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Trunk Handle

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Just a simple little thing, but more useful than it might seem. There's no easy way to close the trunk of these cars other than to put your hand on the trunk and push it down. Obviously, this works, but leaves hand marks all over your trunk lid. (Clearly, an unacceptable solution.)

For some reason, the handle that BMW provides is located up-under and inside the trunk(?). I guess that works pretty well if you're closing yourself up in there, but for most other times it requires that you turn your hand around backwards, grab the handle and start the trunk lid down, and then quickly pull your hand out of the way before it slams on it. Gotta be a better way.

 

This device is just a simple L-shaped stainless steel bracket that fits behind the license plate and is held in place by the license plate bolts. It provides a small, unobtrusive little lip to grab to easily close the trunk.

The one that I have is from SAAB (part number 02 51 827). It's available in several different finishes as shown. I bought the black pearl, but if I were to do it again, I'd probably save the $5 and go for the black. The pearl is polished with a prismatic black surface finish. The black is a matte black. You see very little of it anyway, so really not worth the extra cost. About $20 - $25, depending on the version. These are very nicely made, high-quality, all stainless, hand-finished parts.

I have the black and also the bright, mirror-polished versions avaliable for a little less here: http://www.ultimatecupholders.com/trunkhandle.html

You can order all through SAAB's web site. If you're a purist and have to stay German, Mercedes also has one, but it's only available in a chrome-like finish.

Last, I seem to get a lot of questions about the license plate frame shown in the picture. It's just a cheapy from the local auto store. Think it cost all of $2.99. I do like the way that they trim the plate and hide the hardware. There are similar metal frames available that sell for about $25 - $50. You'd have to look close to tell any difference on the car, and in fact I think that I like the shape of the plastic ones better.