hornethandler

Has anyone adjusted their door to achieve/maintain a flush fit to the rear quarter panel when the door is closed?


My drivers door sticks out very slightly when closed.


When soft close is activated it draws the door into a flush position then the motor release a bit and the door comes to rest slightly non-flush (sticking out) from the quarter panel.


The passenger door soft close works exactly the same way, i.e., it draws the door in and then releases it a bit, but the door is flush with the quarter panel.


It seems like a simple adjustment of the striker plate on the pillar, but I don’t want to touch it until I get more info.


Any thoughts, comments???


Thanks

WN1X

My passenger door soft close stopped working, so I will be scheduling a trip to the dealer. Likewise, the passenger window auto-up frequently reaches the top and retreats halfway. I've reset the limits a few times, but it still acts up.

As for the door striker adjustment, I've never touched that. Good luck!

AtlasMiami

Just move the striker plate in as much as your door is not closing flush. But first take some painters tape and go around the plate carefully so you can put it back to where it was before you adjust it if there is a problem. The soft close pulls the door in further than the striker plate and then releases it to the striker. So the end position is the striker plate.

bob55

Too bad that so many 231's have the 'soft close' option because MB 'soft close' doors have never been reliable over time and I would personally pass on that option if I was buying a new 231. This option is frequently the reason for a trip to the MB Dealership for a needed repair....

The 'actuators' within the door frame will fail after awhile, (often with a loud 'pop'). I have experienced this on multiple MB models including the SL 230 series. it's an expensive repair once the warranty has expired and a real pain in the you-know-what....

I should point out that 231's without the 'soft close' option have light-feeling doors that close very easily and smoothly with a nice soft 'thud', so in my opinion, the 'soft close door option' isn't worth it's cost to begin with, and certainly not worth the headaches of needed expensive repairs down the road....

Wolfman

Sounds like a simple adjustment. Bring it to the dealer, quick fix.

We have never had issues with our soft close door since we had it on the first on our W140 S-Class. That said. the first gen R231 SL went about the closing process slowly and had too fully close door and both windows until the doors could be locked. Always felt too long. That was improved on the facelift...

Streamliner

Yes, they work great on my 2019. Glad I got them.

.LMS.

They came on the CPO car I bought. Meh.

hornethandler

Thanks, AtlasMiami. As you suggested: I taped it off; however, I allowed the dealer to make the adjustment under warranty. They adjusted the striker plate and the tape allowed me to see exactly how much they moved it. It's now working-- and looking--as advertised.

Another question, though... If/when the soft close feature stops working, will the doors still close/latch manually?

bob55

When it fails, you'll have to slam the door extra hard to make it latch. (MUCH harder than you would need to for a 231 without the soft close door option).

Having experienced this in the past, I'm pretty sure you'll want to get the soft close door feature fixed immediately once it fails!