I'm thinking of changing the boring oval OEM tail lights for LEDs. How would you rate the difficulty of removing and installing the tail lights for the W210?
Just to provide a scale of difficulty, to me changing the cabin air filters was an average difficultly

Look forward to hearing your insight!
Thanks!

 

slightly easier degree of difficulty based on your reference

 

after doing it so many times, I can change them in about 10 minutes. it shouldn't be hard. you just remove the 8mm nuts and pull the tail lights out

 

Wow it sound easy! Thanks
@siopaoloer why did you have to change them so often? it doesn't seem there aren't many taillight options out there

 

lol a few years ago, I thought it was cool to tint them. so that was my first time taking them out. I got pulled over for them, and had to take them off to get rid of the tint. then last month, I bought some really bad ebay tails that were meant to look like the facelift ones. had so much trouble with them that I kept swapping between those and my stocks.

 

Which one do you currently have installed? Love to see a picture

 

I got rid of the crappy fake E55 ones and just put my old ones back in

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/93420847@N05/8498798842/" title="W210 by fbaladad, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8106/8498798842_4afe8bcdf5_c.jpg" width="800" height="598" alt="W210"></a>

 

MesserschmittAG - i change my mind ! it all depends on what design the
tail light is and/or who manufactured it. the non-oval design was introduced
by MB for 00-02 model years. since you mentioned that you have the ovals,
you would have a car which is 96-99. the non-ovals *may* need to have
the rear of the reflector sanded to allow it to fit flush into the tail light openings
in your trunk lid.

fortunately, the process is simple and shouldn't add much more than 30 mins
of sand-fit-sand-fit...trial and error.

once you get your new tails in hand, trial fit the tail into the trunk and see if
it fits flush. if it does, great. if not, let us know and we'll dig up thread which
shows fitment tips and where to sand.

 

I think I still have the DIY you posted on sanding the reflectors down, in case I found a set.

 

Are the fake E55 bad quality? Cause i was looking at this one on ebay:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/121070812371...84.m1423.l2649

Thanks for the extra info Raymond. The listing for the taillight says it fits the old model W210s' original mounting points
I hope that means I dont have to sand, what do you guys think?

...And siopaolover, your w210 looks so awesome lowered, it even makes the oval lights look good

 

no, that description gives no clue to where sanding is needed. the mounting
points are the same for all 210s, pre and post face lift. it comes down to a few
millimeters in the depth of the trunk lid.

here is the link to the tail light mod

 

I'm not sure about the quality of those, but I couldn't fit any of the sockets in the fake tails. I'd say just go with OEM and sand them down

and thanks man! the oval lights grew on me after I lowered the car. It makes it look a little older, which is nice