SL-Class (R231) 2013 on: Discussion on the SL550

SL/R231: Locked out!

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Old Apr 9, 2025 | 07:48 PM
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Locked out!

I'm going to assume that I'm not the only person on this forum to have locked themselves out of the car.

Last night, I was putting my things in the trunk and after closing it, realized the stupidly I left the key fob in the bag I put in the trunk. The car was locked tight and neither the doors or trunk would open although I tried several times. Before I called my wife to bring the extra key to me, I pushed down on the trunk lid - don't ask me why I thought to do that, but I did - and tried the latch again. Luckily, the trunk opened and I was able to get my key.

I have to believe Mercedes built in some type of system that would allow an owner to gain access to the car in this type of situation, but haven't found anything in my searches. Wanted to pose the question to the group to see if I just got lucky, or there is a process to follow in this case should it happen again.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts!
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Old Apr 9, 2025 | 08:12 PM
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Was the fob in a container that would have prevented it being sensed? I thought this prevented this from occuring but maybe it only works if it's left in the passenger area.
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Old Apr 9, 2025 | 10:03 PM
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The fob was in an outside pocket of a backpack that was maybe a foot from the latch. Pretty much similar to having it in my pocket - where it should have been - except it was inside the trunk.
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Old Apr 10, 2025 | 12:28 AM
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I’ve done that on more than one occasion and each time the trunk lid pops right back up, BUT, like a moron, I’ve slammed it shut two or three times and ended up having to call my dear wife.🤬
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Old Apr 10, 2025 | 02:59 AM
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This isn't clear to me. So you opened the trunk with the instrument panel button, got out of the car, closed the driver's door, locked it by touching the door handle, then put your bag with key fob in the trunk and closed it? How does the keyless entry tell if the key is inside or outside the car?
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Old Apr 10, 2025 | 08:50 AM
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Originally Posted by SteveL1
I’ve done that on more than one occasion and each time the trunk lid pops right back up, BUT, like a moron, I’ve slammed it shut two or three times and ended up having to call my dear wife.🤬
I think I'll test my car to see if it detects a fob left in the trunk if I try to lock the car with my second fob. Will do the same thing with a fib left in the passenger area.
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Old Apr 10, 2025 | 09:02 AM
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Originally Posted by Estes5
I'm going to assume that I'm not the only person on this forum to have locked themselves out of the car.

Last night, I was putting my things in the trunk and after closing it, realized the stupidly I left the key fob in the bag I put in the trunk. The car was locked tight and neither the doors or trunk would open although I tried several times. Before I called my wife to bring the extra key to me, I pushed down on the trunk lid - don't ask me why I thought to do that, but I did - and tried the latch again. Luckily, the trunk opened and I was able to get my key.

I have to believe Mercedes built in some type of system that would allow an owner to gain access to the car in this type of situation, but haven't found anything in my searches. Wanted to pose the question to the group to see if I just got lucky, or there is a process to follow in this case should it happen again.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts!
Is it a power trunk? The rear keyless go module might had sensed the key around the trunk area which allowed the unlock?
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Old Apr 10, 2025 | 01:37 PM
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The car was fully locked up. I opened the trunk using the latch and put my backpack (with the fob) and some other things in the trunk before closing it. I realized I left my fob in the backpack when I couldn't unlock the driver door. I tried to open the trunk with the latch thinking that since the fob was in the trunk, it would be sensed and the trunk would open. Tried several times with no luck. I pushed down on the trunk lid and then tried the latch and the trunk opened allowing me to retrieve the key. Not sure why it opened then, but it did.

