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C230 Coupe 3rd Brake Light (the LED one) Replacement help

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Old Jan 8, 2010 | 07:46 PM
  #1  
trislerjw's Avatar
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2002 C230 K SC
C230 Coupe 3rd Brake Light (the LED one) Replacement help

Hello all,

Long time lurker, First time poster.

I have an 02 c230 kompressor Coupe, and have recently been attempting (and with no success) to replace the stock 3rd brake light (LED) strip. I opened the plate where I thought it would've belonged.. and not much to work with there.

Has anyone had luck with this? Before I just start stripping parts away on the inside of the hatch, I was hoping someone has done this once or twice on here.

I did some (a ton) of searching, to no avail.

Thanks in advance!

-JT
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Old Jan 8, 2010 | 09:46 PM
  #2  
Benzben's Avatar
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From: Kansas City, MO
'05 C230K SS
I don't know about the coupe (and the hatch instead of a trunk), but I've replaced the third brake light on my sedan. On the sedan you have to remove the inner trunk liner, and I'm sure it's the same with the hatch liner on the coupe.

The sedan's liner is held on by probably 20+ plastic pins/expanding grommets. They're easy to remove (and replace), but there are a ton of them so it's a pain. Just use a flat head screwdriver to wedge in between the pin and grommet, then twist the handle to pop them out. They just push back in. There are also a couple of screws attaching the plastic cover over the latch of the trunk (not sure how it looks on the coupe). I just loosened those and was able to pull the liner free. From there, the light assembly just unplugs and there are, I believe a couple screws that hold the assembly in place (it's been several months since I did this). You just reverse the process with the pins for the liner, and you should be done.

Make sure the new light assembly is flush in the opening, and that there is a good enough seal around it. Otherwise, you risk having water get inside the trunk/hatch, causing some corrosion, and maybe shorting connections (which might be the reason why the old one is out).
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Old Jan 8, 2010 | 09:59 PM
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trislerjw's Avatar
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2002 C230 K SC
Thank you!

I appreciate the response, I thought that may have been the route, nice to have assurance, as now I'm pretty certain it will be the same for the hatchback.

-JT
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Old Jan 8, 2010 | 10:46 PM
  #4  
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Corrolla
Originally Posted by Benzben
I don't know about the coupe (and the hatch instead of a trunk), but I've replaced the third brake light on my sedan. On the sedan you have to remove the inner trunk liner, and I'm sure it's the same with the hatch liner on the coupe.

The sedan's liner is held on by probably 20+ plastic pins/expanding grommets. They're easy to remove (and replace), but there are a ton of them so it's a pain. Just use a flat head screwdriver to wedge in between the pin and grommet, then twist the handle to pop them out. They just push back in. There are also a couple of screws attaching the plastic cover over the latch of the trunk (not sure how it looks on the coupe). I just loosened those and was able to pull the liner free. From there, the light assembly just unplugs and there are, I believe a couple screws that hold the assembly in place (it's been several months since I did this). You just reverse the process with the pins for the liner, and you should be done.

Make sure the new light assembly is flush in the opening, and that there is a good enough seal around it. Otherwise, you risk having water get inside the trunk/hatch, causing some corrosion, and maybe shorting connections (which might be the reason why the old one is out).
same process to my CLK . I replaced that about a month ago.

Andy
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Old Jan 9, 2010 | 03:34 AM
  #5  
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2002 Mercedes Benz C230 Coupe
Originally Posted by trislerjw
I appreciate the response, I thought that may have been the route, nice to have assurance, as now I'm pretty certain it will be the same for the hatchback.

-JT
Getting the liner off the coupe hatchback is a PITA. You will not be able to do it without proper instructions. Luckily MB has put in a little flap that can be opened to access the brake lights. Open the trunk...on the inside near the brake light, you will see a flap which can be gently pried open using a flat screw driver.
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Old Mar 14, 2011 | 07:28 PM
  #6  
Jerkin's Avatar
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From: San Mateo, Ca
C230 Coupe Silver
Does anyone know anything about the interior lighting? I wanted to switch them out for LEDs but I don't know what kind of LEDs I need
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Old Nov 18, 2011 | 06:04 AM
  #7  
LightDragon's Avatar
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w203 M111 E20 ML EVO
Im currently trying to replace the 3rd brake light on my w203 c200k but I CANNOT find a way to remove that ****IN plastic that holds the safety triangle ! how to remove that one ???
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