I am a little confused by your post, do you not have the boot separator at all then?
In which case your roof doesn't function at all? If that is the case then the smart top will not fix the issue.

 

^^ what he said!?

 

suppose you could tape the catch down where the separator normally locates ??

 

The sensors for the separator are simple micro switches on each side of the boot/trunk. As Jon says, you could easily tape them in the closed position, or jam something in them.

I wouldn't want to do that myself as a long term fix because it is inevitable that some loose object will get in the way of the roof mechanism and then you'll have a hefty repair bill.

I was going to grab a standard pic from google and highlight where the sensors are located, but someone else has already done it. This was the 4th image in a search for "SLK boot" ....

By the way, I think that is the R170 model with the roller blind separator, but the principles are the same for you model (R171). The arrows point to where the micro switches are located.

 

That's an R170, but Jon and Richard are right, you can "close" the microswitches and have the roof operate.

 

Its worth search ebay for a separator from a wreck

 

As Jon suggests, I would also try several of the "junk yard" guys out there to see if I could get one used. Luckily most SLK wrecks are in the front end !

Here's one that has a couple. Just search SLK.

Weber Brothers Auto

I would try to find one, though, as you really don't want to take the chance of overfilling the trunk and messing up the roof mechanism.

Best Wishes,
Gene

 

First he founds out he has remote-key roof lowering feature which he thought was missing. Next he'll find out that he has a boot separator! .

 

haha that's hilarious Durk! its funny because this is the second time this has happened to me... The first one was my Audi B7, I didnt realize that I had side view mirrors after 1 year as well... I swear, sometimes I juz drive and not realize some of the options I have existed..lol.

 

$500 for that plastic??? I can't believe that... Also, it is shown above where the switch is situated but I think it is only on the left side...

 

It does only operate on the left looking from the rear of the car. I bet you can find a separator cheap if you look around.

 

...

Wow, I didnt expect to get this much comment on this..lol.

So here's what my trunk looks like without the trunk separator

Here's the micro switch not activated

Here's the micro switch with something lodged in it to activate it

And yet, I still can't get it to activate the remote key to open/close the roof/windows..

 

Wow, I didnt expect to get this much comment on this..lol.

So here's what my trunk looks like without the trunk separator

Here's the micro switch not activated

Here's the micro switch with something lodged in it to activate it

And yet, I still can't get it to activate the remote key to open/close the roof/windows..

With the microswitch in the "separator engaged" position, i.e., tricked by foam wedge or similar material, does the roof operate using the cockpit center console roof control button/lever?

 

In that case, it is possible that the separator could have been removed intentionally to cover some mechanism fault.

The roof should detach the way you blocked the switch. I am pretty sure that this is the only sofware part related to the separator. It is just a plastic cover with а simple spring linked to the two opposite pinches which push down the "separator closed" switch and sensor.

 

Hard to understand what happened to the separator unless it was cracked and badly broken

 

During the time of the purchase, the seller mentioned that the separator was missing.. I was so stoked about the whole car in general that I didnt really care about the separator until recently finding out that the remote key can ope/close the roof..

 

I thought that you were using the central console's switch. It's great that it is working. Just don't lower the roof close to the boot lid for now.

Possibly, the previous owner must have put something bigger in the trunk and had broken the plastic separator. Find another one and just install it. I think you can do that by yourself.

Just FYI, in order to lose weight, I have seen people who had removed the roof's operation module and other stuff such as AC compressors. But that was for racing purposes Also, on Internet, I have seen protective pipes on those cars.
For example, the tuning versions of Porsche Cayman do not have stock A/C systems.

 

..

A quick update since it was bugging me all these time.. I didn't think it would make a difference but I tried opening the roof top from the passneger side and it worked. I know some of you really love the Smarttop option but just knowing that I can access this with my remote key from 25-30 yards away is amazing!!

Atleast now I know that its the driver sensor that has gone bad. I wonder if this is an easy fix..

 

My guess is prolly between $200-$300 (but no personal experience or data for such). IIRC, someone did have their IR sensor replaced on the door handle. Maybe a search might come up with an approx. cost.

 

better to install a smart top and forget the IR sensor as you wont need it once the smart top is installed

 

better to install a smart top and forget the IR sensor as you wont need it once the smart top is installed

Oops didn't mean to reply to ur PM page JOn... but ur right, if the IR sensor is going to cost me pass $200 then the smarter way is to just buy the smarttop..which originally I was going to do anyways.. =)