About a year ago, I noticed that both my brake lights were burned out. I replaced them and they worked fine for a while. A month later, the right one went out again.

I checked it, but the bulb was not blown. I discovered that if I played with the bulb socket, it would work again...but only for a while...say, a few days...then over time...less and less.

Now, it won't work at all except for maybe a few seconds. Also, it appears the socket gets very warm. I'm assuming that the socket itself it bad, but has anyone else run into this and what did you do to get it addressed successfully?

I've looked around (albeit not at the dealer) to see if I could find a standalone socket, but without success. Or is it that I will have to replace the entire assembly?

Thanks!

 

The Taillight assembly on these models get corroded where the socket meets the assembly so try to scrape the coorosion on the socket tabs and the taillight assembly and you should be okay but most likely you would need a taillamp assembly to fix the problem that youre having.

 

A pretty common problem with early W210's. When mine acted up, I found a tip on one of these sites that has worked well. First, I cleaned the 'tabs' with electrical contact cleaner. Second, (here's the tip) I seated it fully and then backed off a few degrees to give a 'new' contact point. It's been over a year and no problems since. YMMV.

 

Thanks for the feedback.

I cleaned the tabs, sprayed them with the electronic contact cleaner, and, presto...voila!

This is a major relief as it'll finally eliminate my getting pulled over by John Q. Law all the time about a busted brake lamp.

I appreciate both your feedback and guidance.

 

This is a great thread that helped me understand what I was getting into.

I took the taillight assembly and closely examined the electric contacts for the brake light. Found where there was some arching, and black carbon. with sand paper I removed the black.

After a reassemble - I tested and found teh light did not work.

I then used a multi-function meter to test the conductivity and found more sanding was required. Assembled, tested then installed in car.

All is well.


In the picture below - the arrow is pointing to where the carbon was. It was on the negative metal.

 

good option. one owner drilled and screwed a wire to that metal chassis and
the other end soldered to one of the wings in the bulb holder. not elegant but
slam dunk solid connection. interesting that owners have to resort to these
levels of fix to offset the poor design in the tail light assembly.

 

I bought a '98 E320 Sedan (W210) new in 1997 and still drive it (200K miles soon). This rear light has been a reoccurring problem throughout its life. This will drive you crazy with this car over time, but it is an easy fix. A quick remedy is to use some steel wool to clean the three contact points on the light assembly. (As tivoliman has shown in a photograph) You can use some electrical contact cleaner and some bulb grease.

I have replaced my tail-light assemblies - two to fix this problem (shop mechanic recommended of course) and one for repair. This change-out of the unit is not too expensive anyone can do this with a minimum of skills, but you may not have to do this at all.

Just in the past week, the problem reoccurred, and after ordering and replacing a new bulb and new socket, the final fix was using fine steel wool to clean the three contacts on the light assembly. I keep a small plastic box in the trunk with steel wool, bulbs, and a spare socket and bulb grease for a quick fix. Someone mentioned twisting the socket back a very slight bit (1/16 " or 1 mm), and this has worked for me in the past, but a bumpy road will eventually set off your faulty light signal again, and you are back to square one. You may want to pry the contacts on the sockets slightly as they may bend and loosen the snugness and connection with time.

I suspect the problem is caused by corrosion occurring due to electric current. There is an aluminum contact on the light assembly and different metal conductors on the sockets. Often when two different metals come into contact there is a dielectric effect that can cause corrosion and the electric current is enhancing this.

PS. I once replaced my rear bulbs with LEDs thinking it will fix this problem and it resulted in blown fuses. I do not recommend it, but other people may have had a more positive experience with this.

 

Same problem, same solution with added - took a mild file and screwdriver to scratch & clean the contact points.

BTW - When needed I was able to buy new sockets on Amazon.