My 2004 Mercedes Benz E320 aka The Benz

[87gtVIC]

Third Brake Light Replaced

Took care of the third brake light this morning.

This is how it looked like before:



Couple LEDS are out.

And after:



Was able to swap the LED strip out of the replacement (NON Mercedes Benz) unit into the OEM housing. This enabled me to keep the factory third brake light lens and not be forced to swap in the aftermarket one. Will keep it as a spare of course.

Factory benz replacement would have cost me ~165 bucks. The TYC brand one only ran me ~72. I was happy I was able to reuse the factory lens. I did not feel like getting it out, cleaning up the adhesive and installing the new lens.

[Arquemann]

Factory benz replacement would have cost me ~165 bucks. The TYC brand one only ran me ~72.

OEM stuff is expensive as shit when it comes to german cars. Probably comes as no surprise but especially german cars really should be fixed with quality parts. But not going to the stealership doesn't have to mean cheap crap. Something like the brake light is fine as is, but good choice on the Lemförder ball joints, it's a real OEM brand for alot of manufacturers, and those ball joints should last a long time hopefully.

[87gtVIC]

OEM stuff is expensive as shit when it comes to german cars. Probably comes as no surprise but especially german cars really should be fixed with quality parts. But not going to the stealership doesn't have to mean cheap crap. Something like the brake light is fine as is, but good choice on the Lemförder ball joints, it's a real OEM brand for alot of manufacturers, and those ball joints should last a long time hopefully.

Yes. I purchase stuff through https://www.autohausaz.com/

They seem to only offer oem or close to it on that site.

[87gtVIC]

Snapped a quick pic while at Aqueduct Racetrack.

[P72Ford]

This thing looks to be incredibly clean underneath! Always a NY car?

[87gtVIC]

Yes. Its whole life. The car grew up (lol) one town away from me. Fathers childhood friends parents purchased it new in 04. It was garaged the first ten years of it life (2004 to 2014) and then it had to live outside since.

[87gtVIC]

Gave her a bath this morning.

[87gtVIC]

Swapped the winter wheels and tires on the old gal and washed, clayed and one stepped the paint.

[87gtVIC]

http://www.grandmarq.net/vb/showthread.php?50716-My-2004-Mercedes-Benz-E320-aka-The-Benz&p=858607&viewfull=1#post858607

Well that was short lived. Crapped out after 3 months. lol

Decided to purchase the one I should have from the beginning....Oh well...

Swapped in the new mercedes lens too. Had a nice foam gasket and should help prevent water from getting in and ruining the LEDS.







BTW the aftermarket lamp I purchased had a chip fall off of it.

I then had a wire (ground) break in the harness leading up the trunk hinge. It took out the trunk popper, license plate lights, third brake light, and interior trunk light.

It was a common issue when researching it and I found the problem right away:



Broken brown ground wire snagged by the trunk hinge springs...



All the panel I had to remove to access the broken wire:



Happy this fix was free and only involved some solder and heat shrink and harness tape.

[jaywish]

I sometimes use mbonlineparts.com for genuine. Like Tasca for ford.

[gadget73]

why does your plate look like a melting ice cream cake?

[87gtVIC]

why does your plate look like a melting ice cream cake?

Total delamination/metal corrosion of the plate.

[sly]

Quality government production piece?

[87gtVIC]

Yeah. And they wont replace it for free. I either have to pay to have the same plate number, or get a new plate and pay for registration fee...all for their mess up. Plenty of people running around with ruined plates that started with f or g.

[jaywish]

Yes that plate is two plate types ago.

NY has 3 plate styles active these days. The current one is crappy IMnsHO. It was literally specified by the toll plate reader company so that general vehicle tracking and toll charges could be better enforced by computers.

And they are so darn interested in collecting taxes that they do make you pay extra to update the plate.

I am going to hang onto my old ones as long as they let me. Supposedly your annual safety/emissions inspection is required to flag beat-up plates so replacement can be ordered. I am not 100% sure about that. But I expect them to order us to replace the blue and white series soon. I think that style looks good on the Marauder but I like the gold the best.

David is right there are many plates on the road that are even worse than his.