waypoint

Hello all, I just pick up my wife's new ML350 and got it home. Locked the car with the remote. There's just enough room in the garage to get the car in and close the garage. I was wondering what if the someone accidentally pressed the lift-gate button on the remote with the locked car in the garage. Would it open? I could imagine scratches on the rear lift-gate. It would only take one time. I proceeded to check with the garage door open. Yes the lift gate still opens with the car locked. I was able to put resistance on the door to stop it from hitting the top of the garage.

Has anyone come across this problem or should I just not worry about it. Is the a way to prevent this uh oh experience. Maybe programming the remote to require you hit it twice in a row before it opens. Does this option exist? Thanks in advance.

shortspark

I have a 2012 model and it can be programmed to open only to the height you desire. The instructions are in the manual and I assume the new model has the same ability. I programmed the height to give me enough headroom so I don't hit my head on the hatch and at the same time rise just short of hitting the garage door opener brace.


One word of caution if you program it to a set stop position - do not open or close the hatch manually. If you do you may mess up the program memory and it will eventually fail and require a new right shock. Once programmed to the desired set point only open the hatch with the remote or interior latch and only close it with the remote or the red button on the hatch door.

Chasvs

You are afraid the hatch will open when the garage door is CLOSED, so programming it to open a certain distance won't help unless you program it to open only a couple inches. Don't know if that is even possible, but it would defeat the purpose of the remote hatch opener. I suggest getting something to use as a bumper and attach to the garage door where the hatch would contact the door if accidentally opened. You don't need something the entire width of the hatch, just enough to protect the area that would contact the garage door first. There are products designed to protect your doors from contacting the garage wall at Griots Garage and other automotive web sites. They are about 18-24 inches long and 3-4 inches wide. That would probably do the trick and let you relax about this issue.
http://www.griotsgarage.com/product/...ortby=ourPicks

markfl

As above. the only option is to program it to always open to a specific height limit.

tneal

I've got something that has puzzled be for several years. I've had the trunk lid open on my E350 open on its own in the garage, in a parking lot, wherever. It hasn't happened in over a year now but.... My 2012 ML350 has done the same thing in the garage about four times now. Unfortunately, I didn't notice it had happened until I tried open the garage door. Then the liftgate is stuck on the garage door and I have to figure out how to close the liftgate while pushing back on the garage door. I have a few scratches on the edge of the liftgate but have put tape around the garage door to hopefully avoid any further scratches.

dk10438

If I had to guess, you're probably accidentally opening the trunk with the remote and not realizing it. Maybe it has to do with the pocket that you keep your keeps in, briefcase, etc. Seems weird that it would happen on 2 different cars.

another_geek

Could also be too much stuff on your keyring. I've had this happen to me once where there was a lot of stuff in my pocket and just moving around caused the junk in my pocket to hit the tailgate release button and hit the garage door. I was near by when it happened so I realized fairly quickly what had happened.

tneal

OK, I just ran an experiment on the pocket theory. By the way, I have never been near either car when this happened and have never actually seen it happen. Seems to happen sometime over night.
I just went out near the ML and clicked the opener (just a quick push on the button to hear the click). This didn't open the tail gate and after several tries at this, without it opening, I found that I actually have to hold the button down for two seconds before anything happens. This would seem to rule out anything that is happening in my pocket.

another_geek

The 2-second button hold is fairly standard but trust me, it is possible to still activate the release by accident :-) I've done it...

Mastcell

You can just use swimming noodle for that. Just liquid nail the noodle to the wall or wherever your door is likely to hit.

Chasvs

Yeah, I thought about that after my post. We have noodles here because we have a pool, I also have wall guards from Griots Garage as well which I used for my BMW Coupe doors in my garage.

xMB007x

You can also reverse into the garage.

Chasvs

Better to hit the wall than the door?

xMB007x

I guess it depends on the size of your garage but I always back in and have more than enough room for the tailgate to open.

Chasvs

The original post spoke to a tight fit which didn't give enough room to fit far enough in to avoid hitting the door if the hatch opened accidentally. "There's just enough room in the garage to get the car in and close the garage."

Streamliner

Another great argument for putting the MB Star on TOP of the hood, where it belongs. My daily driver is a 2013 S550. When I pull into the garage, lining up the hood ornament with the drawer handle on the cabinet in front of me, allows for a perfect parking job each and every time. When I get my new ML350BTC, I am seriously considering adding a hood mounted star, just for this reason.

Chasvs

Hmmm, I fail to see how protecting your hatch from accidentally opening and hitting the garage door is solved by a hood ornament? That is the issue at hand in this thread.