I can't screw my rear plate tight. the hole which holds the screw spins. i had to remove the rear interior panel to hold the "holenut" in place. How can i replace the "holenut"? it looks as if it is welded in place at the factory. I'm afraid that water can creep into my rear hatch. Now what guys??????
AMG NUZI
Those license plate holders are called rivet nuts. Replacements can be obtained at the dealer. They are installed similar to pop rivets. I have yet to purchase a rivet nut tool or use one, but I am thinking that it may be possible to just tighten these (compress) up. This would avoid having to drill the old one out.
I know this is going to sound a little anal, but really good ALLOY machine screws for the license plate can be had at any good aircraft supply house.
I happened to have a few in my shop - perfect thread pitch and a nice 3/8" dia dome head x 1/2" long. Best of all, they are alloy and you don't end up with the steel screw/alloy nut corrosion that will seize over time. Plus as they are aircraft quality, they are coated and never corrode (I hate rusty lic plate bolts on a shiny new car!).
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I happened to have a few in my shop - perfect thread pitch and a nice 3/8" dia dome head x 1/2" long. Best of all, they are alloy and you don't end up with the steel screw/alloy nut corrosion that will seize over time. Plus as they are aircraft quality, they are coated and never corrode (I hate rusty lic plate bolts on a shiny new car!).
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]I just bought those parts 2 months ago for $3.86 each from the dealership, the labor to put it in is 1 1/2 hours so I decided to do DIY. The only difficult part is trying to pull the plastic cover of the liftgate without destroying the fragile plastic clips that hold the the cover.there is a tool in Advance Autoparts that is specially for this purpose around $7.99( i really do not know the exact name) but it looks like a long screwdriver with two prongs on the tip.it is in the tool section.After all the clips have been pull you have to slide the plastic cover upward so as not to break a plastic hook that attaches on the upper portion of the cover near the glass.Reverse this procedure to replace. I use clear epoxy to attach the rivet on to the metal frame as I do not have the riveting tool. It hasnot fall-off yet so I guess it works.
Seems like you went to all the trouble to do the job right until the epoxy part. I bet if you drove to the dealership ready to just have a rivet nut set in place, they would have done that for you while you waited. Epoxy may hold but that really depends on your surface preparation.
Has anyone ever bought a rivet nut tool? Comments?
I just fixed this on my ML and thought I would do a quick DIY to help those who have this issue. The issue is your screws just twist, but the bolts dont come out!
NOTE: I'm not a mechanic, this is just how I fixed this using the information I dug up online. It worked for me and I thought I could share some lessons learned. If there are better ways, please post, otherwise, this is just a description of what I did, as common sense goes, im not responsible for any DIY's gone wrong. That being said, if you are some what handy, you should be able to pull this off.
![Image]()
First you need to get the parts from mercedes, there will be 4 new bolt sockets, its around $15 for all 4. Ignore the bolt in this picture, its the wrong size, but this shows the part you are looking for. These are self tapping, basically, once you get the old ones out, you pop these in, thread a bolt (tight) and it will bulge out and hold itself:
![Image]()
To start, open the liftgate and remove the rear brake light cover. There are little plastic clips on the bottom that can break, so remove this by gently squeezing the bottom sides together and pull the cover up and out towards the front of the car:
![Image]()
Notice the little plastic clips on the bottom (i broke mine off so be gentle):
![Image]()
Now remove the back plastic gate cover. The first step is to remove the inside latch cover. Do this by removing the screw, then gently pushing the cover up about 1/2 and inch then it will pop out:
![Image]()
Here is a view of the little arms of the latch cover, this is why you cant just pull it off:
![Image]()
Next - As mentioned in this thread, there are pressure clips that can break, these can be replaced if needed. There are also 4 plastic clips on the top so dont just pull the top of the plastic cover back.
I would recommend starting with the two clips on the top outside, these nubs will pull out.
Next gently pull the outside plastic cover back, you will hear pressure clips start to pop. Leave the top until the end. Once you have all the pressure clips popped (you can tell by being able to lift the bottom of the plastic up about a foot from the door - dont pull it up too much).
The final step is to lift the plastic cover straight up (NOT OUT) but up along the door/window). This will unhook it from the top, here are some detail pics below:
![Image]()
![Image]()
Here is a view of the hanger clips on the top of the plastic cover, this is why you cant just pull the top out:
![Image]()
These are the pressure clips, I broke a couple, but there were still enough to put it all back together, if you want, order a few extras from your Mercedes dealership. The dealership I went to were really great, they had the parts and were very helpful.
Here is the a picture of the tailgate with the plastic cover removed:
![Image]()
Now that you can see the back side of the bolt, put a large set of grips on the back to hold the bolt socket and twist the screw on the front out. You may need 2 people depending how locked your screws are. I had to put vice grips on both the socket on the back, and the screw on the front.
Once you get the screw out you are left with the bolt sockets. I found the best way to get these out is to drill them out, the crush the backside and push them through the inside and out. BE VERY CAREFULL as the holes are octagon shape, you want to drill out the socket, not your car tailgate.
Here is a pic with the bolt still in:
![Image]()
Once drilled out you are left with this clean hole:
![Image]()
Now put in the bolt socket and thread in your bolt (hopefully you could re-use your old ones. If not I just bought some new ones at the hardware store for 25 cents each. Just make sure you buy METRIC size bolt (M6 I believe). Then I recommend putting some oil on the threads to prevent this from happening again.
