I posted quite some time back with a question about my trunk lid release. When I press the button it releases to the soft-close, but it does not fully release, and my question in a post some months back was, isn't it supposed to release fully? Of course it is supposed to.

During the cold snap we had before Christmas, the release actually worked correctly! The trunk lid was not caught on the first soft-close position and would raise. (It didn't actually raise by itself so I probably need some new gas struts, but that's a separate issue. The latch DID release!) As the weather returned to normal, the latch went back to failing to fully release.

We had another good chill last night, not quite freezing but plenty cold for my area of north Florida, about 41 degrees (5 for you folks outside the US.) I went out and checked it, and it worked correctly!!! I went to the store, and when I got back to the car, it only unlatched to the first latch position, ready for soft-close. It wasn't much warmer then, but it had been out in the sunshine for a while. Made a video to compare. The first 15 seconds or so is working, the end is after warming up.


So... what's in there that just being cold would allow it to release properly?! Do I have a hope of actually fixing it without having to drop $$$ for a new one?

 

Well, I'm not sure about the cold, but I had a boot release problem on my first X350 similar to yours. When I replaced the lid struts, it was cured. The latch relies on the lid being opened slightly by the struts.

 

It doesn't release if I'm lifting it when I press the button, so struts are not the unlatch issue. I agree I probably need struts, but when it's not cold, the latch does NOT release; the lid is in the first catch position, ready for the soft close.

 

Are the struts actually susposed to open the lid or just support it? I replaced my acturator with a used one from Ebay after repair attempt failed. Works fine now, 4yrs.

 

Everyone is saying that if the struts are too weak, the lid won't go past the partial release when clicking the remote or the button. That is not my issue, as I can be lifting on the lid when i hit the button, and it won't fully release. So whether the struts actuall lift the lid or just support it is irrelevant to me at the moment. When it's nearly freezing out, the release works perfectly.

 

The hinges of the boot lid on the X350 are not designed to have the boot lid opened completely by the struts.

Coming back to your problem, your video shows that there are times when the boot lid release works, as you state.
I can only think that it could it be that some part inside the release has deteriorated and blocks the release when warm.
You should be able to close the latch of the release (for example with a screwdriver) so that you can check the operation with the boot lid open. Maybe then you can seen what does not work properly.

Best regards,
Thomas

 

Did that, in a previous thread. I meant to link to that in post 1 here, but failed to do so. In that thread, the general trend was that there's no hope of actually adjusting or repairing the latch.

I might need to remove that when it's cold and see what the difference is in its nehavior while I'm able to see it loose.