Could someone shine some light for me on how the boot lid is opened with the key, from a locked state?
I’ve had the car a couple of weeks, but can’t get this to work. It opens fine with the boot release button on the dash, or the ‘Growler’ button on the boot lid, but both black keys I have will not mechanically unlock the boot lock on their own. The key will enter the lock aperture fine, located to the left of the ‘XJ6’ badge, and will rotate approximately 5-10 degrees clockwise, but nothing happens.
The single green key I have also enters into the lock (slightly reluctantly) but doesn’t revolve at all. I believe this might be correct however, as the green key is a Valet key?
I’m concerned about how to get into the boot if I ever need to remove the battery for charging, replacement or whatever.
The car isn’t currently at my house, so can’t nip out for a look unfortunately. I’m going over to do some bits & pieces on it tomorrow though, so I’ll take a look at this.
Just in case…IF your battery died and the key DID NOT work, you take off your liscense plate and use a hanger wire , in one of the right holes towards the right quarter you can pull the rod that way. I forgot if its the upper or lower hole
gtjoey1314
Yeah, I’ve read about this process somewhere here on the forum. Certainly good to know if the worst should happen. Makes me wonder how safe the boot is as a storage area though if it can be opened with a coat hanger!
Would this still happen with the battery disconnected/removed? Does the alarm system have it’s own backup power?
This was my concern tbh. I was just hoping I was missing something with the highly technical process of opening a boot!
Does it sound about right that the key only revolves in the lock by around 5-10 degrees? Should it rotate, say, a quarter turn?
I’ll give this a try tomorrow though Michael when I get over to the car.
To my knowledge, the factory did not equip the x300 with a backup alarm battery. What a previous owner has done? (undocumented)
5-10 degrees sounds like a wrong key situation. Which is why I suggested it. A seized lock often refuses to accept the key and the key doesn’t move at all.
While you are checking your keys vs the driver’s door, inject a bit of lock lubricant into the boot’s lock (yes, WD-40 will work, but it is far from ideal). Then try the boot again.
As an aside, for the couple of years I loved driving my x300, I used the key in the boot only once. Just to prove it worked. An unlocked car and the growler button are just sooooo wonderfully convenient! Even the remote can pop the boot.
Buy some graphite powder and squirt some into the keyhole. Put some onto the key too and put the key into the keyhole, and gently turn the key left and right. Keep applying more powder to the key and repeat the operation until it opens the the bootlid.
There should be a button on the remote showing an open boot.
Press and hold it 2-3 seconds. The boot will unlock.
As I recall, it re-latches within 10 seconds of not being opened. So you wind up breaking a couple of fingernails as you lift your hand while the boot stayed closed.
I felt, when driving my 1997 x300, by the time I decided what I wanted to do, the car was doing it! On the highway it was a pleasure. Also the best car I ever had for driving in snow. Excellent feedback from the front tires through the steering wheel. The traction control would slap the bottom of my foot when the rear tires were overpowered for current conditions. Fantastic Driver’s Car.
Auxiliary mechanics, not so much. The inside door handles are a nightmare of too weak levers and too long cables. An analog oil sender, yet the oil pressure gauge only had 1 position when the engine was running. The spare tire hold down! AUUUUGGGH. The sunroof had a minor leak that would drip on my nose or glasses.
It got traded in when I had to roll down the window to get out. Still miss driving that car
[quote=“Alan67, post:9, topic:397716”]
I was just hoping I was missing something with the highly technical process of opening a boot!
[/quote] For a thankfully brief period, I owned a 2005 S-Class. Some bright spark had decided to have the “lights on” alarm disabled and I got caught THREE TIMES with a dead battery.
No amount of fiddling with the damn key would open it. I contacted the Merc specialist who’d done some work on that car for me, who told me that there is a technique. A technique!! To turning the key in a lock on what was a £50,000 car!!
I do remember that on my X300, unlocking the trunk with the key took a bit of force, likely because it was hardly ever used. I also remember the 5-10 degrees of initial free turn. Of course, this is assuming you are not using the wrong key.
[quote=“Alan67, post:18, topic:397716”]
Yeah, and knowing Mercedes-Benz…that ‘Technique’ would cost about a tenth of the value of the car!
[/quote]No, this was an independent and, to be honest, was probably the best part of owning that car! I wouldn’t ever consider having work done at a main dealer.
