2004 MERCEDES-BENZ E500 trunk

99 Controls in detail
Locking and unlocking
Closing the trunk
1Handle
Lower trunk lid by pulling firmly on
handle1.

Close trunk lid with hands placed flat
on it.
Trunk lid opening / closing system*
You can open the trunk from the inside if
the vehicle is stationary.
Opening from the inside
A minimum height clearance of 5.90 ft
(1.80 m) is required to open the trunk lid.
The switch for opening and closing the
trunk is located on the driver’s door.
1Remote trunk lid switch with indicator
lamp
Warning!
G
To prevent possible personal injury, always
keep hands and fingers away from the trunk
opening when closing the trunk. Be espe-
cially careful when small children are
around.
Warning!
G
Only drive with the trunk closed as, among
other dangers such as visibility blockage,
exhaust fumes may enter the vehicle
interior.iDo not place the SmartKey in the open
trunk. You may lock yourself out.
Vehicles with KEYLESS-GO:
To prevent a possible inadvertent lock-
out, the trunk lid will open automatical-
ly if a SmartKey with KEYLESS-GO is
recognized inside the vehicle or in the
trunk.

100 Controls in detailLocking and unlocking
Pull remote trunk lid switch1 until the
trunk begins to open.
The trunk lid opens automatically. The
indicator lamp in the switch comes on
and remains lit until the trunk is closed.The trunk can also be opened using the
SmartKey (
page 90) or from its inside in
an emergency, see “Trunk lid emergency
release” (
page 104).
Limiting opening height of trunk lid
The trunk lid opening height can be limited
when transporting goods on a roof rack
(e.g. presence of an MB sport luggage con-
tainer). When activated, the trunk lid opens
to approximately the height of the roof
edge.
You can activate the limiting opening
height of trunk lid using the control system
(
page 150). Closing from the inside

Press the remote trunk lid switch
(page 99) until the indicator lamp in
the switch goes out and the trunk lid is
closed.
To interrupt the closing procedure:

Release the remote trunk lid switch.
If the trunk lid comes into contact with an
object while closing (e.g. luggage that has
been piled too high), the closing procedure
is stopped and the trunk re-opens slightly.
!The trunk lid swings open upwards au-
tomatically. Always make sure there is
sufficient overhead clearance. To stop
the opening procedure, press or pull
the remote trunk lid switch.iIf the trunk lid does not open, it is still
locked separately (if applicable)
(page 105).
If the vehicle was previously centrally
locked, the trunk lid will lock automati-
cally when closed (
page 99). The
turn signals will flash three times to
confirm locking.
Warning!
G
Maintain sight of trunk area while operating
the door mounted switch. Monitor the clos-
ing procedure carefully to ensure that no
one is in danger of being injured.
To interrupt the closing procedure, release
the door mounted remote trunk lid switch.

101 Controls in detail
Locking and unlocking
Closing the trunk from the outside
(vehicles without KEYLESS-GO*)
1Trunk lid closing switch
Press trunk lid closing switch1 brief-
ly.
The trunk lid closes.When closing, if the trunk lid comes into
contact with an object (e.g. luggage that
has been piled too high), the closing proce-
dure is stopped and the trunk re-opens
slightly.
iDo not place the SmartKey in the open
trunk. You may lock yourself out.Warning!
G
Only drive with the trunk closed as, among
other dangers such as visibility blockage,
exhaust fumes may enter the vehicle
interior.
Warning!
G
Monitor the closing procedure carefully to
ensure that no one is in danger of being in-
jured. To prevent possible personal injury,
always keep hands and fingers away from
the trunk opening when closing the trunk.
Be especially careful when small children
are around. To stop the closing procedure,
press the remote trunk lid switch (on the
driver’s door), the trunk lid closing
switch1 or the Š button on the Smart-
Key.
When leaving the vehicle, always remove the
SmartKey from the starter switch, take the
SmartKey you, and lock your vehicle. Do not
leave children unattended in the vehicle, or
with access to an unlocked vehicle. Unsu-
pervised use of vehicle equipment may
cause an accident and/or serious personal
injury.

102 Controls in detailLocking and unlockingClosing the trunk from the outside
(vehicles with KEYLESS-GO*)
1Trunk lid closing switch
Make sure you have the SmartKey with
KEYLESS-GO with you.

Press trunk lid closing switch1 brief-
ly.
The trunk lid closes.If the trunk lid comes into contact with an
object while closing (e.g. luggage that has
been piled too high), the closing procedure
is stopped and the trunk re-opens slightly.
iTo prevent a possible inadvertent lock-
out, the trunk lid will open automatical-
ly if a SmartKey with KEYLESS-GO is
recognized inside the vehicle or in the
trunk.Warning!
G
Only drive with the trunk closed as, among
other dangers such as visibility blockage,
exhaust fumes may enter the vehicle
interior.
Warning!
G
Monitor the closing procedure carefully to
ensure that no one is in danger of being in-
jured. To prevent possible personal injury,
always keep hands and fingers away from
the trunk opening when closing the trunk.
Be especially careful when small children
are around. To stop the closing procedure,
press the remote trunk lid switch (on the
driver’s door), the trunk lid closing
switch1 or the Š button on the Smart-
Key with KEYLESS-GO.
When leaving the vehicle, always remove the
SmartKey from the starter switch, take the
SmartKey with KEYLESS-GO with you, and
lock your vehicle. Do not leave children un-
attended in the vehicle, or with access to an
unlocked vehicle. Unsupervised use of vehi-
cle equipment may cause an accident
and/or serious personal injury.

