Help, how to replace license plate bulbs on W210 ?
 

1997 E300

Hello all,

Bulbs over the rear tag are dead. I remove the cover with three phillips, but the lenses won't pop out for me to get at the bulbs. I don't want to break them, can anyone offer advice for removal?

Thanks in advance.

It's a poor design. The plastic pieces have two ears, and the ears are suppose to compress as you try to pull it out, but I found the ears on mine were tweaked enough that they would bend the wrong way and break when force is applied. I was able to use a Harbor Freight bent dental pick type tool to pursuade one of the ears to pull in enough to pop that side out.

Remove the trunk lid liner and get at them from the inside.

Thank Mark.

Matt, That is what I was afraid of, the liner seem to be help up under the lid latch as well. I just figured that complete dis-assembly of the trunk lid was not the best way to go.

Perhaps this is another moment in engineering brilliance where it "seemed like a good idea at the time".

That trunk liner comes out in ten minutes, tops.