ashtray/lighter panel don't close properly

[DuckMuck]

Everybody familiar w/ Mercedes will know that there is the flip-out compartment behind the shifter that contains the ashtray w/ the lighter. Anyways...it seems the lighter in my car is too "tall"; that is, the compartment won't close w/ the lighter sitting inside the socket when it is undepressed. I have to depress it and then close the compartment. I only have this problem when I am tryin' to close the compartment, not when I am opening...it opens perfectly.

I don't smoke, so I'm not familiar w/ the subtlties of how the ashtray/lighter compartment works...but is it that I should have the lighter DEPRESSED when I CLOSE the compartment, and next time I OPEN the compartment, the lighter will remain DEPRESSED, and then heat up...and pop up...or am I gettin' this all wrong??? I was afraid that by keeping the lighter depressed and closing the compartment, that the lighter heats up while the thing is closed...and some weird thing will happen...sorry about the weird description...but I didn't know how else to put it...

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-= 1995 Mercedes-Benz E420 (W124 - Black Pearl/Black) =-