103 Controls in detail
Locking and unlocking
Closing the trunk and locking the vehi-
cle from the outside (vehicles with KEY-
LESS-GO*)
1KEYLESS-GO* locking/closing switch
You can close the trunk lid and lock the ve-
hicle simultaneously.

Make sure you have the SmartKey with
KEYLESS-GO with you.

Press switch1 briefly.
The vehicle is locked and the trunk lid
closes automatically. The turn signals
flash three times to confirm locking.
If the trunk lid comes into contact with an
object while closing (e.g. luggage that has
been piled too high), the closing procedure
is stopped and the trunk re-opens slightly.iTo prevent a possible inadvertent lock-
out, the trunk lid will open automatical-
ly if a SmartKey with KEYLESS-GO is
recognized inside the vehicle or in the
trunk.
Warning!
G
Monitor the closing procedure carefully to
ensure that no one is in danger of being in-
jured. To prevent possible personal injury,
always keep hands and fingers away from
the trunk opening when closing the trunk.
Be especially careful when small children
are around. To stop the closing procedure,
press the remote trunk lid switch (on the
driver’s door), the trunk lid closing
switch1, the Š button on the SmartKey
with KEYLESS-GO or the remote trunk lid
opening switch (located on the driver’s
door).
When leaving the vehicle, always remove the
SmartKey from the starter switch, take the
SmartKey with KEYLESS-GO* with you, and
lock your vehicle. Do not leave children un-
attended in the vehicle, or with access to an
unlocked vehicle. Unsupervised use of vehi-
cle equipment may cause an accident
and/or serious personal injury.

104 Controls in detailLocking and unlockingTrunk lid emergency release
The emergency release button is located
on the inside of the trunk lid.
1Emergency release button

Briefly press emergency release
button1.
The trunk unlocks and the trunk lid
opens.
Illumination of the emergency release but-
ton:


The button will flash for 30 minutes af-
ter opening the trunk.


The button will flash for 60 minutes af-
ter closing the trunk.
Warning!
G
Only drive with the trunk closed as, among
other dangers such as visibility blockage,
exhaust fumes may enter the vehicle
interior.
iThe emergency release button unlocks
and opens the trunk while the vehicle is
standing or driving.
The emergency release button does
not open the trunk lid, if the vehicle
battery is discharged or disconnected.
iIf the emergency release button is
pressend and the vehicle was centrally
locked from the outside using the
SmartKey, the exterior lamps will flash
and the alarm will sound as the trunk
lid opens.
To cancel the alarm, do one of the fol-
lowing:
With the SmartKey

Insert the SmartKey in the starter
switch.


Press the Œ or ‹ button on
the SmartKey.
With KEYLESS-GO*


Grasp the outside door handle.


Press the KEYLESS-GO* start/stop
button.

105 Controls in detail
Locking and unlocking
Separately locking the trunk
Your vehicle may be equipped with a func-
tion permitting the separate locking of the
trunk using the mechanical key. If present,
this feature can permit you to deny any un-
authorized person access to the trunk by
locking the trunk separately and leaving
the SmartKey less the mechanical key with
the vehicle.
To verify the presence of this feature, use
the mechanical key to lock the trunk and
then attempt to open the trunk.The lock is located next to the recessed
handle.
1Unlocked
2Locked

Close the trunk lid (
page 99).

Pull the mechanical key out of the
SmartKey (
page 353).

Insert the mechanical key in the trunk
lid lock.

Turn the mechanical key clockwise to
position1.
The trunk remains locked even when the
vehicle is centrally unlocked.iYou can only cancel the separate trunk
locking mode by means of the mechan-
ical key.

106 Controls in detailLocking and unlockingSeparately unlocking the trunk
Pull the mechanical key out of the
SmartKey (
page 353).

Insert the mechanical key in the trunk
lid lock.

Turn the mechanical key completely to
the left to position2, (
page 105).
You can now open the trunk (page 97).
A minimum height clearance of 5.90 ft
(1.80 m) is required to open the trunk lid.
Automatic central locking
The doors and the trunk automatically lock
when the ignition is switched on and the
wheels are turning at vehicle speeds of ap-
proximately 9mph (15km/h) or more.
You can open a locked door from the in-
side. Open door only when conditions are
safe to do so.Information on towing the vehicle can be
found in the “Practical hints” section
(
page 381).
You can deactivate the automatic locking
mode over the control system
(page 149).
iUnlocking the trunk with the mechani-
cal key will trigger the anti-theft alarm
system. To cancel the alarm, do one of
the following:

Press button Œ or ‹ on the
SmartKey.


Insert the SmartKey in the starter
switch.
iThe doors unlock automatically after an
accident if the force of the impact ex-
ceeds a preset threshold.
The vehicle automatically locks when
the ignition is switched on and the
wheels are turning at vehicle speeds of
approximately 9 mph (15 km/h) or
more. You could therefore lock yourself
out when the vehicle

is pushed or towed


is on a test stand