Intermittent Glove Compartment Light
 

At first I thought the bulb in the glove compartment was burnt out until I read on here that the glove compartment light only works when the car is running. But then I noticed that it doesn’t always come on even when running and it’s dark out and headlamps are on.

When it doesn’t work, I need to firmly close the glove box and reopen it to get the light to come on - sometimes more than once before it will work. Perhaps the switch is sticking a little but I cannot locate any switch or pin in the glove box that responds to the opening and closing. When the light does come on, the light does shut off when the compartment door is almost closed (i.e. less than an half an inch from fully closed. But I can’t find any switch or pin to inspect it. Any ideas?

Hmm maybe it uses a proximety switch like a magnetic switch versus the typical pressure switch.

They even overengineer the glove box in these cars. If it continues to happen more often than not, I will ask at the next service.

By the way, what level tint do you have on your w212 in your signature pic? Looks good.

Thanks, it's 20%. Legal is 35% but they don't hassle us in Oklahoma.

Ceramic or metallic? Anything on the windshield? Can get pretty brutal down here in FL with the midday sun on your lap.

Did anyone ever figured this out?
That blinking part get me really mad... and i cant find much info.
pretty sure yhe switch got messed up after so many open/close time.

thanks.

Pull lens down and check 12v-5w bulb/connector, see lamp assembly here: https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...on/2218200401/ - ambitious, pull glove box to check further see attachments.

Well my glove box light went. Changed bulb and even the socket but won't light. I knew it was the wire connector on the glove box passenger side behind the dash that unfortunately is common on the W212 to separate from the wire. The horrible wire connector curls and un-curls when you open and close the box and that mechanism it is attached to is what makes the glove box lamp light and go off when you open and close the glove box door. Thanks for the attachments, Konigstiger. Almost 2 years old but still a huge help! In the Trim strip pdf, it may not be that obvious in the B&W pics that there are little wings inside the hole in the outer sides of the center vents you need to hook and get them depressed otheriwse the center part will never come out. I had the Mercedes hooks from my old W208 where it was common fix to pull the cluster in order to fix the bad display pixels. The hooks work great on those wings inside the center vents (you cannot see them as they are inside the small rectangular holes) and also to get the clips lowered that sit on the top of the glove box. Waiting for a replacement glove box that I bought on ebay that seems to have a good wire harness. Not sure if I will just swap my door onto it or just switch out the wire harness and reuse my glove box. Really wasn't that bad getting the glove box out. Just patience and never force things as plastic parts and plastic connectors tends to break when forced. Note that one screw of a handful supporting the glove box all around it is located in the upper-right had a felt plug blocking it. It popped out from behind with a little effort from the hook tool. See the circled area that is the passenger side of the glove box that makes the light go on and off when glove box is opened/closed. But obviously won't work if wire breaks off as they engineered it so the wire take all the stress of that curling and movement right at the crimp of the electrical connector. :nix:

Here's a pic so you see it. That plastic ring slides up and down that shaft taking the wire with it. When it is all the way at the bottom, it hits a bump and mechanically breaks the circuit so the light goes off.


https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...ef9211004f.jpg
Common repair on W212 Glove Box where wire separates from wire connector due to fatigue

Yup just replace wire harness
 

Yes was simple to switch out the wire harness and it lights back up. Yay! You can remove the shaft by popping the pin in the top right of my pic and twist that shaft and twist until it slips out of the cutout keyhole. The blue connector by the light has a tab facing the rear touching the black glove box plastic that you can lightly impress with a screwdriver to slip the connector out. Im left with the rest of the donor glove box if anyone needs any glove box parts besides the wire harness. Free of charge.

Bumping this because I just fixed this problem on my 2011. One of my wires was broken right at the connector as pictured above. As the glove box opened, the light would initially turn on, then it would turn off as the wire separated.

I was able to locate the wiring harness in the parts catalog and Mercedes still sells it for about $9. The part number is 212-540-06-00.

Hi all,

Filmed my repair a while ago. Light's not working again. Will use a multi-meter to check bulb and socket, but will probably be the connection again. Cheers!