beto778

Ok folks, today is the 18 of November/2014 and the time right now is 11:33am and I just contacted the MB line 1877-366-8888 here in CANADA Toronto, and they advice me that there is a recall on the wiring tail lights for the c350 (my baby) so now I can pretty much confirm you guys that the recall is there and is been granted.

The appointment is set to be for the next 3 weeks.
So thanks and have a grate day guys.

Skyline45

Can confirm the taillight recall is real. Just got my lights recalled. Easy fast, and wow do Mercedes have pretty sweet waiting rooms xD

C3504M

Can confirm Edmonton, weber motors informed of recall, 2011 C350.

Richard2011

Has anybody fixed this with OEM parts on their own? I had the recall done back in 2014, but I'm having the issue for the first time now. The dealership wouldn't redo the recall because I already had it done, and MBUSA couldn't do anything without a diagnostic performed. Don't really want to pay the expensive diagnostic fee for nothing.

I've been having intermittent errors on my dash telling me to check my right rear tail light. Lights seemed to work just fine, and I looked at the plug. One of the wires, the outermost wire, had some green corrosion on the exposed copper. Wiggling it a little caused some of it to flake off, and I haven't gotten the error again, but I still took it to the dealership, and they wanted me to go through the whole diagnostic thing, but I refused.

If it's just buying a few inexpensive parts and replacing, I'd rather do it myself.

Adi-Benz

Interesting,

my rear fogs have this issue. Or well, an issue. The passenger side one doesnt work. Could be a burnt out bulb that has nothing to do with this, but I found it ironic that it is a similar situation.

Also sorry Richard, I'm no help but I imagine you could do it yourself pretty easily. If you do some searching I'm sure something would come up.

Richard2011

The rear fogs ONLY come on on the driver side, if I'm not mistaken. So you're good.

And I must have skipped over several posts, because there were some helpful ones. I may just get the parts I need and ground it myself. Has anybody done the DIY way and can comment on the longevity of the solution?

Adi-Benz

rear fogs on one side?

whaaaatt???

Richard2011

Right tail light finally went kaput. MB USA still refuses to fix, because I already had the recall completed back in 2014. Sounds like they just replaced the parts with old parts and didn't do anything to solve the issue. Just ordered the parts to DIY, and I'll ground to the frame.

wwwdrew

Yes, I had the recall repair done 4 years ago, and now the same burnt-up connector, same issue. So no, the new parts didn't "fix" anything, they just kicked the can. Does anyone know how to remove the contact bushing from the connector plug, or do I need to buy 7 bushings and cut the 7 wires from the melted plug and re-crimp to the new plug?

DJ BIS

This is pretty terrible. Our C300 also had the recall done a few years back, the problem is back again. It's really crappy that you guys have been denied further care from the dealership. It's a major issue, fires in the trunk are not a good look for any car manufacturer. Eventually I will have to put up a fight with my dealership. It will be interesting... 🤬🤧

wwwdrew

I ended up cutting the 7 wires and crimping the 7 contact bushings. No solder. Just make sure you crimp well and maybe buy 1 or 2 extra in case you don’t. The parts cost 90$ from dealer for one side. The part numbers are listed in multiple posts. Cheaper to buy online buy didn’t have that luxury. It works. I didn’t add a thicker ground cable but hopefully it lasts another 4+ years for the next owner. But yeah, sucks dealer doesn’t step up and replace again on a safety issue.

Tom in Austin

Just looking at this for the first time ... is it true that the problem was pre-facelift and limited to 2011 and earlier cars?

Richard2011

I think for me, there was enough slack that it didn't require shortening the other 7 wires. I soldered a thicker gauge wire to the board and routed it to a grounding point that was somewhere in this thread. Probably would have been easier to drill and attach the wire with an O connector and a nut and bolt than to go through with the hassle of soldering onto a flat board, for all you future readers.

Did you check the other side? When I did it, I glanced at the driver side, and I saw signs of excess heat and the same issue starting there. That was almost 2.5 years ago, and I haven't bothered to check again, but I haven't had dimming of my left tail light yet either.

wwwdrew

I did check other side. It appeared ok and the connector was definitely cooler to touch than the hot side

PurSid

2010 C300 4matic sport, same issue with the right rear light assembly. Just got off the phone with MBUSA and the dealership. Since the original recall repair was done over 2 years they will not fix it again.
In my opinion they didn't fix anything, they just put the same OEM parts in place with the same issue that caused the recall to begin with.
I can't believe they don't fix the issue with better parts and will not fix a safety recall if it still has the same safety issue.
On my BMW, they had a similar issue with brake light recall and when BMW fixed it, they actually put a second ground wire in place in so that they actually fixed the recall and didn't just cover it up.

I feel like more attention needs to be brought to MBUSA or another party as this is still a safety issue where you have potential fire and failed brake lights.

If anyone has any ideas short of having to pay out of pocket for a failed recall from Mercedes, I sure would like to hear it.

Adrian Purcell

My issue began with warnings on my dash to check for left and right brake light failures. Which for some reason affected my headlights causing them to stay on even after I parked the car. I didn't want my headlights to be damaged by the heat so I disconnected the negative battery cable...the next morning after reconnecting the battery I'm dealing with a no crank no start...also my trunk is inoperable totally, idk why theres no manual way to open it in an event like this.