Philipangoo

Do you have an issue with your tail lights being dim or intermittently not working ? Do you get an notification on your instrument cluster about your rear fogs ? If you do, more then likely you are experiencing the wiring harness for your tail lights overloading.

I have experienced this issue on my 09 C63 AMG now out of warranty. They declined to cover it and I am currently working with MB customer service to try to get the amount reimbursed. This is a universal issue which is affecting what looks like most 08-09 C Class models.

I urge anyone who has had an issue with their tail light connector to report this to NHTSA even if your car was covered under warranty. Even if they repaired it for you please report the instance. From what everyone is writing and what I understand, eventually all the cars with this same wiring harness is going to do the same thing since the ground wire is overloading and getting hot. This means that even if they fixed it for you it was the same as stock, and in due time the same issue will pop up again. If you have not experienced this issue, open your trunk and remove the carpeted covers. Take a look at the brown ground wire plugging into the harness, does it look normal ? If it doesn't your wire is progressively getting worse as well.

This is a safety issue to all of us and we want it to be repaired correctly with proper load bearing circuitry. This is not too much to ask, it is what we should have been offered on these cars from the factory.

https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/

You will need to enter your VIN number and then be sure to report the issue. It takes only a few minutes.

I cannot stress this enough, we need bring this issue to the attention of the NHTSA. If you search the C Class forum you will see dozens of threads started by people with these issues, and within those threads several more claiming to be experiencing the exact same problems. If we want action we need to do something about it!

bluejae

that sucks... hopefully things work out for you

so the 2010 is ok? i had a message about the rear fog going out and when i checked the bulb the bulb was really out. the other lights seems to work as they should. i just need to replace the bulb.

Philipangoo

Jae,

If it was actually the bulb then you probably don't have this issue. I attached a picture to a thread I saw earlier that I took of my connector:

Here is what my connector actually looked like. The lights were still functioning fully but I was getting an error. 2 weeks from then the light stopped working and would intermittently turn off and on.

The ground wire is what you would be looking at. It is normally brown you can see in the photo above mine was like blackened near the harness / melting to brown lol.

Philipangoo

And I haven't heard of this happening to any 2010 models yet. I know 2010 they changed the mirror indicators but I don't know if there were any tail light changes. It is weird that its mostly 2008 and 2009 effected. A lot of people caught issues earlier during the warranty and had it replaced.

mthis

Here are some pix of mine
Now that I have new taillights 2012 models and up I been problem free.

Philipangoo

Mthis,

It would be awesome if they issued a recall and upgraded us all to 2012 lights lol. Unfortunately something like that would be too costly for Mercedes. Jeeze your connectory looked worse then mine.

bushburninc63

i had the problem and brought it in right before the warranty ran out and they "fixed" it. I proceeded to buy warranty and 2 months later the lights fudged up again. They then fixed it properly. No problems since. I think they tried to screw me over by temporarily fixing it, knowing my warranty was going to run out a month after.

bhamg

I have a friend who experienced this problem with her car, fixed under warranty. When I see these photos I'm amazed the issue is not a recall yet.

roadtalontsi

ya it affects every c-class up till the updated style. its just some melted plastic no biggy.

jvanbrecht

Both of my tail lights have been replaced.

Goni C63

It's funny that I saw the tread about tail lights and I was at MB Dealer in manhattan today and spoke with Karl luecht service advisor and he said only the HOUSING will be replaced not the LENS but as per now he said they still investigating so no RECALL!!

lm24

Just confirming what others said about it being an issue until the updated style: I have a 2010 C300 with the issue, though not in as bad a condition as OP's. While the tail housings are not identical with the AMG version, I think they would share the same bracket?

mdgrwl

my wife had this experience with her 4Matic C300

Philipangoo

Everyone start reporting these to the NHTSA. I only saw 20 reports for the Mercedes Benz C Class 2008 when I last checked and I know there is way more then this on mbworld forums. There's a huge thread on the W204 Sedan forum with 30+ people reporting issues and I have posted there also. We just need to do our part and file a complaint to the NHTSA. I love my car but honestly this is not acceptable.

It is not just a burnt/hot wire and melted connector. It is a fire hazard.

Philipangoo

Also I can't believe 2010 is experiencing this issue also. According to the investigation they are only looking into 2008 and 2009 models. Looks like that will need to be extended to 2010 all the way up until the tail light update models.

vkam

Recall should be done for sure.
I fixed this problem myself - worked with electronics before.

Philipangoo

I ended up having them fix this at the dealer. I figured when they do issue a recall, I will get the full amount reimbursed to me in addition to MB fixing it correctly.

Cost me just over $300.00 they installed a new bulb plate, pins, connector harness, holder. The parts were only around 88$ after Tax but the labor was killer. They initially wanted to do both sides but I don't even know how much longer I plan to keep this car since this whole ordeal has put a bad taste in my mouth. I just wish Mercedes Benz would step up and do the right thing. These cars came from the factory with a insufficient design, this needs to be corrected.

Think of how many thousands of C class models there are built in 2008, 2009, and 2010. Once the 2009 and 2010 models start running out of warranty I am sure a lot more people will start stepping forward. Most people I bet assume its a light bulb issue and take the car to the dealer to have it replaced under warranty so they never know that they have fried circuitry back there.

bhamg

Saw this on Motoauthority just now. Everything sounds familiar...except the "recall" part.

http://www.motorauthority.com/news/1...-rear-lighting

604 C63

I had this with BOTH SIDES on my 08 and now have it with an 09.

It is my understanding there is a service bulletin about this, which always helps with warranty type things.

Its funny. I just called in this morning and told the service rep what it was.
She said next week was really busy so around the middle of the week after.
We had the following conversation:

Me: Really?
Rep: Yeah. We're really busy.
Me: Its just that.......well, ok. Who am I to guess your insurance coverage. OK.
Rep: Excuse me?
Me: Well liability wise. I have no brake or taillights, no turn signal and no reverse light cos I have a short circuit melting wiring in my trunk and you cant get me in for almost two weeks. But hey, MB has a service bulletin on it and they know the risks so if they think it can sit for 12 days I guess its their call.
After all, its warranty work so its not like I can go anywhere else. All I can do is report it and ask you for help with a known safety issue. So what day?
Rep: Can I call you back in 5?
Me: Sure.

5 minutes later.

Rep: How about Monday morning first thing?
Me: That would be great. Im going to need a loaner too.

blah blah blah.

Rep: OK have a great weekend.
Me: And a safe one. See you Monday!!!

If they warranty it great. If they dont warranty it, I am not paying a friggin dime for them to fix that wiring, cos they already made a mess of it when they built it. I'll do it myself or have someone else handle it.

604 C63

Oh, and BTW. I find this policy combined with telling them in advance leads to a lot more warranty work. If their option is to find a way to warranty it or pay for a tech to check it out and lend me a car for a day only to make nothing on the deal........you know which way that is going.

roadtalontsi

The 3rd brake lamp also has no related wiring so you do have atleast one brake light.

604 C63

True that. And my left one works too. I'm more concerned about the turn signal to be honest. Makes lane changes a little dodgy.

When this happens to you for the third time on your second car, you're just not that into being told to come back in two weeks.

silkynitro

I have a 2009 C220CDI w204 I had both replaced about May 2012 at no cost and just the other day I got a warning on the dash that my left side had a problem.

So I pull in out, and sure enough, burnt wires, taking the car back to the dealers Monday to see what they are going to do about it.

I can tell you now, I won't be paying for it.

silkynitro

Sorry double post

silkynitro

a