Flawed

I just tested it out yesterday, I drove the car for 1 hour (had to anyway) and the resistor wasnt hot at all. You could rest your hand there for awhile and it still would barely just feel warm.

It looks just like the pics generic posted except the rear backing plate for the small turn LED's looks a bit darker in that picture. His picture is way better quality, not sure if it would have anything to do with that.

All in all, I'm a pretty picky person and I'm very pleased with them.

aznmode

Wow that's interesting. When I tried putting a resistor on the ones I bought they got pretty hot after about 10 minutes of having the lights on. Good to know. Thank you.

Flawed

One thing though.. I'm not sure if this is true for all models or if it's only with the newest ones, but the turn signals on the OEM ones seem to be more red. The ones on the depo ones are yellow.

meli1507

Does anybody here know if the Mercedes Benz dealership will void my warranty if I show up with facelift tail lamps and all error codes on? I assume they will give me some bs on future electrical issues. I've had my 2011 w204 for almost a year now and my first mod was 2012 oem tail lamps. I've had no luck with finding a used rear SAM. Please help!

w204_Generic

I brought my 2011 W204 in for the tail light recall and they didn't even notice. However, I reprogrammed my rear SAM unit so I don't have any error codes.

meli1507

" so you had already got your SAM reprogrammed when u went in for the recall?

aznmode

Why risk it. Just swap it real quick. Doesn't take that long. It'll throw off the tech working on your car when he see's the error on your dash and they may end up keeping your car longer than usual. When it should only take an hour to hour and half to swap the melted connectors. You'll just be wasting the tech's and your time.

FireHive

You guys do realize that these tail lights are not DOT/SAE approved, right?

aznmode

How are your eBay tail lights holding up?

badeh2

I bought the ebay taillights after doing some research/finding this thread. So far, I love them and they are working perfectly. The only difference is that there is a small light bulb on the side that is def. brighter than the oem. I will try to take a pic and post it in this thread.

UniqueSRacing

Hi Guys,

Just to clarify, there are different brands out there. We carry DEPO brand and DEPO brand facelift style W204 LED tail light is direct plug and play, no error after install. We offer Euro style with amber LED signal as well as the SAE/DOT version with Red LED signal. And DEPO has the true OEM facelift look and only a fractional cost of the OEM. Let us know if you have any concern, thanks.

Best Regards,

Unique Style Racing (USR)

badeh2

As you can see the little bulb on the side is way brighter, other than that it is awesome!

aznmode

Nice. I don't really know what that stupid dot is for. But I wish I never had a bad experience with my first ebay set (not from USR), otherwise I would've gone aftermarket again. But decided to go OEM this time since I already had the rear sam.

Rodpwnz

Depo says that their products are.

http://www.depo.com.tw/show_faqs.asp...=Show&pageno=1

centfl-c300spt

Just got a set of the DEPO DOT/SAE clears from USR and they rock!! Love them.
No codes what so ever, look great. Even the foglight works.
USR has a great price and they were easy to install. Even my local indy shop was impressed.
If you're on the fence about getting these, do it!!! Really makes the car look 'newer'.

xzotik1

I own a 2010 but want to do the 2012 hood and depo headlights. I have lots of 12v audio experience amped speakered and EQ on my W204. What do you know about the harness conversion?

mbsilverstar

I think it's Available here too
www.parts4euro.com

aznmode

OP here again. Finally got a chance to see the USR version in person and they look identical to OEM with only difference in stamping which is inside the tail lights and you can't even see them unless you look. Resistors are barely warm after 10 min of them being on. Here are some comparison shot. Can you tell which is USR and which is OEM? I'll give you a hint. Mine are the OEM ones. Haha

@Rodpwnz, you're not allowed to participate in this one. Lol. Thanks for showing the USR ones to me earlier today.

Becksan

Guess I'll be ordering new tails soon! Thanks for the pics and info!

Rodpwnz

Btw, I want everyone to know that Aznmode was VERY thorough with his inspection, and he has a VERY keen eye for details. Things such a small details, I would never catch, he would catch in seconds.

It was a pleasure to make your acquaintance Jimmy.

aznmode

Thanks Rod. We both agreed on it so your evaluation counts as well. I think for the most part, everyone that has bought them have been happy and have not had the same issue I had with the other brand aftermarket I've bought.

Also wanted to add that OEM has the benz logo on the corner.




Internal stamp on OEM. USR has something similar but has different wording. One of which specifies that is DOT SAE.

Dustindustrial

I picked up a pair of the DEPO tail lights for my 2009 C300, and they just showed up today. They look great at first glance. I'm hoping to get them installed tomorrow afternoon. I have a couple of questions for those who have installed them already.

Out of the two resistors per light assembly, one is hard wired, and one plugs in via a connector. There is a brief sheet of install instructions included that says "Caution: resistor box only connect for rear fog lamp function".

Since the rear fog lamp is only on the left side, does that mean the second resistor can be removed from the right tail light? I didn't see any mention of anyone doing that when reading through the thread.

Also, has anyone experienced any condensation issues? Normally before installing any aftermarket light, I'd fill the gap between the lens and assembly with some clear silicone, but there is no gap with these lights.

Thanks.

tofu-

i've been using mine for almost a year now and no problems

Dustindustrial

Thanks, that's good to hear. Did you leave both resistors connected to both tail lights?

tofu-

i connected everything. the resistor disconnection/connection is new. maybe they changed values or redesigned it