Interior/License Plate bulbs?
 

Hi, new to the forums and a new owner of a 2011 C300 Sport 4matic!

Can anyone tell me the size (and perhaps recommendations) of the bulbs used in the interior of the car and the license plate lights?

I found various methods of removal and replacing, but wasn't sure what type or size of them.

I'm interested in getting a white color than the yellowish look.

Thanks in advance!

Send a message to AZN Optics.

He'll hook you up with a whole package that includes all the bulbs you'll need at a great price.

They are size T10 for the front dome, visor vanity, rear map lights, glovebox, foot well, door court lights, trunk lights, license plate, front and rear side marker, and eyebrows. The rear dome is a 42mm festoon base, but up to 45mm will fit.

You will need CANBUS equipped LEDs if you want to use them in the eyebrows, side markers, footwell, or front dome. The front dome will not throw an error but the bulbs will flicker and not shut off correctly.

If you want to just have everything pit together for you then pm AZN Optics. Otherwise you can piece everything together for much cheaper.

For the entire interior you would need 1x festoon in 42mm, 4x canbus error free T10 bulbs, and 9x normal T10 bulbs.

For the exterior you would need 8x canbus error free T10 bulbs, and 2x normal T10 bulbs.

These are the style T10 bulb that is canbus equipped that I used for the dome and foot well: http://m.ebay.com/itm/261487515654

For everything else I prefer T10 bulbs with 5630 size chips, they are brighter and have a much purer white: http://m.ebay.com/itm/331271804845

For the 5630 bulbs they must be the ones with only 6 LEDs on them. If you get the ones with 10 LEDs they will not fit in a majority of the locations on the car.

Thanks!

Wow, great info!! Thanks a lot!

are these the same for the 2012+ ?

I would think so as the new models are still considered w204 and they use the same bulbs

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00877SL2M

Would these suffice??

Those are not CANBUS equipped. If they do not look like the first link I provided then most likely they are not. You can tell if they are CANBUS bulbs because they will have a PCB base instead of a molded plastic one. Those will work in everything but the places the I mentioned need CANBUS bulbs.

Thanks for all your help!

One more thing (kinda off the original topic.. But..),
Would you perhaps know what bulbs would be good for the low beam/high beam?

I have standard halogen headlights I believe.

Nokya are a good brand for halogen bulbs. If you want something brighter and whiter their Stage II 70W H7 bulbs are good.

If you're looking for an HID kit then The Retrofit Source make good aftermarket kits. They're pricey but probably the best bang for your buck next to true HID housings. Email them at answers@theretrofitsource.com if you need help, they're good folk.

Stay away from anything Sylvania branded, especially their zXe line of bulbs. Anything other than their cheapest bulbs are WAY over priced and even the packaging says their lifetime is greatly reduced. This is because their "Silverstar" and "Ultra" bulbs have a special coating that reflect infrared light back into the bulb causing the filament to get hotter and thus burn brighter, even though they claim the bulbs do not draw more power. When you take a 55W bulb and make it glow with 65-75 watts of output, you lose nearly half the lifetime of the bulb. The Nokya bulbs are true 70W bulbs and a made to handle the extra load.

I would say go for the Philips Diamond or Crystal Vision H7 bulbs for high and low beams if you want to stay with halogen. For parking lights, you can get w5w error free LEDs from AZNOptics or elsewhere. Very easy install. I went this route for a while. ~$40-$50 total cost, 20 min install and completely gets rid of all the yellow in the stock lights

If you want something more drastic, you can do what myself and some others have done with a full swap for a replica lighting package. Here is that thread: https://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w204/538850-new-led-projector-headlight-pair.html . Total cost ~$450-$500, 1-2 hour install DIY possible, worth it in my opinion.