Trunk Release upgrade

I'm looking for information on upgrading the rubber bumpers on my trunk deck lid. Someone with a '02 e46 cabrio showed me that the dealer replaced his with these ones that have little spring pop-outs in them, so that when the trunk release is activated the deck lid seperates from the latch significantly more than on my car. Mine came with ones that are just plain round rubber "pads." Does anyone have any info on if these are a warranty replacement item, or if there is a service bulletin or anything about them? I have never seen them discussed before. Also, I don't know if they are currently used on new models or not. For all I know they could have been aftermarket.

I'm scheduled for my first annual service on Wednesday, January 26 and wanted to know what I could ask from the dealer.

Thanks,

--J.

Is there any purpose to that other than making it obvious your trunk is open?
But to answer your question, I have never seen such things. I tried searching the ETK but I didn't find such a part or haven't yet.

Is there any purpose to that other than making it obvious your trunk is open?

Well, the problem is that sometimes the trunk will actually not open, because there is nothing that physically seperates the deck lid from the body. In other words, while the latch is functional... the deck lid just sort of "sits there" when the release is pressed from a distance (or from the interior of the car) so afterwards, the trunk is still locked (or latched). The effect is just the clicking of the release and nothing happens; when you go to pull up on the deck lid it is still closed. Then you have to press the release again while actually pulling up on the lid. Has no one else had this experience before?

--J.

I have an 01 cab and I never heard of this one. The trunk lid is quite heavy and I would think it would take a fairly strong spring to lift it up. My guess is that the existing part number was updated with a replacement. I would check a later convertible on your dealer lot to see if others have it. I had a similiar issue with the trim on my headrests. The seatbelt used to rub the color off. My dealer insisted that they could not order an updated design that appeared on the 02's, but they could keep replacing the existing ones as they wore out. Eventually, the existing replacement had the updated design. But the part number never changed. Good luck and let us know.

Originally Posted by JonathanIT

Well, the problem is that sometimes the trunk will actually not open, because there is nothing that physically seperates the deck lid from the body. In other words, while the latch is functional... the deck lid just sort of "sits there" when the release is pressed from a distance (or from the interior of the car) so afterwards, the trunk is still locked (or latched). The effect is just the clicking of the release and nothing happens; when you go to pull up on the deck lid it is still closed. Then you have to press the release again while actually pulling up on the lid. Has no one else had this experience before?

--J.

i have had this problem as well, when i reported the issue to the dealer they "could not reproduce the problem" even after repeated tries (or so they said). anyways, i've just lived with it since it doesn't happen that often to me...

Originally Posted by egruber

The trunk lid is quite heavy and I would think it would take a fairly strong spring to lift it up.

If I remember correctly (it was last summer when I saw them on the other car) they only pop out a half inch or even less... it didn't take that much tension to lift the trunk lid just a little, but that little bit makes all the difference.

Thanks for all the input guys. I still think it's strange that no one else has seen these little pop-outs... also I was under the impression that they work on the sedans/coupes as well, not just convertibles. But that idea might have been formed in my mind, as the one car that I saw them on was a cabrio.

Another interesting note: I mentioned this briefly to the service advisor on the phone, and he said something to the effect of "sometimes the little spring gets stuck inside..." I then told him that I didn't have any springs! Then of course he said "let's just wait and check it out when you get here." Hmmm.

I guess I'll find out soon, although not tomorrow as planned... I rescheduled my service appointment for Feb. 9 (it's supposed to rain here tomorrow and I don't like to drive the cabrio in the rain )

--J.