2008 Mercedes Benz C300: fire, smoke or burning smell

Filed Aug 1, 2025 · Electrical, Lights · 180,000 miles · VA

The contact owns a 2008 Mercedes-Benz C300. The contact stated while at the car wash and attempting to wash the vehicle, there was popping sound coming from the vehicle, and the contact saw smoke coming from the speakers and called the Fire Department however, no damages were found. The vehicle was taken to the residence and an independent mechanic inspected the vehicle but found no issues with the vehicle. The trunk was opened, and the contact became aware of water inside the taillight housings. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer or an independent mechanic to be diagnosed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 180,000.

Filed Jan 4, 2020 · Lights · 79,345 miles · TX

The tail lights are shorting out. A burning smell is eminating from the wires. The dashboard messages are flashing various problems I.e. Rear tail light, brake lights, turn signals, etc. First it indicates left side then it indicates the right side has the problem. This happens when the vehicle is stationary or rolling. The engine is on.

Filed May 17, 2015 · Electrical, Lights · 140,000 miles · CA

My lcd navigation screen does not turn on anymore. It randomly flashes when I'm driving and causes a distraction. After some research, it seems like an extremely common issue with many c300 models of the 2008 year. Some owners have reported smoke coming out of the corner of the screen.

Filed Aug 18, 2014 · Electrical · 52,000 miles · FL · fire

Tl* the contact owns a 2008 mercedes benz c300. The contact stated that while parked the vehicle caught on fire, which started from the rear passenger side. The contact stated that a neighbor extinguished the fire. A police report was filed. The fire department determined that a failed fuse box caused the fire. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 52,000.

Filed Apr 16, 2014 · Electrical, Lights · 47,700 miles · OR · fire

The rear wiring for the tail light lighting sparked. While driving the car smelled strongly of burning plastic. After a quick look over I didn't see anything alarming. The very next day all of the lighting on the rear right tail lights went out, all indicators came on in the dash showing that all bulbs were malfunctioning. After pulling the housing unit out, I found that the wire was burned and so was the unit the wires attached to; melted and burned. Wiring should not catch on fire, this could have easily spread and when taken to the dealer to fix, they cut the wire to attach more but cannot guarantee that it won't happen again.

Filed Mar 26, 2014 · Electrical, Lights · 72,000 miles · FL

Dash panel read an error of tail lights, brake lights, turn signal lights out on right side. Drove home from work , approximately 3 miles, smelled wires burning. Waited took car to autozone to get bulbs replaced. By the time I arrived, there was smoke coming from the compartment. The light assembly had caught fire and burned the plug and the board.

Filed Mar 4, 2014 · Lights · 77,500 miles · NY

Rear tail lamps intermittently inoperative/dim. Intermittent burning smell in trunk area near lamp housing.

Filed Feb 18, 2014 · Electrical, Lights · 90,000 miles · CA

Randomly I started receiving check bulb messages for the rear lights on both sides of my car. I didn't think much of it as I don't think they had ever been changed so I changed them and all was fine and then a few weeks later the messages started to pop up again. I rechecked the bulbs to make sure they were securely in place and they were so I started doing a little research and discovered that this was a known issue. Presently the entire left rear side is out and it looks like the wiring has overheated and been singed (looks like it had burned).when calling all the local southern cali dealerships (orange county/long beach) none of them will admit to it being a widespread problem and fixing it for free because the parent company, mercedes benz, hasn't yet. I have no desire to pay for a problem that should have never occurred in the first place. My major concern is about potential fires in the trunk due to this. All it will take is one spark to catch on something in the trunk and then well car is on fire. As much a mercedes benz claims to be about safety, I'm shocked, one at the design flaw and two that they are going through the motions of pretending like the thousands of owners who have reported this are making it up. They need to get on this asap.

Filed Jan 6, 2014 · Electrical, Lights · 90,000 miles · TX

Warning message displayed in instrument panel advising to check rear right hand side marker lights, on initial inspection in the truck their was a smell of burning plastic emigrating from the right hand side rear light cluster on removal of the fuse panel cover and inspection the wires which connect the wiring harness to the lighting backplatei I was unable to hold the connector with a naked hand due to the excessive temperature. After leaving things to cool down for 60 minutes I was able to remove the wiring harness connector from lighting cluster back plate to find that the earth pin (brown wire extreme right hand side ) was melted and also the pin to which it mated too had also began to melt the plastic which supported the pin on he lighting back plate. The earth (brown wire) is of an extremely low gauge for the potential load this wire would potentially need to carry under maximum load (all lights lit).

Filed Dec 5, 2013 · Lights · 100,623 miles · CA

There was a burning smell and my instruments indicated my rear tail lights, brake lights etc went out. I checked and saw the wire harness was burnt and the wires going into the connector were melted.

Filed Aug 20, 2013 · Electrical, Lights · 51,000 miles · TX

Burning smell and melted connectors on rear tail light assembly.

Filed Aug 13, 2013 · Lights · 63,373 miles · MA

Driver information system showed that the rear right brake lamp was out. While checking the rear tail light to replace the bulbs we checked the harness and it was completely melted! Then I knew why I had smelt a burning smell before. I called my nearest mercedes dealer ship and they said it would cost around $475 to $700 to fix. I didn't have to explain he knew exactly what was talking about but im out of warranty. This should be fixed by mercedes. Its absurd and needs to be brought to attention for our safety.