Taillight bulb for W202 -- source?
 

Hello, all,

The accusing little "exterior bulb out" light came on this morning, and I find it's the tail/parking/standing lamp on the driver's side that seems to be out. (In the owner's manual, it's No. 4 on the diagram.)

Can I just get a 5W/4cp bulb from Autozone, or must I go to the dealer for a bulb with the correct resistance? I ask because on the W126, if you put in the wrong tail bulb, it could blow out your cruise control. Or has MB fixed that annoying problem?

Thanks,
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That old wives tale was never a problem. The only problem is that if ALL the brakelights are burned out, the cruise may not come on all the time. There is a several thousand ohms resistor in the cruise control circuit board on the brake lamp input to protect the cruise circuit from any damage. I suspect that this wild tale started when someone's cruise failed due to poor solder joints and they found a bad brake lamp around the same time...
I would make sure to get the proper wattage lamp however, due to issues of heat and brightness within the taillamp housing.

Paul, Pep Boys sells Sylvania/Osram European bulbs in Southeastern PA ... not sure about New Orleans. It's important to get the exact wattage bulb listed in the Owner's Manual.

You should be able to get one from any on line parts vendor. The Mercedes part number is 072601 012701.

In the back of the manual is a list of all the bulb types. You will find them at your local parts store. They will look just like the ones for the American cars except the price is double.

Mike

Inoperative cruise control due to blown rear brake lights are not unique to MB. Both rear brake lights blew in my dad's '02 Olds Silo. Only the 3rd brake light was working. Cruise, & traction control both inoperative. Upon replacing the blown bulbs cruise & traction control back to normal.

I think BOTH rear lights have to be blown for this to happen.

Sylvania green package are the lower wattage blubs. Most stores carry these.

Update
 

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Thanks to all. I pulled the bulb yesterday, and it is smaller and shaped differently from the other, 21W bulbs in the housing -- and it does say "Osram/Sylvania" on it. I'll check with Autozone and Pepboys and let you know what they have down here.
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Update, Part II
 

I stopped off at Autozone last Thursday. None of the Sylvania bulbs looked correct. There was another brand, but I couldn't find what wattage they were. Plus, you kinda lose confidence when the bulb is stamped "China" and the title on the card is misspelled (I don't need any "Dome/Couresy" lights, thanks).

PepBoys had the Osram/Sylvania with the green cards, properly labeled. The 5007 is the 5-watt; the 5008 is the 10-watt. I paid $2.99 plus tax for a pair of 5007 bulbs. Everything seems squared away.

Thanks for all the input!
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