How to unplug cigarette lighter / replace bulb ?

[acr2001]

Does anyone know how to unplug the cigarette lighter in a face lifted W203? The bulb burnt out, so I'm going to replace it with an LED, but I can't figure out how the electrical connector unplugs from the back of the lighter. Thanks.

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[acr2001]

I'll answer my own question for the sake of future searches:

It pulls out, but not in the direction you might have guessed, because it has a 90 degree bend in it. Photo credit goes to "akimmitt" from benzworld.

[WaveyKat]

mines stop working too.. hmm i have a few leds sitting around maybe i should do this too good idea!

hmm: led ashtray light too!!

[acr2001]

Originally Posted by WaveyKat

mines stop working too.. hmm i have a few leds sitting around maybe i should do this too good idea!

hmm: led ashtray light too!!

I just finished replacing mine with LEDs including the ashtray light (which originally was just a light tube that sent some light over from the one bulb - and barely any light made it through, so i tossed that and installed a separate LED.

I couldn't figure out how to get the lighter socket out of the ash tray housing, so I soldered wires to it for the LEDs with it in place - wasn't easy and came out pretty messy, but it works great now and looks better than the stock light output (and the mess is of course hidden unless you start removing panels).

[WaveyKat]

let me see some pics please

[acr2001]

Originally Posted by WaveyKat

let me see some pics please

I didn't take any of the process - it was such a pain because I couldn't get the lighter assembly detached from the housing so there was little room to solder. I used 3 surface mount LEDs wired up in parallel, placed them around the lighter ring, and then held them down with hot glue. For the ash tray I removed the plastic junk Mercedes attempted to transmit light from the old bulb with and put an LED shining directly into the ash tray. I'll try and take pics of the light output tonight. I used the ony LEDs I had on hand - so they aren't very bright but it matches the rest of the instruments nicely.

[acr2001]

Here you go. I added the missing LEDs to the headlight switch and vent thumb wheels too.
The LED in the headlight **** itself doesn't light up unless the key is in the run position (which is why it isn't lit in the picture) I can't understand why they did that.

[WaveyKat]

hmm i need to check my car out at night and see what lights up... did you use an orange LED for the cigar lighter?

[acr2001]

Originally Posted by WaveyKat

hmm i need to check my car out at night and see what lights up... did you use an orange LED for the cigar lighter?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=STRK:MEWNX:IT

I used these - nearly a perfect match to the interior LEDs. But it took 3 around the ring to get enough light. If you can find something brighter it might be easier.