I've been searching various threads on W211 front marker bulb replacement. Can anyone who's done this on an 05/06 CDI point me in the right direction?

Is the preferred way to pull back the fender liner? If so, how do I do that without removing it altogether?

If I prefer, can I simply remove the front encapsulation panel to access the bulb socket that way?

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14 E250 Bluetec 4Matic "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 160k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 180k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver on Tan, 145k mi, wastegate conversion, ALDA delete

19 Honda CR-V EX 79k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

Post #5 from
https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w211/388124-front-side-marker-lamps-out.html


You can pry at the corner to pop them out, but be forewarned that the plastic will be weakened and eventually break if you pop them out often.

The proper way (not necessarily the easiest) is to turn the wheel all the way to one side or other, then remove the splash guard in the wheelwell to get access to the bulbs. (Another way is to remove the splash guard underneath that goes across the front behind the bumper, but that requires removing ~8 bolts.)

From there, you can twist the socket out of the housing and swap bulbs.

Benzworld:

How do I get to the silly front marker light bulbs??? - Mercedes-Benz Forum

All of them:

https://www.google.com/search?q=accessing+the+front+marker+bulb+socket+on+a+2005+CDI+%3F&oq=accessing+the+front+marker+bulb+socket+on+a+2005+CDI+%3F&aqs=chrome..69i57.32503j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Plus the You Tube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3vHM7DL0m0

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'84 300SD sold
124.128

Thanks....probably the easiest thing is just to wait until I have that bottom panel off for some other reason.

I had seen that video...the CDI splash panel is somewhat different, though same basic idea.

__________________
14 E250 Bluetec 4Matic "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 160k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 180k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver on Tan, 145k mi, wastegate conversion, ALDA delete

19 Honda CR-V EX 79k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

The trim piece has dogs on it to keep it place in the front. The dogs are positioned so that the trim piece must move to the side of the vehicle to be released. Since the trim piece wraps around the side, basically you need to gently pry the trim piece right where the marker light is to release the initial catch, then the whole piece slides to the side and is free.

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Mark in MA
05 MB E320CDI 402k Granite Grey Metallic
05 MB E320CDI 267k Black
05 MB E320CDI 232k White
05 MB E320CDI 209k Tectite Grey
99 Dodge 2500 Cummins 5sp 148k
62 Jeep CJ-6 120k

When the front marker bulb went out on my W164 (which shares a lot of detail bits with the W211) I had to remove the entire front bumper cover and remove the headlight assemblies to change the bulbs...

W164 front light bulb replacement

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The OM 642/722.9 powered family
Still going strong
2014 ML350 Bluetec (wife's DD)
2013 E350 Bluetec (my DD)

both my kids cars went to junkyard in 2023
2008 ML320 CDI (Older son’s DD) fatal transmission failure, water soaked/fried rear SAM, numerous other issues, just too far gone to save (165k miles)
2008 E320 Bluetec (Younger son's DD) injector failed open and diluted oil with diesel, spun main bearings (240k miles)

1998 E300DT sold to TimFreeh
1987 300TD sold to vstech

Wow. #maliciousgermanengineers

__________________
14 E250 Bluetec 4Matic "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 160k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 180k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver on Tan, 145k mi, wastegate conversion, ALDA delete

19 Honda CR-V EX 79k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

I got to the drivers side on mine from under the car in the front- not the wheel well -and removing the bulb holder with one hand. Changed it out in like 5 minutes. Most of the time was figuring out how to remove the bulb holder/which hand to use and how to hold it.

Got a set of lens removal tools...was able to access from outside without damaging anything. I often break plastic stuff, so I was pleased.

__________________
14 E250 Bluetec 4Matic "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 160k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 180k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver on Tan, 145k mi, wastegate conversion, ALDA delete

19 Honda CR-V EX 79k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife