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Subject: Softclose retrofit Author: johan750 (moderator) : member since February, 2005 : 2103 posts Posted on: 2005-06-20 04:01:10

As promised some pictures and comments about the softclose retrofit I did last weekend:

The parts required for this retrofit are: the softclose lock, the control unit and the wiring loom:


It's a pretty simple install. The wiringloom only has three connections: one for the lock, one for the control unit, and one for +12v and ground (ok so actually there are four connections)


-Remove the lower, rear and leftside carpet in the trunk

-Remove the cable guides


-Remove the jack and the rest that's in the way of the lock

-Remove the centrollocking motor pin to the lock and the three bolts holding the lock:


-Now install the wiring along the path of the other wiring via the back of the trunk, the cable guide and through the rubber grommet between the rearseat and the trunk:


-The control unit will end up on the rightside in the deeper part of the trunk:

In a perfect world you will have the box especially for the softclose control unit. But this was gone at the scrapyard. I'll probably order a new one as the box and the lid only costs 12 euro (about US$15).

-Hook up the +12v and gnd to the corresponding plug on the module carrier and a gnd colection point. But first CHECK the voltage at the pin. I had a connector which fit but phisically but it only gave 1.5v so that was a no go. I ended up hooking it up directly to the battery with a 15amp fuse in the path.

-Now comes the painful part for me. The lock didn't fit. Apearantly somewhere around 88 or 89 the design of the back was changed. And mine is an 87 model. So I had to do some cutting with a dremel:
The bare metal was liberally covered in zinc primer.

-The locks side by side:


And what did all this labor get me? A cool selflocking feature. I can now gently push the boot down and it'll pull it into the lock on it's own. This will probably be the reason I can't get into my trunk when it breaks...but oh how I love these little gadgets.

What's next? Well park distance control!

And this could be the perfect time to show off my other new toy:

• Softclose retrofit (pic) - johan750 2005-06-20 04:01:10 (5880 views)
  • Awesome! - WiseassBill 2005-06-24 15:31:08 (472 views)
    • E32 softclose is only for the trunk. (nt) - johan750 2005-06-25 16:10:48 (534 views)
  • Re: Softclose retrofit - paparon 2005-06-22 11:34:56 (544 views)
    • Re: Softclose retrofit - johan750 2005-06-22 12:08:12 (473 views)
  • VERY cool. Do you have part numbers? (nt) - DavidC 2005-06-20 13:14:35 (440 views)
    • You want to buy the parts new? - johan750 2005-06-20 13:34:40 (513 views)
      • No, but it makes it easier to search for them. I've never seen - DavidC 2005-06-20 14:07:06 (437 views)
  • You never fail to impress us. (nt) - kingdom7 2005-06-20 04:16:35 (411 views)