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It soon became apparent that under hood access would be necessary to clear out accumulated leaves that collect at the rear edge of the hood and work their way down to the HEPA filter intake. Accessing the hood release lever by popping open the cover on the driver side of the dashboard is easy. Opening the hood is easy, but without hood struts it is difficult and unsafe to do anything under the hood. Using a hood prop did not appeal to me. After some research and trial and error I identified the following hood strut components at Lift Supports Depot.
PM3663N10S. The extended length is 16.11". The compressed length is 9.84". The Force is 90 pounds.
The 10mm ball stud with M8x1.25 thread can be easily installed into the threaded holes on top of the inner fender. I used a stainless steel washer under the ball stud to avoid damaging the paint while tightening up the ball studs.
The standard ball socket ends shipped with the hood struts don't allow enough range to be used with the ball studs installed with the ball facing upwards. Replacing the ball sockets on the rod end with 10mm claw close swivel angle ball sockets overcomes the limitation of the standard ball sockets.
I also tried a 17" long strut with a 120 pound force rating and found that the front edge of the open hood was difficult to reach and that the 120 pound struts made it difficult to close the hood.
Based upon videos I have seen the EQS sedan hood and "engine" compartment are not exactly the same as the EQS SUV. The hood strut components listed above may NOT work with the EQS sedan.
10mm stainless steel ball stud with M8x1.25 thread.
Standard ball socket replaced with claw close swivel angle ball socket.
OMG, Mercedes says you will kill yourself opening the hood and your warranty will be voided! The sky is falling, the sky is falling! 😊
Actually, I think the techs at my dealership will thank me since it will be less likely that anyone working in the front compartment will be injured by a falling hood. Plus they won't have to waste any time cleaning out any debris from under the hood. My primary purpose for installing the struts is to facilitate clearing out leaves and changing the HEPA filter. Other than that, I don't expect to be doing much under the hood.
Update: If MB did not want owners to install hood struts they should not have used a hinge with an integrated ball stud and provided an M8x1.25 threaded hole on top of the inner fender.
Forgot to mention that you can only use the 10mm claw close swivel angle ball socket on the rod end. The claw socket must be hooked in place with the strut oriented so that it is in a vertical position when the ball stud is installed on the inner fender. Once the claw socket is secured to the ball stud, it would not be possible to attach a second claw socket to the ball stud integrated into the hood hinge. Any of the other available ball sockets should be compatible with the hinge end of the strut.
I am using a wood broom handle off a really old broom. May paint the handle the SUV color and add a Mercedes decal to make it official….😊
Do you keep a wicker basket handy to catch your head in case the hood comes crashing down like a guillotine? If you're married your wife should take out extra life insurance.
Seems odd that MB did not include the struts for their service people but you found the proper solution.
Exactly what I was thinking. Obviously, the techs will have to do work under the hood. It's just as dangerous for the techs as it is for owners to open the hood. Initially, the MB service departments can get by with one hood prop. But in a few years when there are a lot more EQ vehicles in the field, each bay will need a hood prop. It's only a matter of time before someone loses a hand when a hood prop pops out of place. If that happens NHTSA will make MB retrofit all of the EQ cars with hood struts at a much higher cost than installing them at the factory.
Do you keep a wicker basket handy to catch your head in case the hood comes crashing down like a guillotine? If you're married your wife should take out extra life insurance.
LOL…It will be interesting to see who has their warranty voided first by adding a strut to an area that the manual says is not to be opened by the public and the small door that covers the lever is supposed to be screwed shut.
Last edited by Utopia Texas; 11-25-2022 at 04:47 PM.
While the OP had a great solution, Utopia is correct. When Mercedes sees this they can, at their option, void the warranty. If its an expensive repair, I promise they will exercise that option. And while I mean no disrespect to the OP, totally ignoring the manual and safety instructions and accessing an area that Mercedes specifically says "DO NOT ACCESS" is foolish.
I sincerely hope no one else tries this at home.
LOL…It will be interesting to see who has their warranty voided first by adding a strut to an area that the manual says is not to be opened by the public and the small door that covers the lever is supposed to be screwed shut.
