Mikey52

Hi All,

I'm new here and a first time MB owner and super excited to be picking up my new C300 next week.

I live in Canada and got the C300 Rear wheel drive (Sport). I have the Navi package and Premium package.

I am wondering - Does my car come with Rear LED Tail lights??

Thanks!

lamonsas

no it doesnt unless u paid for the light package. u will love the car man, congrats

Mikey52

Hey thanks very much!! I'm really looking forward to picking it up

So here's where it get's confusing; In Canada, we don't have the light package. Bi-Xenons and LED running lights are Standard options for the 300 and 350.

So I wonder if I get LED tails??

until the end

yes if the car comes with Xenon it will com with LED congrats

Sportstick

Congratulations and welcome. You are fine for the weather changes coming, but for next winter, you will likely want to get some dedicated winter tires...check tirerack.com, or a comparable alternative for Canada to avoid international shipping. I favor Blizzak WS70, but others here are also impressed with Nokian.

(BTW, one cannot have a "standard option"...self-contradicting. Either it's standard or it's an option! )

Mikey52

Hi there,

I'm not doubting you but is that fact or an assumption based on U.S models?

I'm just so confused with the million things I've read.

Mikey52

Hey, thanks very much!
So I guess the rear wheel drive is very bad with snow on the ground? I've never had a rrd vehicle.

Sportstick

I'm in Michigan, just outside Detroit, and drive to family in Kitchener, and see our winters are comparable. My first winter was quite an adventureon the original Conti ProContact. Briefly, for reasons we've discussed here before, they are awful tires, but probably provide about the best fuel economy...very hard compound, which is the last thing you want as the temps drop. The car was essentially undriveable on anything but flat surfaces, and even those were not easy. With Blizzaks on, the car was transformed, does extremely well, and is not that different from our other car, a E3504MATIC, which also has Blizzaks.

We've also had debates about trying to get through winter on so-called all season tires. I recommend against it, as do others, but some will vociferously defend the other side. If you must get through on one set of tires year around, the clearly best choice surprisingly comes from Continental as well, The Extreme Contact DWS. You might do well to sell off your original tires to someone needing a good set to return a lease, but, based on my experience, I am sorry to say it's the most immediately disposable part of your brand new car.

Mikey52

Wow.. Thanks very much for that bit of info! So I guess I should use the stock rims for Blizzaks and get my self a nice set of Summer Wheels and tires? Do you have any info regarding the LED tails?

Sportstick

That is the perfect strategy...you will experience a new level of car love with some Michelin PS2s at all four corners (unless the new PS3 has launched?), but, if you don't want to have to get onto the Blizzaks just when the temp drops below 40, which you need to do if running summer tires, Pilot Sport A/S Plus will get you to when the flakes actually start piling up and are also outstanding.

I haven't tried the LED taillamp conversion for a few reasons:

- Too much inconsistency here on whether cars originally without them can accept them without generating an error message in the cluster on each start up. There seems to be some dedicated wiring harness differences in the cars as built, and the car is "looking" for the intended taillamp variety.
- Several folks have shared their struggle to de-trim the trunk lining to gain access, so I haven't been too eager to take that on.
- Haven't really found one I like that much. The models with amber turn signals, which I want to preserve, have very gimmicky designs, with too much black plastic blocking out unused areas.

Mikey52

Thanks a lot for the Tire recommendations..

What I'm asking about the LED's - Does my car come with them from the factory?

Sportstick

Don't know the Canadian product plan. It should be on your window sticker, or just look at them. Have someone turn the lights on or step on the brake. LEDs light up with a very distinctly crisp instant snap-on appearance, while incandescent bulbs have the more typical appearance, which have a slower rise time and appear to illuminate more "gently" after you've noticed LEDs.

Mikey52

Thanks. I'll def be able to tell the difference when I pick up the car.
Just trying to figure it our before the big day. It's nuts how different the packages are between the Canadian and the US.. We don't have the luxury model either.. Not that I was interested.

Sportstick

Agree...after having married into a family from the K-W area 32 years ago, I haven't found much luxury in Canada either!

Mikey52

Hahaha... Well given the fact that you're venturing into Kitchener I see your point! .. But wait a second, aren't you driving through Detroit and Buffalo??

Those places make Kitchener look like a paradise!

Sportstick

Touche!

RLE

If the car has LEDs at the rear, they are the turn light segment only. The factory all LED rear lights will be on the facelift 2012 model, due out mid-summer.

If the car does not have the LED rear turn lights, you can buy and install the factory taillights that contain them with no worries about light warnings since they are interchangeable with no other action required. Aftermarket LED lights are another matter, depending on who builds them, apparently.
____________________________

As an update to my post above, I have been admiring the all-LED rear lights on the facelift W204 which is now only months away.

Since I had previously purchased a Euro pair of rear lights with yellow LEDS from MBenzNL to replace my OE lights (with red LEDS) , I am going to contact them about buying a pair of the new lights which look like a direct interchange and would update the car a bit. What I will have to research beforehand would be a possible technical problem with all LEDs in the entire unit in that the lamp out warning module may want to see more current flow and thus illuminate the bulb-out light. This would make the plan a non-starter for me since I have no interest in any Chinese made lamps.

The all inclusive cost of the Euro lights in 2009 (delivered to my door) was only about $310.00 so this is not that big a deal.

I also purchased my new style but still folding outside mirrors from MBenzNL.com and found them very good to deal with.

Further, for those who hate any wood trim inside and you know who you are, yesterday I received (from Schatz in Munich, another very professional outfit, looks like) my new burl walnut and cashmere beige leather steering wheel. Ordered online and eight days later the mailman brought it to the door. Came DHL to New York and then USPS to Seattle in eight days which is very good.

Mikey52

Thank you!

Okay so;

A. If the car doesn't have factory rear LED's, the only one's I can buy from MB are the ones where the rear LED is only the turn signal? - Kind of cheesy..

B. Is there any plug and play aftermarket kit out there for my car?

until the end

that's fact in US and EUR the car that comes with xenon comes with LED and front light washer

Mikey52

Awesome! I really hope In Canada it's the same and she shows up with rear LED's

tanktube67

Congrats.

Mikey52

Thanks a lot! Now if only the dealership could give me a ETA on the car!
I signed the papers on Monday and they still can't tell me when it's going to arrive. It's being shipped from Nova Scotia, which is about a 20 hr drive.

How can you not track a vehicle??

Sportstick

Me again....

This is the portion of the car's journey with the greatest variability. We used to be able to pinpoint whether a car was in gateline, being framed, engines decked, painted, in trim, etc., anything inside the order system or plant, until it rolled out the door and then into "shipping". Cars filled yards, waiting for algorithms to determine which truck would take which route. Then, the mystery would begin...which truck, where is it, when will it/did it leave, did the driver stop for some reason, etc? And rail was even more complex. The dealer really doesn't know, and unless someone in logistics in MB Canada tried to find a lost unit, the truck driver hauling it knows best, and other than his wife, I bet almost no one has his cell phone number!

Hang in there...they get paid by the unit/mile, so it's in their interest to go as expeditiously as possible!

Mikey52

Thanks for the reassurance.. I'm so impatient!

patrickkc

it should take a week for it to come and the dealer check over it and such.