Rear passenger tail lights in my 2008 c300 were dim and got dash warning light to check rear lights. A couple bulbs were out so when I looked at the assembly and pushed on it the lights that were out lit up temporarily and I noticed the cable harness that plugs in it was corroded on the end and the brown wire at the end was exposed (melted?) and the black plug looks warped (melted?), looks like a common problem based on forum reports.
2008 Mercedes Benz C300 lights complaints
Page 3 of 5: complaints 41 to 70 of 108, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Right side taillight wiring melting, lights not working.
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.
Received warning on dash to check rear driver tail light. Took the car in to the dealer to get it checked out and was told the wires from the tail light were melted from the electrical panel and my car is running on back up lights. The only solution is to replace the entire electrical back light system since the melted wires would eventually damage the entire brake light system. The cost to repair $900. Car smells burnt inside, and in the trunk. I am afraid of a fire, and getting rear ended if my brake lights stop working.
Rear tail lamps intermittently inoperative/dim. Intermittent burning smell in trunk area near lamp housing.
As I was stopped at a red light both my wife, kids and myself smelled a strong odor in the cabin of the car. It was worse towards the back seat where the kids were. I immediately pulled over and got the family out of the vehicle (mercedes benz c300 2008) and saw that grey smoke was coming out of the trunk of the car. When I opened the trunk I noticed that the smoke was coming out of the right tail light. The cable that feeds electricity to that panel shorted and caused a small fire which turned off the minute I shut the vehicle down. I then tried pulling out the cable from the light panel and it did not budge because it melted and fused together with the light panel.
Right & left rear tail light assembly wiring harness plugs have melted where attached to the tail lamp assembly, causing brake, turn signal, hazard, and running lamps to not work intermittently. Brown wires get too hot to touch. Safety issue with electrical connectors.
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.
The tail light and blinkers out and I am getting several error msgs. On my dashboard stating there is an issue with my lights. I cannot drive my care without lights are it is a safety issue and legal issue. *tr I took my car into walters mercedes benz in riverside last week. I was told that the issue is caused by a melted electrical connector . I called mercedes benz USA corporate and was assigned to [xxx](regional case mgr). He told me they are not aware of this issue and due to the fact that my car is out of warranty I will have to pay for the $500 repair. Needless to say, I am not happy with paying for a replacement of a factory defected part. I would greatly appreciate it if you look into this issue. Thank you. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).
Check right taillight indicator appeared on dash. Rear right lights out. Inspected to find all bulbs were operational but wire had overheated and melted into housing.
Right tail light connector, brown wire has melted and has affected the brightness of the bulbs on the right side of the car.
From reviewing the site, this is the same complaint you have already had about these cars. It appears to already be under investigation. In our case, a number of the rear lights, including lights on both sides of the car, went out at once. This means turn signal lights, brake lights, side lights. The first clue was that multiple warnings came up on the dash. We stopped car, and on inspection, several lights also had stopped functioning. The was no obvious visual or olfactory sign of overheating or fire.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 mercedes benz c300. The contact stated that both rear tail lights malfunctioned and a burning odor was emitted. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer for diagnostic testing. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure and current mileage was 200,000.
Rear light housing assembly wiring smelling like smoke, open the truck and plastics housing was melting and very hot.
The brown wire in the right hand brake light melted through the wire harness and started to melt the light board. This is a fire waiting to happen, I smelt burning in my car when I was driving. The break light no longer works.
Multiple system warnings on dash saying to check right rear tail light, brake lamp, and signal light. Upon replacement of light bulbs, noticed that the ground wire cable covering was melted as well as burns and melting on the bulb housing unit. All right rear lights worked intermittently or dimly and now don't work at all. Now, there are system warnings for left rear lights as well. This is a safety issue as a fire can start in the trunk of the car as well as having rear lights working intermittently or not at all with no warning. Vehicle is no longer under warranty and authorized dealership won't repair at no charge unless there is a recall. This is a known issue with these vehicles, by both the manufacturer and authorized dealers. Recall should be issued.
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).
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 mercedes benz c300. The contact stated the rear driver and passenger's side fog lights would not illuminate because the sockets had melted. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 58,000.
Rear lights circuit board burnt and wire for lights melted.
Right rear lights went out on car, started smelling melting plastic. Stopped and checked the plug that went into the lights has melted.
Right read brake lamp harness melted causing malfunction of the brake lamps. Warning indicator in the dash. I am worried about a fire. Also low beam headlamps stopped working for no reason. Checked the bulbs and they are both good.
My right rear tail lamp was malfunctioning. The directional was blinking rapidly. The malfunction required the removal and replacement of the right rear bulb carrier. The car was no longer on warranty and I had to pay for the repair out of pocket. I understand that tail light failure is a common problem with this model and year, usually caused by wiring defect. The dealer never informed me that this was a common occurrence in this model. I had similar problems prior to the malfunction however they were covered under warranty.
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.
Connector (harness) is melted and shorted the circuit board for tail lights and is now inop.
Was pulled over by police who informed my taillight was not working on my passenger side. When pulled over, taillight illuminated but very dimly. Issue has been going on since roughly june 2012 when purchased. Was not disclosed that this was a possible issue at time of purchase and did not discover the issue with melting of wiring harness to light panel until checked 11-8-13. Took to local dealer who sold me the vehicle, and mercedes is planning on charging me $305 for repair (parts roughly $50). This is unacceptable for a known deficiency with the vehicle. This should be a recall item without a doubt. I will be mentioning this ongoing investigation to the mercedes service people (as if they don't already know) and attempt to get them to fix at no cost.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 mercedes c300. The contact stated that the passenger's side tail light and turn signal failed to illuminate. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnosis. The contact was unaware of the necessary repair . The vehicle was repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 45,000.
Rear tail lights malfunction. Ground wire in the tail light harness gets very hot to the point of melting the insulator on the wire and rear light connector (which provides power to the tail light). This resulted in the rear tail lights to stop working. This is a safety hazard and needs to be addressed. Mercedes will replace the parts if the car is under warranty but will not cover the repair out of warranty. Furthermore, the replacement parts are the same and this issue will reoccur.
2008 mercedes benz c300 right rear lighting failures in the brake and/or turn signals of my vehicle. The failure can cause the lights to dim and or cause the lights to not illuminate at all.
My right passenger side tail light connector board is melted. All my lights stopped working at once and dealer stated its a faulty connector board that needs to be replaced. Same issue so many others have reported. Mb needs to recall this issue bc it makes no since I have to pay 400.00 for a well known issue that is hazardous which the dealer advised.
As reported multiple times by others, tail light connector is insufficient to handle the heat emanating from the ground (brown) wire. Connector burns. Cable covering melts. All tail lights (including brakes, turning and reverse) stop functioning. - safety issue- (not to mention gas tank sitting not too far from source of fire) preliminary symptoms: random warning messages in dashboard about lights malfunctioning. One tail light dimmer than the other. Repairs required: new connector/new pins plus regrounding to avoid certain recurrence authorized dealers know well about the problem. "recall should be issued" "recall is surely coming" but will not replace if out of warranty references: prior report chain the federal safety agency id number: 10499828 pictures and multiple information http://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w204/465331-tail-light-connector-melted.html.
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