Obviously, this is a fairly useless site -- at least for discussions of tis car. For the record, pulling the handle back into normal position (not a whole lot of resistance to doing that) sufficed to fix the problem.

I have the same problem as the OP. I see that there's only been one response. I don't know whether his situation actually matched that of the OP -- like him "I can hear the lock actuator motor trying to do something."

The handle itself seems to be pulled back & up -- stuck in that position.

Does ...

I've owned many Benzes & some Volvos as well. I just bought a 2010 XC70 T6 & love it. From a ton of experience, I can assure you that the above opinion on used Mercedes can be disregarded.

A used Mercedes can be an extremely sensible purchase, & the C300 is a great value these days on the used ...