is there a way to adjust or otherwise service the closing mechanism on the 5th door of a 1995 e320 wagon?

it closes well but when I'm driving around and go over any kind of bump (short, sharp bumps, not like a slow road hump), the rear hatch rattles pretty bad.

any ideas or avenues to investigate?

Are you sure it is in the door and not one of the side compartments?
Ed

yeah, its pretty obvious. so i take it theres no adjustment?

Are you sure it's the hatch itself rattling, and not the trim on the hatch? I had to fix a nasty rattle on my 210 wagon. It turned out to be the carpeted trim panel which covers the hatch. Hatch itself was fine. Frustrating problem, I seriously believe this is why the previous owner traded in the car. Fix is ugly, but very, very effective.

There are two adjustable "legs", for lack of a better term, on each side of the hatch. You can try extending them to give a bit more pressure when the hatch is closed. They are in plain sight with the hatch open. A single 8mm (or maybe 10mm) bolt anchors each.

- JimY

i found the problem. i opened the hatch and looked at the latching mechanism. then I wiggled it expecting it not to move. thats then I notced one of the 10mm hex screws that holds it in place was literally on the last thread and about to fall off. So I took off the hatches trip panel and found that ALL of the hex screws that secure the entire locking mechanism to the body were all but falling off. Even some of the flathead screws that are a part of the locking mechanism were pretty much falling out.

I torqued them all down and bingo.