R230 central locking- emergency storage bin unlocking discovery

[G7Wagen]

After reading about other R230 SL owners having issues with their central locking, and wondering why Mercedes would design a system that would put the PSE fuse in a bin locked by the central locking, which if it blew when locked would make it impossible to open to change the fuse? They are clever engineers after all.. Then I looked through my owners manual I discovered there is a way to unlock and open the storage bins behind the seats in an emergency.
this is what I found. Knowledge is power.

 

[BlackC55]

Its likely that your PSE has got damp or wet. This time of year I do quite a few of them. Roof water leaks are the common cause as you probably already know. Also another common less known issue is the air fed lumber support air feed to the seats leaks (other leaks do occur too). This causes the PSE to either burn out or time out.
Roof leaks on 230's are a real problem. Expensive and difficult to fix and sometimes impossible to make them completely leak free. All convertibles will leak at some point. I advise my customers with convertibles to garage them, clean and lubricate the seals a few times a year and if you can't garage the car use a good quality car cover.
I have fixed many roof leaks in my time but now I don't do them. It takes many many hours of testing and seal replacement that often becomes financially not viable.

 

[G7Wagen]

Thanks for your reply, My post was just to assist others.
I have already swapped my PSE for a new one just after I bought the car and naively left it out in the rain for two days then wondered why the boot was soaking wet..
Boot seal also replaced. Car lives in my garage now..and only ventures out on sunny days.
I have read in other threads of other owners not being able to open the storage bins after PSE failure.. and discovered the glove box key will still unlock them if used in the glovebox keyhole
ownership of a convertible is a learning curve...and each new discovery of my vehicle is a tiny victory for me.. especially a 500hp one!