MB-BOB

A weird observation... About 4 out of 5 S-Class cars I see in my area have at least one LED burned out in their side mirror mounted turn signal repeaters. Some of these look like brand new S-Class sedans.

Because of this, I've been monitoring my C-Class mirror LEDs closely, and watching other C-Class sedans and coupes, waiting to see the problem develop in our cars. To date, I've not seen this problem in the C's at all.

Has anyone had LED problems in their C-Class turn repeaters, yet? If so, has the dealer been able to fix them easily?

tommy

I would suggest picking up one or more new hobbies, as it seems that you have entirely too much time on your hands to worry about something like this. :p

MB-BOB

Very constructive remark, tommy...

The mirror turn signals are a distinctive feature that sets your Mercedes apart from other iron. Lots of cars are trying to copy them out of envy.

Really, do you want some toothless dude to pull up next to you at the stoplight in his '73 Rambler, roll down his window, compliment you on your Renntech spoiler, then coyly add, "uh, but you might want to check your burned-out turn signals."

No flames intended, bro. But to us car nuts, it's the whole package that matters, right? What good is it to wear your best clothes if your fly is open?

MarkL

My guess is they simply replace the mirror's "stripe" unit which houses the LED's rather than open it up and replace the specific defective LED. It's probably quicker and therefore cheaper, but only a guess.

pokerFACE

If a buld HAD burned out, wouldn't there be a warning message that will show up in the in-dash display?

tommy

Depends whatcha got.

I'd put money on Mark's opinion - seems like it would be too labor-intensive to have to replace individual leds, plus they'd get to jack up OEM parts prices more this way.

This brings up a question of mine: are bulbs covered under the warranty, or will "good" dealers just replace them for you if you ask them nicely, or will their attitude just be that it's a normal wear item, and you pick up the tab regardless?

Mapman

My fly is open?

On a lighter note - my bet is that MB replaces the entire door if an LED burns out. I also bet that the LEDs are rated for 50,000 miles :p

pokerFACE

I've had a bulb in my taillamp cluster fail, and dealer replaced it for free. Well there goes my one productive post of the day.

Buellwinkle

Actually the turn signals on this model look the best.....

mbtech208

I have yet to see an LED mirror signal go bad. Are you sure it was burned out? The life of an LED bulb is much greater than a standard halogen bulb. And if it does go bad, your cluster will tell you, like pokerface said.

MB-BOB

mbtech208, as you said on a previous post, "Did I stutter?" I did not make this up. I've seen at least 10 S-Class sedans in the Dallas area with this problem, and it seems that their drivers are completely oblivious to the problem.

I have no idea whether the LEDs are "burned out..." only that they are not "blinking" as their neighbors are. They're not lighting up at all. The worst I've seen is all but one LED burned out. Looks really amenic with just one LED blinking and draws your attention to it. Usually, thought it's just one LED that's not functioning. I wonder if you don't get a malfunction notice untill ALL the LEDs are burned out.

Could it be the summer heat we get here? If so, I would suspect folks from So.Cal and So. Florida would also have observed it.