Source of Huf part to repair W211 estate soft close mechanism A2117400036?

[gez]

My boot closure has failed. As even breaker yards are selling the replacement at over £100 I have opened the unit and found the linkage below to be failed (pin has sheared off).
The unit is made by Hülsbeck & Fürst GmbH (Huf) and the defective part has the Huf part number ZP5 22003513.
I have emailed Huf to see if they can supply a replacement but it's worthwhile asking if anyone else has had any experience with obtaining Huf spares as I know this is quite a common fault on many models?

 

[mioba]

No experience but I would say you are on the right track.

I remeber years ago the electric antenna failed on my w124 - It was a cog in the mechanism. Cant recall the manufacturer now but MB quoted a whole unit (expensive). I like you contacted the manufacturer and they had a repair pack of the cog. As I recall postage cost more than the price of the article.

 

[Snake Charmer]

Does the arm have the same pin on the opposite side?

 

[gez]

Does the arm have the same pin on the opposite side?

Unfortunately not

 

[gez]

Dear Mr. xxxx,

Thank you for your E-Mail.

The Huf Group is an automotive supplier, and we are working closely together with our customers, the automobile manufacturers. In fact, it is contractually prohibited by our customers to sell products directly to third parties (e.g., private persons, vehicle owners or garages).

We ask for your understanding that we comply to these agreements with our customers.

Please contact your authorized repair shop or Daimler directly.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen / Best Regards,
Communications
Marketing Communication
Huf Hülsbeck & Fürst GmbH & Co. KG

Oh well, that door is closed!

 

[mioba]

Just looked on a few German forums and they had similar problems, concensus is that Huf are strictly B2B. That said if you get someone helpful on the other end they would/should be happy to pick off a shelf and send it to you at discretion (not the germans finest point)

 

[mioba]

Ahh see you beat me to it, try to find a Huf dealer near you, ask them the question

 

[LostKiwi]

How thick is the arm? Can it be drilled and tapped?

 

[gez]

Just to wrap this thread up, I bit the bullet and paid £133 for a new lock mechanism from Amazon (Mercedes quoted me about £270).
The Amazon part is an OEM part, not genuine, but it works fine so my problem is solved.

What may help others though, but I make no guarantee, is that the lock actuator for the ML (Merc part A1647400635) looks physically identical though with only one cable, I presume this is as the ML does not have an internal boot release latch. I found that this part was considerably cheaper on eBay, the cheapest being listed at £24 which I bought to see if it would work in the W211 (mine's a 5 seat so I don't need an internal release) or alternatively to open it up and see if the metal actuator would replace my broken one. It turned out the seller then found he had no stock and the next cheapest was about £45 so a touch too much to take a punt on, but I hope that may help someone else.