robby750

I recently acquired a 2007 E350 and have a light out on the left front marker lamp. The right side goes off and on intermittently. The manual says to have the dealer replace the bulbs because it is "technically challenging" ?? How is the lamp mounted? Does it snap into the bumper from the front or do you gain access from the back?

Toolman_Johnny

By "marker lamp", are you referring the parking lights? or the turn indicator?
If the parking light, I don't know about the '07, but this is a dead-easy 20 second fix on my '05. Nothing technical about it. Quarter turn on bulb base to remove, remove burnt out bulb, insert new bulb, replace with a quarter turn and bob's your uncle.

robby750

I am referring to the small amber light on each side of the front bumper. They are supposed to be lit whenever the lights are on.

starbrite

see post #81 , here : https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...corners-4.html

t0ast

You can pry at the corner to pop them out, but be forewarned that the plastic will be weakened and eventually break if you pop them out often.

The proper way (not necessarily the easiest) is to turn the wheel all the way to one side or other, then remove the splash guard in the wheelwell to get access to the bulbs. (Another way is to remove the splash guard underneath that goes across the front behind the bumper, but that requires removing ~8 bolts.)

From there, you can twist the socket out of the housing and swap bulbs.

robby750

I tried to pry on the lamp enough to release the clip but gave up for fear of damaging it. I think I will go in from the bottom. Thanks for the help.

wampa

Still going to be somewhat tough going from the bottom. Since the bulb holder is surrounded by the rubber bumper enforcement.


Here's a pic for you

robby750

Well, I took the splash pan off by removing the 8 screws (about 10 minutes). The lamps were easy to access from below. When I took the socket out of the lamp, one of the wires fell out of the socket and water ran down my arm. I compressed the plastic clip and removed the lamp (which is a different design from the 2006 model pictured in the thread listed above). I removed both sides and found that the plastic around the bulb had melted a bit causing cracks and letting water into the socket. The left side was trashed with corrosion. Off to the dealer and bought 2 new lamps, socket repair kit, and 2 bulbs. $94.00 30 minutes to reassemble and now good as new.

spinn

Just did mine and put in smoked clear lens form DEPO. The trick to this is to remove the plastic pin holding the plastic cover in the wheel well first. Then you can pull back the cover. On my 2004 E500, one can't just stick your hand behind the lens and pop it out. There's a housing that surrounds the lights. There is a spot to slide a short handle screwdriver or awl to push on the lens clip. Once you figure it out it pops out easily. 5 min upgrade.

Long Islander

I just replaced both front side marker lamp bulbs today. It's not the easiest thing to do, but if you've done it before, you can do both in 15 minutes. For the right side, turn the wheel all the way to the left, and vice versa.

There are two plastic fasteners you need to remove. One is in the wheel well and the other is just under the bumper at the corner. Remove the plastic "pin" part of the fastener and then the plastic plate behind it using a small pry bar that is the same size and length as a medium size screwdriver (this is a very useful tool to have which is available at any decent hardware store).

Grab the plastic fender liner and pull it out. Find the pointy plastic tip that holds the lamp assembly in place and press forward (toward the front of the car). The whole thing should release and pop outward. Turn the lamp holder 90 degrees and remove from lamp housing. Replace bulb and reinstall everything.

KL2DC

Actually I found out you can get away just by removing the top fastener. The fender liner is very flexible. You'd need to dig in to pull the liner towards you, after that you can negotiate just enough clearance to have a quick look inside and have a good feel with your hands.

As Oggie stated, you feel for the pointy end closest to you and unclip the marker from the marker housing. The whole marker lens would just tilt forward and away. The furthest end of the lens is hooked onto the back housing. After you liberate the lens from the back housing you can see how the bulb is connected/wired. Then its just a simple twist-remove-replace operation.

5 minutes per side is plenty.

spinn

That is all I did as well...very simple and flexible to move the liner.

I'm surprised however that others don't have the same reinforcement that Wampa (#7) mentioned. For mine, it was not as simple as reaching in and unclipping it with my hand, as some of you mentioned. There was a slot on the back of the reinforcement housing that accepts a screwdriver (I used an awl) to push on the side marker clip. Once I did that, it popped out very easily. Still a 5 minute job.

murman

Oddly, the manual for my 2004 E-wagon does not mention going in via the wheel well to get access to this bulb. Instead, the instructions are:

1) carefully slide the lamp towards front
2) remove rear end first
3) change bulb
4) to reinstall lamp, set rear end in bumper and let front end snap into place

this seems like dark magic to me, bacause there's no way to slide the lamp forward, because the lamp is recessed. Am I missing something fundamental?

Ouch1234

Does anyone know the the size of the bulb that goes into the side marker light on my 05 E500? Wife told me there is a warning light on. I'm going to run to the parts store and pick a couple of them up before she gets home. I couldn't find it on my EPC. I'm assuming I just need a clear bulb?

Thanks.

Toolman_Johnny

It's just your basic 194 mini-wedge bulb. Yes, clear.

Ouch1234

Thanks for the directions... Took all about 1 minute to change my bulb this way. I just used a small flat head screw driver and with a small amount of pressure it popped right out. It snapped right back in after I changed the bulb.

Rufus T Firefly

Why not just turn the two locks on access panel under the light (and behind the bumper) and open the access panel?

That is what it was designed for. And much easier than removing the wheel and wheel well or the entire splash guard.

FWA E500

Just replaced my side marker bulb by this method. Simpler than removing access panels or wheel wells. I think using a small flat pry bar is better than a screwdriver. It distributes the pressure evenly because it does feel like you're gonna break something using a flat tip screwdriver.

mie55

very simple but reuiring patience by using small dull flaten tool,gently digs around orange plastic till it pop out.you will see the plastic is connected to the wires,not to pull hard just a little twist and pull you will see a small light bulb,pull it out.you may get replacement from autopart store that cost about $ 4.00 simply snap it back in.I did it today on my E55.

ozusa

There are several ways it can be done. Here's pictures of how I did it:

https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...?highlight=DIY

westlogo

Thanks so much for your helpful information on replacing my side marker lights, one thing I noticed is that this seems to be a common problem, I noticed that while replacing through the wheel well that a large amount of water poured out of the oversized tube that the wires ran through, I believe that this is the reason my bulb blew and would give me false alerts that it was out, so when changing your bulb take the extra minute to tape up the gap with electric tape so water can't get in the tube.

westlogo

Thanks so much for your helpful information on replacing my side marker lights, one thing I noticed is that this seems to be a common problem, I noticed that while replacing through the wheel well that a large amount of water poured out of the oversized tube that the wires ran through, I believe that this is the reason my bulb blew and would give me false alerts that it was out, so when changing your bulb take the extra minute to tape up the gap with electric tape so water can't get in the tube. You won't see or be able to let the water drain unless you go thru the wheel well.