Blake P

Yea, Frank...it doesn't seem logical that two cars (01-04 vs 05-06) have different pin connectors, yet one set of tails (non-LED) would work with both. It is my understanding that the 05+ OEM tails are not interchangeable with earlier models, so I can't imagine that the non-LED W220 style tails would work universally. But hey, I've been wrong before!

drexappeal

Just a pre-warning for everybody (although I'm not sure if this holds true for LED vs. NON-LED):

I installed these yesterday and saw that the bottom-inside running lights were on, but the outside were not. When I turned on the rear fog, the outer left light came on. I came to the conclusion that the company had the sockets (flip-flopped). I checked to see if the sockets would be inter-changeable and sure enough, they were.

When I flip flopped the sockets, the lights looked much better and the rear fog came on where they were supposed to. Now, the issue is whether the socket is set up correctly for a dual filament bulb. I believe the bulbs they put in the car are single filament, hence the reason for the lights not turning on. I'm going to try swapping out the inside bulbs with the OEM's. If that doesn't work (to keep the inside running lights on), these sockets might need to be converted in order to have these work properly.

I'll keep you guys updated on the progress. Don't have much time to do the project, but I'll definitely take pics of the differences.

Drex

KompressorKev

no problem. enjoy your C24 AMG bro :p but the tails do look nice

Blake P

I was wondering about the possibility of getting the bottom inside bulbs to light up along with the regular running lights, but being completely helpless when it comes to that sort of thing, I didn't want to go messing around with "electrical stuff" and screw something up. Steve (MBenzNL) made it sound like it's not that hard to do.

drexappeal

Blake, when I mess around with the bulbs tonight, I'll let you know if it works. If not, I'll try my best to show you how to splice in new sockets cleanly. It's not as hard as people think. I couldn't understand before, but my cousin (who's good at that ish) explained it to the point that I started to pick it up.

Blake P

Great, thanks!

drexappeal

Just got off the phone with my cousin and what I'm gonna do is test the OEM bulbs tonight. If those don't work, then it might be that the aftermarket wiring schematic is not set up properly. In this case, we're going to need to test the wires to see if there is any power being fed to the sockets. If not, we may need to operate a little, but I'm sure (between he and I) we'll be able to figure it out.

Man, I love projects like these!

Blake P

Thanks for the update Drex...let us know how it goes!

mig888

Did you buy your camera-mod yet? Haha. This would be an excellent DIY .

flip

drexappeal

Damnit, flip. You're the :v ...LOL...Nope. Didn't buy one yet. Might be on my wish list from my cousins to compile money and get me one for my b'day next month!

Besides, got some other stuff for the car that I've gotta save up for and buy first (rims, comand, exhaust, body kit - in that order).

FrankW

I'm assuming the non-LED version uses the OEM light bulb housing and only the taillight cover needs to be changed. If they uses the new light bulb housing that comes with the taillight assembly, then you guys are probably correct.

drexappeal

Frank, that's most likely correct because I flipped the OEM light bulb housing to see if the holes matched up (location-wise) and they did. I wanted to see if I could somehow fabricate it (i.e. cut holes out) to use it as a cover, but the box (that powers all the LED's) is in the way, so there's no way it would work for me.

So in essence, all you'd have to do is take out the taillight housing and use the OEM bulb bracket/housing. I can't say for sure, since I went with the LED version.

I'll see if I can borrow my cousin's camera tonight and take pics.

benzo-boi

I finally called the ebay seller from the link below:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/MERCE...QQcmdZViewItem

He was basically no help. He told me to call back tomorrow because someone else will know better, which I will. But if it's just the lighting housing then the connectors would not matter, it would just be oem.

Can anyone that has purchased the non-led version confirm this?

Thanks,
Andy

Blake P

I've got the non-LED and nothing appears to be OEM. It's completely different, down to the wiring and internals. Definitely not just the housing.

xxbenzc230kxx

did anyone do the photoshop of the clear part of the tails smoked?

Blake P

Your mom did!

xxbenzc230kxx

mhhm k i need to ask her then... lol punk

drexappeal

Blake, are all the bulbs halogen bulbs, with separate sockets? Now that I think about it, the OEM bulb bracket/housing might not turn and lock onto the aftermarket taillight housing.

I'd have to see how it's set up in person, but there might be away to fabricate it so that the OEM bulb bracket/housing can work.

Hmmm...another interesting dilemma/"potential" project.

benzo-boi

Blake P, where did you buy your from? This is interesting as the seller from eBay is listing it as 01-06. Unless this is a new one that uses the oem light assembly. I will call them again tomorrow.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/MERCE...QQcmdZViewItem

Blake P

I got mine from these guys: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/MERCE...02696817QQrdZ1

Drex, it's definitely not OEM, but I don't know the specifics you're asking for. Ask your cousin Flip!

yellowrama

Funny you mentioned it. I just finished smoking my original tail lights like W202 or perhaps more like SL55. Anyways my guess is that smoked W220 lights will look similar to this.

yellowrama

This is photoshoped...i hope this is what you are looking for...

drexappeal

Alright everybody. Looks like it's a wiring issue not a bulb issue. I switched the bulbs out to the OEM bulb and it produced the same results.

My cousin looked at it and he thinks that the way they wired it was messed up. Therefore, what we're gonna need to do is splice the wiring from the outside running light to the inside running light, so that there is power being fed to that socket.

Right now, what I have to figure out is if the rear foglight bulb (on the left) is a dual filament bulb (which I assume it is, since the rear fog is brighter than the running lights). If the running light bulb w/ the rear fog light is a dual filament bulb, it's quite possible that the aftermarket socket would need to be changed.

Well, it looks like this may be an easy job, but to make sure it gets done right I'm gonna need to pull out both assemblies. Problem is, I don't know when I'm gonna have time to do that. I'll update you all on any "new" status.

drex

FrankW

sweet...it looks better than what I had done last year...and this is way easier than what I　did too...

FrankW

this is exactly what I was looking for as well as what you did to your own car. I think I'm gonna go with the style on your car if I ever do the smoked tail again.