Seems like there should be some protection in place that prevents this from happening. My wife's Volvo won't lock at all if the key is in the car and you can't lock it with the trunk lock button if you aren't in possession of the key fob. I would think Mercedes would have a similar system in place.
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Old Apr 10, 2025 | 01:40 PM
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I would expect that to happen, but in this case it didn't. The trunk didn't seem to completely close, but it also wouldn't open. When I finally did get it to open, I had to manually lift the lid as the power feature wasn't working for some reason. With the fob out, all worked fine. Will need to check again when I'm home with a second key close to see if the trunk does pop up.
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Old Apr 10, 2025 | 01:41 PM
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Originally Posted by W205C43PFL
Is it a power trunk? The rear keyless go module might had sensed the key around the trunk area which allowed the unlock?
It is a power trunk.
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Old Apr 10, 2025 | 04:01 PM
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Originally Posted by Estes5
I would expect that to happen, but in this case it didn't. The trunk didn't seem to completely close, but it also wouldn't open. When I finally did get it to open, I had to manually lift the lid as the power feature wasn't working for some reason. With the fob out, all worked fine. Will need to check again when I'm home with a second key close to see if the trunk does pop up.
I think that is normal behaviour, except the wouldn't open part I am not sure why yours behave like that. What I mean by normal behaviour as in the trunk won't close fully as that is a way to alert the operator that the vehicle did not meet the prerequisites to lock. For example, on other MBs, I notice when you leave a door open and hit the lock button on the trunk, it will close partially and you can keep pressing it and it won't close completely. Some models might even sound a chime. I guess in your case OP, it detected the key in the trunk.
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Old Apr 10, 2025 | 04:06 PM
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Originally Posted by Estes5
The car was fully locked up. I opened the trunk using the latch and put my backpack (with the fob) and some other things in the trunk before closing it. I realized I left my fob in the backpack when I couldn't unlock the driver door. I tried to open the trunk with the latch thinking that since the fob was in the trunk, it would be sensed and the trunk would open. Tried several times with no luck. I pushed down on the trunk lid and then tried the latch and the trunk opened allowing me to retrieve the key. Not sure why it opened then, but it did.

Seems like there should be some protection in place that prevents this from happening. My wife's Volvo won't lock at all if the key is in the car and you can't lock it with the trunk lock button if you aren't in possession of the key fob. I would think Mercedes would have a similar system in place.
There should be two buttons on the trunk right? Did you press the lock icon or just the lower trunk icon? The button of the lock icon only supposed to respond if a key is nearby the trunk, the button without the lock icon will respond even if there is no key present.
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Old Apr 10, 2025 | 09:47 PM
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Update: Got home today to see what happens if the fob is left in the trunk.

If the car is unlocked, the trunk will not close with the lock button. It will close with the other button. It will open back up as normal so you can retrieve the fob. I didn't get any signal from the car indicating the fob was in the trunk.
If the car is locked, the trunk will not close with the lock button, but will with the close button. It will not open with the latch. If you push down on the trunk lid, it will unlatch and you can manually lift the lid - the power lift does not appear to engage for some reason. Not sure why you need to push on the lid to open the trunk, but that seems to cause the trunk to open.

Hopefully this helps someone in a similar fix. Thanks for all the responses!
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Old Apr 10, 2025 | 10:08 PM
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Originally Posted by Estes5
Update: Got home today to see what happens if the fob is left in the trunk.

If the car is unlocked, the trunk will not close with the lock button. It will close with the other button. It will open back up as normal so you can retrieve the fob. I didn't get any signal from the car indicating the fob was in the trunk.
If the car is locked, the trunk will not close with the lock button, but will with the close button. It will not open with the latch. If you push down on the trunk lid, it will unlatch and you can manually lift the lid - the power lift does not appear to engage for some reason. Not sure why you need to push on the lid to open the trunk, but that seems to cause the trunk to open.

Hopefully this helps someone in a similar fix. Thanks for all the responses!
Seems about right thank you for reporting back.
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Old Apr 12, 2025 | 09:14 AM
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Originally Posted by W205C43PFL
Is it a power trunk?
Originally Posted by Estes5
It is a power trunk.
is there an SL without a power trunk??
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Old Apr 12, 2025 | 09:19 AM
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Originally Posted by eddieo45
is there an SL without a power trunk??
Good question, I heard some of them in Germany doesn't but I should had known better that OP is in the USA by checking the location OP stated on the public profile.
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Old Apr 12, 2025 | 09:21 AM
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Did you know that German W222 actually have a few model years of cloth seat? Yes, but I guess kind of expected because many were used as taxis although mainly E Class were used as taxis.
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Old Apr 12, 2025 | 09:22 AM
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Turns out there was a thread on this https://mbworld.org/forums/s-class-w...g-content.html
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