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







