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Of the eight MB vehicles I have owned since 2000, the EQS SUV is the poorest from a panel alignment perspective. The doors are off a tolerable amount. The worst panel by far is the hood. I think the "relief" built into the front wheel arches emphasizes the misalignment of the hood. I have looked at EQS SUV side view photos on this forum and other SUVs also seem to have issues with the hood alignment.
The hood is held in place by the two hinges in the rear corners, and two latches on the front edge. There are two rubber bumpers on threaded posts on each side, and two along the front edge near the latches. Of the six rubber bumpers, only the one near the passenger side latch has left a mark on the underside of the hood.
At the very rear edge of the hinge bracket there is a threaded post with a 14mm pentagon head. This post is an adjustable stop for a tab on one edge of the hinge. By lowering this stop the gap between the wheel arch and the hood can be decreased. I lowered the passenger side 2 turns which is 2mm and the driver side 1.5 turns. I also adjusted the rubber stops a bit.
The attached photos show the before and after gap on the passenger side, a pentagon socket, and the location of the adjustable stop on the hinge.
Gap on passenger side - before adjustment.
Gap after adjustment. Another view of hood adjustment screw.
14mm pentagon socket.
Adjustment screw. Black dot added to facilitate counting adjustment turns.
It's not likely that you will find a pentagon socket at a nearby auto superstore. Pentagon sockets seem to be available in only a few sizes. Popular sizes are 19mm, 14mm, and 13/16". The one needed to turn the adjustment screw on the EQS SUV hinge is the 14mm size. 14mm is the measurement from one point to the center of the opposite flat side. Some socket manufacturers use the length of one of the sides to indicate the socket size. Prices for the sockets range from about $10 to $50. I could not find an individual 14mm Pentagon Socket for sale, so I ended up ordering a kit for under $20. The quality of the sockets in this kit is not great, but it is good enough for what amounts to a one time use tool.
I was not able to align the driver side of the hood simply by lowering the adjustment screw on the hinge. The first photo shows that the hood needs to be lowered further than the initial adjustment, but there is not enough clearance in the circled area just below the A-pillar. The three bolts securing the hood to the hinge pass through oversized holes in the hinge bracket which allows for some adjustment. Note the pencil line where I marked the hood prior to loosening the bolts. After tightening the three bolts the line shows that the hood was moved forward about 1mm. Doing so allowed me to lower the hood slightly more.
The result was not quite as good as the passenger side. I may be able to do a little better by shifting the hood further forward. But decided to stop here before I break something.
Hood could not be fully aligned due to low clearance in circled area.
Hood shifted forward 1mm on driver side hinge bracket.
Driver side did not line up quite as well as passenger side.
IMHO the EQE SUV with a more conventional hood design looks better than the EQS SUV hood that dips down to the wheel arch. I wonder if issues aligning the EQS SUV hood on the production floor persuaded MB to change the design. It will be interesting to see what the hood shape is on the EQS after the facelift in a few years.
Besides adjusting the height of the rear edge of the hood with the pentagon head bolts and moving the hood forward or rearward by shifting it on the hinge as described above, there is a third adjustment available. The hood latch striker plate can also be adjusted to raise or lower the front edge of the hood using a 13mm open end wrench.
Wow! You have a discerning eye! And apparently some experience / knowledge about car bodies. It's great that you take the time to share the detail of the problems and the solutions.
I never would have expected owning a Mercedes Benz to be such a "DIY" adventure. But I guess it can be. I can't imagine a dealer would want to fuss with panel adjustments like you just performed.
2023 EQE 500 SUV electric and 2024 Jaguar F-PACE SVR 5.0L
Problem is it says plain as day in the owner's manual that "opening of the hood is not permitted". You've violated the terms and conditions of owning a MB EV. Your warranty is voided and you may not be allowed to buy a Mercedes again in the future.
Never forget that rules are rules are rules are rules. Doesn't matter if the rules are right or if the rules make sense, they're still the rules.
Problem is it says plain as day in the owner's manual that "opening of the hood is not permitted". You've violated the terms and conditions of owning a MB EV. Your warranty is voided and you may not be allowed to buy a Mercedes again in the future.
Never forget that rules are rules are rules are rules. Doesn't matter if the rules are right or if the rules make sense, they're still the rules.
Jeopardizing the warranty would be my primary concern about opening the hood.
A few weeks ago, I asked my dealer about what I should do when I leave the car sit (someplace yet to be determined) in Greece for 4-5 months next year.
He said no worries about the big battery, but for the 12v battery I should put a trickle charger on it, like they have on all their cars in the showroom.
I asked how to do this and he said "open the hood" and that the 12v connections will be immediately apparent.
I asked how to open the hood on my EQE SUV and he said behind the panel by the floor on the driver's (I think) side. I have not tried this.
I asked (on two separate occasions) if this would violate the warranty and he said (on two separate occasions) "No."
But I'm skeptical about the accuracy of his statement.
It would be interesting to learn if anyone on this forum has had any EQ warranty work "rejected" because they opened the hood when they should not have.
