Automatic Trunk + Head = Pain
 

Ok, so let me start with I just had service A with 6,500 miles and have had nothing but fun with my 2021 GLE 450. I've enjoyed it so much I'm thinking of putting in an order for a GLE 63. But of course every car has some sore points. The whistling window was resolved, the navigation screen which starts authorizing once in a while while driving and makes the NAV unavailable is annoying and I do need to have MB deal with it, but the one that got me literally was the trunk. Day before yesterday, I was shopping and while loading the trunk I heard a beeping and wondered what it was, by the time I looked up to see where it was coming from damn trunk was closing (making the beeping) and hit me on the side of my forehead before it stopped. then when I put my hand to push it bqack up, it kept trying to close. That was definitely dangerous and painful. Anyone else have the trunk randomly close on them? Should I take it to MB? It hit hard enough to still hurt a few days later.

That is not nornal. The trunk needs to be recalibrated. Take it back as you might get into a situation that is softer than your head.

Was the button on the key fob accidentally pushed, it could have occurred if something in your pocket was pressing against it if perhaps you bent down to load the trunk? Just a thought

yes, it definitely was in my pocket and that could have happened but it has started closing on its own a few times in the past but while I wasn’t in its path and I dismissed it as the same. Not sure. Not really sure if MB diagnostics will tell much

Any chance your leg or foot was under the vehicle enough to trigger the kick to open option? I've walked behind a previous vehicle and just by walking by, it opened.

At least your trunk doesn't do this.

That is the only thing I could think of while going through this thread.

This has happened to a few others primarily with the E wagon. The issue is the sensor in the bumper. One can inadvertently trigger the trunk closing with their feet while loading and shuffling their feet around. The sensor thinks you did the kick motion. It's documented in the owners manual and the recommendation is to not have the fob on your person while loading the trunk, or to disable keyless go by pressing the lock button twice on the fob. Seems to be a particular issue with vehicles that have lift gates as one probably stands with their feet below the bumper when loading, so alternatively make sure your feet stay behind the bumper and not under the bumper.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...ee5281c04d.jpg

yes i think this is the culprit. i have had the same thing happen to me on our audi etron when unloading things and my feet are under the sensor and that triggers the closing. i have learned to immediately get out of the way if i hear the beeping! it is annoying but thankfully pretty infrequent. just depends on how you unload/load your trunk. i tend to stand a little further back now when loading/unloading.

Thanks, that does make sense now. That really clunked me 😜

Now if you actually wanted to activate the hatch with your foot, it's required you bash your shin at least three times on the trailer hitch. ;)

😂😂😂. Very True.

Yeah, I have never been able to figure out the usefulness of this feature.

Picture this: I have a heavy load that takes two hands to carry, so I can't use one of those hands to open the tailgate.
So, since I have this thing in my hands, I have to turn sideways to get close to the car.
Since I'm turned sideways, it's virtually impossible to "kick" in the exact place.
So I have to set that thing down in order to turn and face the back of the car so I can use the proper technique.
However after setting the load down, I could just reach the latch with my hand, pick up the load and put it in.

That way I would save my shins, time, and frustration.

Knock on wood but I have yet to smash my shin in trying to open the tailgate. I think I've had 100% success in kicking it open. I do have the tow package and all that is necessary is a quick kick on the left side of the receiver and it opens.

You're forgetting that nothing works unless you play pocket pool with the key fob first.
And yes, I have with both hands full, done an impromptu version of the Hokey Pokey in the parking lot at Sam's Club attempting to wake up the key fob and open the hatch.

My 2020 GLE had fobs like that…after complaining about it my Dealer replaced them with the new ones that worked as they should. My 2021 Fobs also work great. It may be that some Dealers or even Mercedes has stopped replacing them. I made 3 videos of them going to sleep and not working until shaking them. There’s an old thread I started in 2019 “Key fob fable”.
My hatch seems to work with the kick to open if I bend my knee a little and kick back about a foot. I also had it open accidentally after a wash job when I wiped to dry under the rear bumper. I thought maybe the water enhanced the function because I couldn’t get it to do it later after numerous attempt’s.

yeah the same thing happened to me today, loading fro eries, it’s happened before, not often, but I got quite a bump on the head. Would love to disable the feature but it doesn’t look like you can!

Don’t complain. On several occasions I’ve found my cargo door open on return to the vehicle…Porsche Cayenne. Porsche has a setting to disable the kick function but it still self opens. Also it might unlock the vehicle on occasion.
I’m guessing it’s related to the vehicles function to auto lock the car in about a minute if you unlock using the key Fob(and haven’t opened a door). Zero chance the Key Fob is accidentally triggered. Does anyone else miss the days when the car actually shut down when you turned off the ignition?

Hmmm, was that setting intended for a different type of behaviour than the description suggested, maybe that is why? Otherwise why in the world would Porsche design it to still function after the user specifically disabled it?

The setting only disables the kick to open function. All other functions work such as using the Key Fob or the physical open/lock button. Porsche obviously didn’t design the cargo door to malfunction…not sure where you got that from. If the cause of the random opening or unlocking were known, it would probably be fixed by now. It also randomly locks for no apparent reason but that doesn’t leave the contents available for theft. My “theory” is that a the latent function to lock-if you unlock using the Fob and don’t open a door-is messed up and the culprit because nothing else makes sense to me. After you turn off the vehicle and dismiss accidentally triggering the Fob, there is no logical reason any locking/hatch functions can activate.

no no, I did not say to design it to malfunction, I mean as in if the feature was designed in a way that we thought it would function in a way but actually with a different intended purpose. That type of thing.