wingless

The front side marker socket on my 2005 C320 Sports Coupe has corroded. It appears to have collected water and now the lamp socket is shot.

Naturally MB does NOT sell this as a replacement part. They would sell me an entire replacement vehicle wiring harness. Can they be bigger jerks?

The Motormite 84803 socket is the closest to the correct part that I've been able to find.

Does anyone know of a replacement part that will work?

Does anyone have a replacement part they would like to sell?

For example, some vehicles have been converted to the Euro rub strips w/o side marker lamps, so there may be some sockets kicking around.

rlee02135

those who convert to euro impact strips leave the bulb and socket hanging inside the bumper...otherwise you'd get a bulb out warning.

shouldn't it be covered under warranty?

FrankW

it's covered under warranty unless you are already out of warranty.

wingless

Warranty long gone, I'm at 120K miles and counting.

FrankW

depends on how bad the corrosion is you maybe able to get some of the rust off the contacts and they will still work. the replacement you linked i'm not entirely sure they will fit into the side marker.

if you are getting the euro impact strip or painting the sidemarker you can add a resistor there making it think that it has a bulb there.

which ever the method best of luck.

Kristen

When I get my car back I'll gladly cut the socket off and send it to you, I have euro strips and was planning to add resistors, this will give me a reason.

PM me your email address.

rtking

My turn signal socket also corroded. I cleaned off the corrosion on the socket, blasted it with some brake cleaner, then used a soldering gun and solder to to build back the material lost to corrosion. Worked well. Do you have enough room to get a soldering gun to the side marker?

D_Star

I have the same problem with "Wingless". I have euro impact strips, so the sidemarker lights really isn't doing much. But I am just too tired of the bulb-out signal in my dash. Would you happen to know the details of the resistor that I need? Thanks.

FrankW

not an electric guru, sorry...

check with e1000 on this ...he may know more on which resistor to use.

Kristen

5W bulb, 12V

P = V*V/R
R= V*V/P
R = 12*12/5
R = 29 ohms

D_Star

me neither lol... thanks

D_Star

Sweet! Thanks

wingless

Thanks to everyone for the help.

Thanks VERY much to Kristen for sending me the part to repair my vehicle.

My corroded socket was "fixed" by cleaning last year. It lasted for a short time before failing. There is now nothing left to the contacts.

This Digi-Key part may be appropriate to substitute for a 5W lamp. Remember that calculating power for the resistor should be based on 13.8 V, the voltage when running, so the power resistor should be greater than 7.6W, not 5W.

Moviela

A better resistor to mimic the side marker lamp is this one:

http://www.mouser.com/Search/Product...flvr13ew%3d%3d


You don't need to draw the full 5 watts to have the front SAM not give an error message. And this one is only 34 cents.

wingless

That resistor does look better. Any idea how low in wattage is acceptable? That part consumes 4.9 W at 13.8 VDC.

Lower wattage is better, because ~5 W into that resistor, with a body length of 7/8", is still gonna get really warm and the part will need to be secured so that heat can dissipate without damaging the plastic components.

wingless

Thank you very much to Kristen for this OUTSTANDING offer. The car is back and the lamp sockets have been examined. The lamp sockets on that vehicle are also shot.

Does anyone else have front side marker lamp sockets they don't need?

Thanks in advance for the help.

wingless

Does anyone have front side marker lamp sockets, that aren't required, that may be sold to fix my vehicle?

kevblah

i have euro impact strips too, so when i left the socket inside the bumper...water got in and fried both sides. i dont know what to do!

wingless

Mine don't have the Euro strips.

Your problem could be resolved by splicing a power resistor to simulate the lamp wattage.

wingless

The battle to repair my vehicle has been hard-fought and relentless. This has included excursions to multiple MB dealerships, explaining the problem to parts managers.

Each outing to the dealerships resulted in the same story, replace the entire vehicle wiring harness because the contacts in the front side marker lamp socket corroded from water exposure.

One MB parts manager directed me to the aftermarket, which is how I discovered this Motormite 84803 socket, but it doesn’t work in my application.

In desperation I contacted MBUSA. The story goes downhill from there. The summary is, next time I call them the klaxons will sound and the klieg lights will fire to announce the impending assault.

The MBUSA story was unrelenting, replace the vehicle wiring harness. I was equally unyielding, I understand their position, it’s wrong, the lamp socket repair contact parts are ALSO required for importation. Those parts exist, as the harness used them during that part’s manufacture.

Each impasse was terminated with my escalating this to the next level manager. Each impasse had both sides clearly articulating their perspective. I explained that my vehicle should not be discarded because MBUSA refuses to permit the repair, preventing the vehicle from passing inspection. I explained that replacing the wiring harness would destroy the vehicle and is a ridiculous “solution”.

My last card was to request the MBUSA manager to investigate my request, then call back with additional information.

To my surprise MBUSA called back to reveal that the part I’d been demanding already exists. The part number is: 000 540 09 66. The cost is $21.88.

If there are any “conspiracy theorists” then they could inquire at their local MB parts counter as to why this part number exists only for the dealerships, but not for the consumers.

What OTHER part numbers exist ONLY for dealerships, exiling owners into a wasteland of unacceptable repairs?


This image shows the 000 540 09 66 repair kit.

mleskovar

Great persistence....thanks for letting everyone know!!

kevblah

OMG +1 +1 +1!! i love you
i need to order two of these!

Mu9enx

great work! i wonder if they have the foglight wires also.

C230Brit

Wingless - that is AWESOME. Thanks a bunch, I'm in need of this part too - I more or less gave up after getting the same results as you. Funnily, MBUSA often do have a decent, more realistic 'result' compared to the dealers.

Again, great work, and thanks!

C230 Sport Coup

I keep tellin' y'all. Sign up for a free EPC subsription and bypass the parts minkees.

I'm glad you got this resolved, but you might be slightly pissed to know that this part has a MBUSA MSRP of $10.50 and sells for $8.18 online...well + shipping of course, but you could add a few other items to make it worth it.
http://www.trademotion.com/partlocat...&siteid=214089
In the end you got what you needed which is good. Then they doubled the price, which is bad. Let's go kick their *****!