Without the plate on, thread the screw into the socket, hold the back of the socket with plyers, and thread the bolt in VERY tight. As you tighten it, it will expand and hold in place.
Now backout the screw, put some oil on the treads, and put on your plate.
Last, the plastic tailgate cover back on, and all the parts. INSPECT all the pressure clips, replace broken ones. Also - INSPECT the pressure clip holes on the tailgate, you may find broken pressure clips still in the hole. Use needle nose plyers to pull out.
Be careful as you push the plastic cover on, make sure you hear all the pressure clips snap, this will prevent rattles.
That should be all - let me know if anyone has any feedback, This was a trial and error for me, but now that I know how its done, it should be an easy job.
NOTE: I'm not a mechanic, this is just how I fixed this using the information I dug up online. It worked for me and I thought I could share some lessons learned. If there are better ways, please post, otherwise, this is just a description of what I did, as common sense goes, im not responsible for any DIY's gone wrong. That being said, if you are some what handy, you should be able to pull this off.
First you need to get the parts from mercedes, there will be 4 new bolt sockets, its around $15 for all 4. Ignore the bolt in this picture, its the wrong size, but this shows the part you are looking for. These are self tapping, basically, once you get the old ones out, you pop these in, thread a bolt (tight) and it will bulge out and hold itself:
To start, open the liftgate and remove the rear brake light cover. There are little plastic clips on the bottom that can break, so remove this by gently squeezing the bottom sides together and pull the cover up and out towards the front of the car:
Notice the little plastic clips on the bottom (i broke mine off so be gentle):
Now remove the back plastic gate cover. The first step is to remove the inside latch cover. Do this by removing the screw, then gently pushing the cover up about 1/2 and inch then it will pop out:
Here is a view of the little arms of the latch cover, this is why you cant just pull it off:
Next - As mentioned in this thread, there are pressure clips that can break, these can be replaced if needed. There are also 4 plastic clips on the top so dont just pull the top of the plastic cover back.
I would recommend starting with the two clips on the top outside, these nubs will pull out.
Next gently pull the outside plastic cover back, you will hear pressure clips start to pop. Leave the top until the end. Once you have all the pressure clips popped (you can tell by being able to lift the bottom of the plastic up about a foot from the door - dont pull it up too much).
The final step is to lift the plastic cover straight up (NOT OUT) but up along the door/window). This will unhook it from the top, here are some detail pics below:
Here is a view of the hanger clips on the top of the plastic cover, this is why you cant just pull the top out:
These are the pressure clips, I broke a couple, but there were still enough to put it all back together, if you want, order a few extras from your Mercedes dealership. The dealership I went to were really great, they had the parts and were very helpful.
Here is the a picture of the tailgate with the plastic cover removed:
Now that you can see the back side of the bolt, put a large set of grips on the back to hold the bolt socket and twist the screw on the front out. You may need 2 people depending how locked your screws are. I had to put vice grips on both the socket on the back, and the screw on the front.
Once you get the screw out you are left with the bolt sockets. I found the best way to get these out is to drill them out, the crush the backside and push them through the inside and out. BE VERY CAREFULL as the holes are octagon shape, you want to drill out the socket, not your car tailgate.
Here is a pic with the bolt still in:
Once drilled out you are left with this clean hole:
Now put in the bolt socket and thread in your bolt (hopefully you could re-use your old ones. If not I just bought some new ones at the hardware store for 25 cents each. Just make sure you buy METRIC size bolt (M6 I believe). Then I recommend putting some oil on the threads to prevent this from happening again.
Without the plate on, thread the screw into the socket, hold the back of the socket with plyers, and thread the bolt in VERY tight. As you tighten it, it will expand and hold in place.
Now backout the screw, put some oil on the treads, and put on your plate.
Last, the plastic tailgate cover back on, and all the parts. INSPECT all the pressure clips, replace broken ones. Also - INSPECT the pressure clip holes on the tailgate, you may find broken pressure clips still in the hole. Use needle nose plyers to pull out.
Be careful as you push the plastic cover on, make sure you hear all the pressure clips snap, this will prevent rattles.
That should be all - let me know if anyone has any feedback, This was a trial and error for me, but now that I know how its done, it should be an easy job.
Thank you SO much hans5573! Was getting desperate about this problem, fearing the fine-trigger-happy CHiPpies would ticket me with my front California plate and rear Alaska plate! I was about to start drilling when I found your great post! Laptop in the garage next to the tools and followed your guidance. Lo and behold, it worked! My hopefully helpful notes are to add that the Latch has a first thin screw to remove, then you need to set the latch to Open, pull the handle down/open: and you see the thicker second screw that needs to be removed. Also, make sure you have a metric-7 to grip the bolt sockets and a thin/flat wrench: there's not much space in there. With the tailgate up/open I soaked the innards of the sockets with some WD40 and using a copper brush cleaned the bolts and was able to re-use them all without needing new bolts, sockets or drilling. Of course I'd have to do all this again if I ever get new plates - which may make me decide agains vanity plates Again, thank you hans5573 for saving me a ton of money, aggravation and hassle!
Again, thank you hans5573 for saving me a ton of money, aggravation and hassle!
Nice. I have been looking for the tool to install those for the longest time. I have just been using screws and nuts.
On my 99 I used a 5mm socket to hold them from the back and the screws came out. On the 2000 the previous owner destroyed them and I had some round BMW nylon/plastic nutserts that fit like a glove.
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