have 1986 560sl which I have been trying to figure out for weeks, started tracing wires and found something finally! There is some type of mechanism near the battery in the trunk which has a red knob that pulls out and three yellow wires going to it, it has obviously been on fire since it is melted and the inside of the fender is also scorched. any idea what this is and what it does?

Attached Thumbnails

 

are you sure thoes are wires and not vac lines? It looks to me to be your fule door lock pod.

__________________
". . .back before accountants designed cars"

-Current Stable-
'78 MB 450SL-C 107.024.12.020783 #3840 <Kayleen>
'85 FORD F250 6.9L Diesel <Allison>
'98 Lexus ES300 <Rachel>
Long Gone...
'74 Chevy G10...........................'99 GMC Yukon 4X4
'83 Chevy Suburban 6.2 diesel .....'99 SAAB 9-5
'90 Mitsubishi Eclipse GS............. '01 Chevy Tahoe
'98 Nissan Altima .......................'02 MB ML320
'88 Chevy Suburban V2500 4X4 6.2 diesel

well one of the wires connects to bosch part number 0132006302, rather large rubber box with two connectors, the other wire appears to go to back light and the third one runs up towards front of car

yes, they are vacuum lines, after close inspection it looks as if there was a small fire in that area. what does that Bsch part that one of the vacuum lines is connected to do? If it just to open and close the fuel door what would cause it to melt? it is completely melted.