mb_horseshoe

Sorry if this is redundant, I've been searching for a little while now and I haven't been able to find any threads on removing the tail-lights.

https://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w...t-removal.html

This one diverges into a tinted thread and others don't mention how to remove them.

For people that have removed their tail-lights -

1. How many total nuts did you remove? I see 4 but I could be mistaken
2. Did you have to remove the lower trunk fabric to get to the 4th?

Any general help would be great.

Been a while since I've visited the boards - glad to see this place is still a bee-hive.

mb_horseshoe

For those wondering I bought LED tails and will be installing them. Maybe even a DIY to follow

I'll post pics during the weekend.

RLE

You have seen the four nuts and that's it. You can push the trunk liner away a bit from the area of the upper inner nut for better access. And be careful because that's the one you can drop and never retrieve. The 8mm nuts are available at Home Depot if you do .

The liner will pop right back into place. A 4" 3/8 extension and ratchet is all you need.

Unplug the lamp before starting removal just to get it out of the way.

The Archman

I recently replace my tailights with LEDs on my 2011 C 300 Sport. Here are some tips:
1. Removal of plastic trunk base plate: Remove two screws on very bottom. Pull gently up to disengage plastic retainers that are part of the base.
2. Remove the left side cargo net holder, by working out the back first and then pulling up on the metal rod to disengage the two retainers. These may pop out and try to save it at all possible.
3. Remove cargo tie-downs (chrome hooks) on each side. (note the direction of the hook base) You will need a torx socket for this.
4. Remove the 4 plastic round tie-downs (2 on each side). They are difficult to remove without either breaking them or severly damaging them, so plan on getting 4 new ones from the dealer (not cheap around- $3.75 ea). They are located on back of trunk near the tailight and up toward the front of the trunk on the floor.
5. Remove both liner access covers for each tailight.
6. Loosen the trunk liner out at the hinge, by gently pulling it out from behind the hinge.
7. Now, you need to prop out the liner so that you can work on the tailights. Gently start pulling out the liner off the back of the trunk. Bending the trunk liner just before the hinge fold the liner inward and prop using a piece of wood or rod (or anything long enough) to hold back the liner while you remove ther nuts and install the lights. Do not drop the nuts and be very careful to make sure that you do not lose them. Also note that not all the nuts are the same, make sure to note which ones came from which bolt.
One other tip: When installing the new tailight, make sure that you first very lightly snug down the 3 nuts surrounding the actual light ( in a triangle pattern) before snugging the nut on the outside toward the side panel. The side panel nut is slottled to make sure that you have a water tight seal. Do not overtighten the nuts so that you do not crack the new light housing.
8. Test lights before starting to put everything back in place.
9. All shoudl go back in place easily, but make sure that you first put on the back trunk plate and make sure that is placed exactly where it was before.

Skyline45

Thank you so much for your step-by-step process. Does any know of any visual guides that could be added? I kinda need some pictures to reference what I'm looking at :/

chrisridebike8

Im too lazy to type. Whenever I need something I just type "w204 (something)" into youtube.

Skyline45

This is exactly what I needed. Thanks man ^.^

oliver@velosdesignwerks.com

Make sure you buy the led tails that have the resistors if not you will have a dash light and the lights light up with the rear fogs on all the time.

chrisridebike8

No problem!

Skyline45

For sure man, thanks for looking out. Yea, I made sure that the lights I got wouldn't through a SAM error code. The seller assured me that the lights should just be plug'n'play. They are not OEM so I'm hoping they don't. I have a 60-day return time though so I'm not that worried.

Nell32

I bought some LED bulbs for the reserve lights from
autozone, Sylvania brand. They work great no hyper blinking at all but I get the warning to check reverse lights.....is that because there is no resistor? Is there a quick fix aside from buying a bulb kit with resistor?