Tail Light Switch problems of the 2008 Mercedes Benz C300 - part 1

My 2008 C300 had the right tail break light + rear right turn signal light error message these few days, I replace the light bulbs which did not fix the problem then I found the brown wire at connector melt badly, I google this issue on the web and found all 2008/2009 mercedez c class has the same issue, can we get a recall to fix it on this ?.

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.

I was driving around 8pm here in canada when I was pulled over for a flickering driver-side tail light. The officer warned me that it was a safety issue. My wife told me after driving beside me that the light flickers intermittently, and when it is not, the parking light itself is much dimmer than the passenger-side tail light. I've tried replacing the bulbs, but nothing changes. After doing research online, I've found that this is a common issue with 2008-2011 mercedes c-class models. I've found that the electrical wiring for the tailights is not sufficiently grounded, causing melting of the wiring harness, and in some cases, causing a fire. I've called mercedes dealerships here in vancouver, but because the car is no longer under warranty, it is an expensive issue to fix. It is also a safety hazard to myself and other drivers when driving at night.

Tail light connectors overheat and melted the light holder assembly. Fire risk.

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.

Right tail light warning signals appeared, upon examining the tail light connection it appeared burned and melted. All right tail lights were out including signaling.

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.

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.

Good afternoon. I currently own a 2008 C300. I noticed my rear tail light warning indicator came on about a month ago. Upon checking the bulb, I noticed the jacket on one of the wires going into the connector was frayed. I put some electrical tape on it hoping that would solve the issue. 1 month later, I am now having the same issue again. I went to check on the light and noticed the fraying was growing worse and the wire was so hot I was concerned it was going to start a fire. I have since removed the bulb to prevent a fire from starting. In doing some research, it seems as though this is a common issue on this vehicle. Being that this is a pretty significant safety hazard and could potentially lead to a fire and even the loss of life, I am curious how and why there is not a recall on this defect. If you have any information on this issue please let me know. Thank you.

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.

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.

Right tail light connector, brown wire has melted and has affected the brightness of the bulbs on the right side of the car.

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.

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.

The contact owns a 2008 Mercedes Benz C300. The contact stated that the passenger side tail light failed to illuminate. The contact stated that the bulbs were changed on several occasions. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the brake wiring harness and the lighting board needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 54,000 and the current mileage was 70,000.

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.

Connector (harness) is melted and shorted the circuit board for tail lights and is now inop.

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.

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. . Read more...

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 didnt 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.

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 $500-$600 to fix. I didnt 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.

The left tail light connector and the plate connection melted. Reported the issue to mb dealer and mb cac but they refused to accept it as a design flaw. The explanation given to me was it melted because of heat of light bulbs. The same flaw has been reported on many forum and I think it is a recall item.

Burning smell and melted connectors on rear tail light assembly.

Left tail light out. Found melted negative connector on plug to left tail light. I repaired this by connecting to a different point on the tail light assembly. Found today, 14. Aug 2013 that reverse light will not work. Investigated and found no power to the plug for the reverse light bulb,which has been checked by voltmeter.

Right rear tail light dash monitor indicated a problem. Found the right rear tail light circuit board ground wire burned and smoking. Plastic connector and lighting circuit board melting. Appears that the electrical current draw is greater than the ground wire can handle. Taken to dealer for fix. No response as yet, but based on other online reports, it appears unlikely they will support a warranty claim fix.

The contact owns a 2008 Mercedes Benz C300. The contact stated that after starting the vehicle, the warning panel illuminated referencing the rear passenger side brake light. The failure recurred on several separate occasions. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnosis where it was stated that the passenger's side tail light assembly needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired and the manufacturer was notified. The approximate failure mileage was 93,000.

I received messages on my dash stating to check rear left turn signal and rear left tail/brake lamps. Upon pulling out the rear left (driver's side) tail light assembly, which holds all the bulbs, I noticed that the tail lights would flash when I jiggled the wires but not stay on. I pulled the harness plug from the socket on the assembly holding the bulbs and noticed a blackened burnt spot and melted plastic on the plug itself, and also a burnt spot inside the plug socket which almost burned through the other side of the tail light assembly unit. I have pictures of both the tail light assembly unit plug and socket showing the burned markings. This is a very concerning electrical safety hazard that could lead to a fire. This issue seems to be similar to 2 other incidents reported in the NHTSA database for the Mercedes Benz C300 2008 model year (incident #s 10475771 and 10466181).

Driver information system showed that the rear right brake lamp was out. While checking the rear tail lamps for operation, all of the lamps on the passenger tail lamp were inoperative (brake, turn, reverse, parking). Under further examination of the problem, the driver side lights appeared to be dim and flickering. Both the driver and passenger rear tail light connectors were found melted and emitting smoke at the connectors brown wire. The following day, the car was taken to the closest Mercedes Benz dealership (Mercedes Benz of arlington). The dealership had quoted $500 for the replacement of the rear tail lamp bulb holders and connectors. A repair was made by an independent shop using dealer bought parts, but we fear that the problem may return.

The tail lights of my Mercedes Benz C300 2008 stopped working. When I went to my local mercedes dealer to see what is wrong with the car, the service person at the dealership immediately told me that they were fully aware what was wrong with the car without even looking at it. They said that the plastic covers of both real tail lights along with the wire harness had melted. In fact, the service person put his hand back there and he got burned because the entire wire assembly was melted and was short. I asked them to repair the car for free because this is a defect since the wire harness assemblies and plastic tail cover lights should not melt under any conditions. This is both a collision hazard and a fire hazard and it is very common in this model. Mercedes benz USA refused to fix the vehicle for free as they have an obligation to do since this is a defect. Please issue a recall for the plastic cover and wire harness of the real tail lights of this vehicle because this situation is dangerous both in terms of a fire hazard and in terms of a collision hazard.

Ground wire to rear right tail light melted at the connection point to the tail light board and harness. Smelled smoke and found damage shortly after.

Started the vehicle and there was a failure for head lights, tail lights and turn signals. I took the vehicle in to repair the bulbs and they told me the control board failed, melted and they replaced it. I was later told this is a common issue with the 2008 C300.

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. 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 justin (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.

Right rear tail light connector smoked and melted connector. Circuit board where all the lights are contained melted with hole in the middle of the board. Inspected left side circuit board and found hole starting to burn but no connector damage was present at that time. Replaced left side board as a precaution and have monitored it since. Replaced connector and wiring on the right rear side along with the circuit board. I saved both boards in case they would like to be examined for future reference.