I suspect that the reason MB does not want EQS/EQE owners to open the hood has nothing to do with the vehicle warranty and is strictly a CYA policy to put people on notice that MB will not sympathize with anyone who is electrocuted after opening the hood. If opening the hood voided the warranty, there would be a paragraph in UPPERCASE letters in the Warranty Booklet stating so. There is no mention of the hood in the warranty document. I will rely upon the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act of 1975 to preclude MB from denying any warranty claims.
It's very unlikely that MB service techs will report owners who installed hood struts to the MB Warranty Police. It's more likely that they will express their gratitude to those owners for adding the hood struts and increasing the safety of anyone working under the raised hood.
Unlike the EQS sedan, the hood release cover on the EQS SUV is not screwed shut.
“Unlike the EQS sedan, the hood release cover on the EQS SUV is not screwed shut.“
Mine is….
I stand corrected. While there was no screw securing the hood release cover on my car, there is definitely a place for one. My car only had 18 delivery miles on it when I picked it up and I assumed the hood was not opened prior to delivery. Apparently the dealer had the hood opened and neglected to re-install the screw. Fortunately, the two tabs on the cover are sufficient to hold it in place over the hood release lever.
On page 493 of the owner's manual there is a description of hood open and tail gate open warning icons or display messages. My SUV does have a tail gate open warning display, but the hood open warning does not display. I did note that there are some wires running to the hood latches. So I was surprised that the warning message did not display with the car in D or R.
MB techs use the service position on the hoods. It opens vertically, no need for struts.
MB ICE vehicles with hoods that can be raised to a vertical service position are also equipped with struts. The driver side struts on these cars usually have a button to extend the strut and allow the hood to reach a full vertical position. When lowering the hood from the service position the struts are re-engaged and the hood can be safely closed. On the EQS SUV, you may be able to lock the hood in a vertical position, but raising it to or lowering from the service position is awkward at best. The risk of the hood dropping to the lowered position is real. I will stick with the aftermarket struts which allow the hood to be safely raised or lowered. In the event that the hood needs to be raised to the vertical position the socket on the hinge side of the strut can be disconnected.
LOL…It will be interesting to see who has their warranty voided first by adding a strut to an area that the manual says is not to be opened by the public and the small door that covers the lever is supposed to be screwed shut.
Since installing the hood struts over a year ago, my EQS SUV has been to the selling dealership for the 20K mile maintenance and three warranty repairs which would have cost more than $5200 if not covered under warranty. In at least two instances the hood had to be opened to perform the required procedures. Never once did the dealership point to the struts as a reason to deny the warranty repair. YMMV at other dealerships.
On page 493 of the owner's manual there is a description of hood open and tail gate open warning icons or display messages. My SUV does have a tail gate open warning display, but the hood open warning does not display. I did note that there are some wires running to the hood latches. So I was surprised that the warning message did not display with the car in D or R.
That’s weird. I received a “hood open” warning the other day while driving on the freeway on a windy day. It would chime and very briefly flash “hood open.” I need to have it checked by the dealer.
That’s weird. I received a “hood open” warning the other day while driving on the freeway on a windy day. It would chime and very briefly flash “hood open.” I need to have it checked by the dealer.
I never checked to see if the open hood warning light appears while the car is in motion. I only checked with the car on and the hood popped open. I did notice that the windshield wipers will NOT work if the hood is open. When I get a chance I will see what happens when the car is moving in my driveway with the hood ajar.
There are sensors on the hood latches on both front corners of the hood. You could try pushing down on each corner. If you detect even a slight motion you could open the hood and try slamming in shut when raised about one foot.
My car doesn't have the screw either. All it took was to get a small flat head driver to press on the 2 tabs and the flap opens to reveal the red hood level. Popping the hood was super easy. Since the hood is made of aluminum, it was super light to open up. There's a couple of springs on the hinge, but I think they are used to give the hood the initial pop up. When you hold it open for a little while, you can start to feel the weight. Otherwise, the hood is very light to open. In closing it, I let it down slowly until it rest on the fenders (at the pop up position), Then I simply placed both hands on top of where the two latches are, and snap it down. Make sure to put your fingers on top of the leading edge where the hood folds. This is the stronger points of the hood. A quick snap press, and the hood is closed. No need to slam it at 1 foot.
Now I have to figure out how to get it to stay vertical, and get to my front camera on the logo.
11-22-2022, 08:47 AM
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