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I have a 2015Ml. How are the tail lights different on the GLE. Aren't both led type tail lights. Also, I asked on this site in an earlier email about European ML taillights. Overthere the turn signals must be yellow/amber. Personally, I think they are easier to see at night. Anyone know what they look like on Euro models, maybe the same way in Canada not sure.
Not plug N play, Connectors are different. you'll be dealing with a bulb warning message for tail/signal, so some resistors may be needed unless dealer can program the BCM with an LED option plus some wiring changes (if that exists in any ML model) pics attached.
Last edited by nookie; Dec 6, 2016 at 01:11 PM.
Reason: add
I bought one tail light on Ebay, I had the same info from my dealer, you have to reprogram the BCM but no body is gonna do it because its prohibited from MB.
Ill try to convince someone here, and ill let you know if it works.
Instead of programming the BCM/SAM, perhaps making wiring changes and moving pins around and adding resistors would work if we are able to grab a harness/plug that goes into the taillight.
Not sure how the GLE lights are different but I think ML550 and ML63 taillights are different than regular ML350. These should be a direct replacement, plug and play
Not sure how the GLE lights are different but I think ML550 and ML63 taillights are different than regular ML350. These should be a direct replacement, plug and play
they are not different from the regular ml350. I had a 2012 ML550 and its exactly the same
It is possible to put gle tail lights on the w166 ml. I did it a few weeks ago and waited to tell because I wanted to test the change and make sure it works in time. It is not simple but it can be done in your own garage with a bit of work. The only thing that does not work is the reverse light. On the ML it is in the middle but on the gle it is on the sides so you would have to put wires going from inside the back door to the lights on the sides. I did not care very much about reverse so I did not go there but I can tell you that everything else works. Mechanically the side lights fit almost perfectly. There was just a minor adjustment I had to make with a cutter, about two millimeters of plastic from a spacer on the upper side of the tail light. Lets go now to the electrical issue. The tail lights I put on were bought from my local dealer, three of them, and from ebay the fourth. Initially I bought one from ebay to test the mecanical fit and some electrical issues. I also bought the plugs for the two side lights ( the ones on the body of the car, not the door) from the local dealer, 4 dolars a piece. What you also need to know is that you will need four 24 W resistors made by Osram. I got them from a friend that does electrical repairs but I m sure you can easily find them. The resistors will have to be connected on the plus and minus of the brake lights ( One on each side , to use the surplus of power the incandescent lights of the ML are provided and the leds don t need) and than connected to the metal parts close to the tail lights with a screw so the heat disipates to the cars body. The main issue I had was how to reposition the pins from the ML plug inside the plug of the Gle. I did some tests on the new tail lights and wrote down what lights up what. The input of the wires of the Ml I easily found on another topic here on the forum and so I could reposition the pins in the new plug. To reposition you only have to open the plug and pull them out. The plugs for the door lights fit with just a bit of cutter work. As the Osram resistors come with friendly user connectors, the hardest part of this swap is, in my opinion, getting the pins repositioning right. I hope I covered the whole process.
So...the lights don't fit and they don't work properly. Reverse lights are kinda important and when it comes to something as important as Brake Lights- don't mess with the wiring. If you are ever in an accident- you will most likely get the crap sued out of you.
So...the lights don't fit and they don't work properly. Reverse lights are kinda important and when it comes to something as important as Brake Lights- don't mess with the wiring. If you are ever in an accident- you will most likely get the crap sued out of you.
or he could put the backup noises that trucks use
Honestly the ML brake lights/reverse isnt that bad looking, i mean it follows the pattern of the old W212 (pre facelift) and that isnt that bad. When i drove the W212 (mine was facelift, no lighting package) the cool thing was backing up because it was so bright with the led reverse and brake lights that it lit up the whole area behind the car
It is possible to put gle tail lights on the w166 ml. I did it a few weeks ago and waited to tell because I wanted to test the change and make sure it works in time. It is not simple but it can be done in your own garage with a bit of work. The only thing that does not work is the reverse light. On the ML it is in the middle but on the gle it is on the sides so you would have to put wires going from inside the back door to the lights on the sides. I did not care very much about reverse so I did not go there but I can tell you that everything else works. Mechanically the side lights fit almost perfectly. There was just a minor adjustment I had to make with a cutter, about two millimeters of plastic from a spacer on the upper side of the tail light. Lets go now to the electrical issue. The tail lights I put on were bought from my local dealer, three of them, and from ebay the fourth. Initially I bought one from ebay to test the mecanical fit and some electrical issues. I also bought the plugs for the two side lights ( the ones on the body of the car, not the door) from the local dealer, 4 dolars a piece. What you also need to know is that you will need four 24 W resistors made by Osram. I got them from a friend that does electrical repairs but I m sure you can easily find them. The resistors will have to be connected on the plus and minus of the brake lights ( One on each side , to use the surplus of power the incandescent lights of the ML are provided and the leds don t need) and than connected to the metal parts close to the tail lights with a screw so the heat disipates to the cars body. The main issue I had was how to reposition the pins from the ML plug inside the plug of the Gle. I did some tests on the new tail lights and wrote down what lights up what. The input of the wires of the Ml I easily found on another topic here on the forum and so I could reposition the pins in the new plug. To reposition you only have to open the plug and pull them out. The plugs for the door lights fit with just a bit of cutter work. As the Osram resistors come with friendly user connectors, the hardest part of this swap is, in my opinion, getting the pins repositioning right. I hope I covered the whole process.
Hi, can you please help us with some pictures, part # for the connectors, details about Osram resistors since a lot of us want to try and swap the lights?
Thank you
sorry for the late response, I was on a different email address.
I have been using the new tail lights for a few months now and there were no problems. I also wanted to have a few weeks of summer and see how thay behave with the outside temperature increase. There is no problem, but you have to make sure you screw the resistors to metal parts. I ll try to post some pictures. The lack of reverse lights was easy to replace with a light press of the brake peddal with your left foot while you reverse. the brake lights are bright enough.
Good to know that the lamp housings fit without much trouble. A while ago I changed the incandescent brake light bulb to a super bright LED, mostly because I wanted the faster response (safety) of the LED. However I wasn't keen on adding a resistor because if the LED ever did fail, you would never know it and have no brake lights, like in a old car! Anyway, with Vediamo, I was able to change the current threshold for the warning so that it would be compatible with LEDs and still get the warning if there was 0 current flow. I assume this would also work with the GLE LEDs if anyone has Vediamo. I could take a screen capture of the parameter I changed if anyone needs it.
sorry for the late response, I was on a different email address.
I have been using the new tail lights for a few months now and there were no problems. I also wanted to have a few weeks of summer and see how thay behave with the outside temperature increase. There is no problem, but you have to make sure you screw the resistors to metal parts. I ll try to post some pictures. The lack of reverse lights was easy to replace with a light press of the brake peddal with your left foot while you reverse. the brake lights are bright enough.
hi
why didn't you proceed with the reverse light like you did with the break like? It doesn't work? The reverse light at gle lamp is Led, isn't? And at Ml is bulb light.... it is necessary to put That rezistors also on reverse light. Am i wright?
Personally, I don't understand what the difference is between the ML & GLE tail lights, other than the fact that the clear LED strip is in a different location.....
Personally, I don't understand what the difference is between the ML & GLE tail lights, other than the fact that the clear LED strip is in a different location.....
its not just that, the reverse lamp was completely re-positioned. So many ML/GL drivers are asking if they can retrofit their front and back lights, its crazy..
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