2023 EQE 500 SUV electric and 2024 Jaguar F-PACE SVR 5.0L
I was half joking, obviously. But the issue that isn't being addressed (and I think it should be) is our right to repair. The way things are going I really think they'd rather we "subscribe" to the entire vehicle and own nothing, much like what's happened with software. Cars as a service.
If the dealer doesn't tattle on you i guess MB corporate won't ever know. It's just the fact that they COULD use it as ammunition against a warranty claim is what bothers me. I don't want to have to kiss stealership butt to get my car fixed.
If MB was really concerned about opening the hood they would have it situated where it couldn’t be opened without a special tool or have charging contacts in a separate area. As it is the tiny hood handle under the dash is held by a tiny screw and mine came with the screw already removed. It’s ludicrous to think as it is set up now opening the hood would void the warranty when services like AAA are told to open it on the road when the small battery needs to be jumped. Though well trained wrecker drivers aren’t exactly rocket scientist.
Last edited by Utopia Texas; 11-17-2023 at 07:18 AM.
IMHO the EQE SUV with a more conventional hood design looks better than the EQS SUV hood that dips down to the wheel arch. I wonder if issues aligning the EQS SUV hood on the production floor persuaded MB to change the design. It will be interesting to see what the hood shape is on the EQS after the facelift in a few years.
Clean lines of EQE SUV hood.
I completely agree with you on this point. I never cared for the look of the side hood dips on the EQS SUV and agree that the EQE SUV hood looks much cleaner, more conventional for sure. I don't expect the current design of the hood will reappear when they redesign the exterior in 4 or 5 years. MB may have to do a full refresh even sooner with more and more large 3-row electric SUV's entering the segment (Cadillac, Lucid, etc.)
I was half joking, obviously. But the issue that isn't being addressed (and I think it should be) is our right to repair. The way things are going I really think they'd rather we "subscribe" to the entire vehicle and own nothing, much like what's happened with software. Cars as a service.
If the dealer doesn't tattle on you i guess MB corporate won't ever know. It's just the fact that they COULD use it as ammunition against a warranty claim is what bothers me. I don't want to have to kiss stealership butt to get my car fixed.
I have had a couple of warranty repairs as well as the 20K mile service performed at the selling dealer. The warranty repairs did not require the hood to be opened but the 20K service did. The technician appreciated that the hood struts I installed made it easier and safer to work under the hood.
If MB was really concerned about opening the hood they would have it situated where it couldn’t be opened without a special tool or have charging contacts in a separate area. As it is the tiny hood handle under the dash is held by a tiny screw and mine came with the screw already removed. It’s ludicrous to think as it is set up now opening the hood would void the warranty when services like AAA are told to open it on the road when the small battery needs to be jumped. Though well trained wrecker drivers aren’t exactly rocket scientist.
The screw for the hood release cover was also missing on my EQS SUV. I suspect that the hood is opened during dealer prep and the techs consider it a nuisance to re-install that screw. Nothing in the written warranty references opening the hood. If opening the hood voided the warranty there would be a paragraph in uppercase letters stating so. I will rely on the Magnuson–Moss Warranty Act to preclude MB from challenging any warranty claim not related to the hood itself.
Jeopardizing the warranty would be my primary concern about opening the hood.
A few weeks ago, I asked my dealer about what I should do when I leave the car sit (someplace yet to be determined) in Greece for 4-5 months next year.
He said no worries about the big battery, but for the 12v battery I should put a trickle charger on it, like they have on all their cars in the showroom.
I asked how to do this and he said "open the hood" and that the 12v connections will be immediately apparent.
I asked how to open the hood on my EQE SUV and he said behind the panel by the floor on the driver's (I think) side. I have not tried this.
I asked (on two separate occasions) if this would violate the warranty and he said (on two separate occasions) "No."
But I'm skeptical about the accuracy of his statement.
It would be interesting to learn if anyone on this forum has had any EQ warranty work "rejected" because they opened the hood when they should not have.
I left my 23 EQS sedan in my cooled Florida garage for the summer. Left it at 82% SOC. After 6-7 weeks the 12v battery read partially charged. Talked to my service advisor in RI where I got the car. Was told as long as SOC was above 20% the car senses the charge on the 12v battery and hi voltage battery will keep it charged. Well it eventually went down to critically low charge. Went back to the SA who said that’s not supposed to happen and don’t know why but maybe you should put it on a trickle charger. What about the no no of opening trunk? I suggest you do it anyways was response. I went to Florida once during middle of summer and drove it enough to recharge the 12v battery. I was too chicken to leave it on a trickle charger while I was 1400 miles away. It went back down to critically low a couple of times and did get back to partially charged by itself. I am currently back in Florida and driving the car. It started up fine without any error codes.
It went back down to critically low a couple of times and did get back to partially charged by itself. I am currently back in Florida and driving the car. It started up fine without any error codes.
Thank you for sharing this experience Radman991! It somewhat "comforting" to see that the car managed to get itself out of the "critically low" stage on its own. I wish the app could show the actual voltage of the 12v battery so trends can be spotted early on and dealt with accordingly, if necessary!
Apologies to Larzarus for hijacking this panel-alignment thread!
07-18-2023, 09:49 PM
