owner here in the Denver area was followed home (since the thieves assumed the store owner carried a lot of cash) and he was robbed, then they threw him in the trunk of his Cadillac De Ville (a model prior to the glow-in-the-dark inside safety release) and he almost died in the trunk before they finally found him! I am happy that all the new cars here in the US have at least a glow-in-the-dark trunk inside release. I am not sure the mafia likes that though.

Steve

schristo

The floor net is just fantastic for containing the collection of miscellaneous stuff loaded into plastic bags from the ad-hoc shopping of everyday life (great for holding pizza too! ).

Stephen

BudC

Steve, are you saying that in the US, you now must lock the glove box before you can double lock the trunk? It was my understanding that US cars completely lost the Valet feature that the rest of the world still got?

I didn't see this in the Owner's manual so I'll try it.

BTW, Mercedes operate differently than American cars in that when you unlock the car you unlock the trunk. On the Cadillac, you have to have a key to open the trunk (at least from outside). The reason I think it's silly for Mercedes to take away the Valet feature is that the kind of people who would kidnap someone and put them in the trunk wouldn't have a clue about the Mercedes Valet feature. So on current Mercedes that still have the Valet feature, the victim could open the trunk from the inside unless the criminal knew enough to double lock the trunk...that is unlikely.

SAguirre

The glove box and the trunk are not linked in any way. The only thing I am saying is that you can still use the little metal door key to lock the glove box. Then you can also make the trunk NOT be a slave to the central locks and stay locked.

This way, when you keep the steel key, the person with the smart key can't open the trunk or the glove box. This functions the same way as the old valet key, but it makes the other people who just get the smart key without the metal key have a hard time attaching the key to a label or ring. On the other hand, I don’t have to remember to carry the valet key with me all the time.

I hope this helps,

Steve

BudC

Steve,
Mercedes have changed the lock on the trunk to eliminate the ability to lock it with the metal key. They've also replaced the locks in dealer parts with the new lock.

If you can lock yours then you are lucky. My car has a build date of March 2004 and the only thing you can do with the key is unlock the trunk.

This is a stupid thing as I pointed out above. BMW has many things going for it including the retention of the Valet key function.

I am used to having the Valet key function on my Mercedes. I seldom use Valet parking but it comes in handy when you have to let someone put your car on a ferry boat. I also feel more comfortable double locking the trunk when I've got expensive camera equipment in there. When I traveled with the 300E, I always did it with the trunk double locked.

SAguirre

My car is also a build date of March 2004 but built in Austria so I hope mine is different. I will check and make sure I can double lock the trunk (I have not tried to do that yet). If I cannot double lock the trunk, I will be ordering a custom keyed lock for the trunk in Germany when I go there this summer. I also found this feature to be useful, but I have not checked to see if my car has it disabled. I sure would be upset if it is, but I wonder if only the US models that have the green trunk opening button in the inside have it disabled?

Thanks for pointing that out Bud!

Steve


Steve