Third brake light....
 

...how the hell does the housing open to replace it?

There are clips holding it on the left side and the right side, BE VERY CAREFUL when you take it off.. 99.99 percent of them break when you try and take it off because the plastic clips are so dried out.

Heck! The WHOLE housing dries out!! I sourced others because of how brittle the original was...came apart in several pieces. I'm on my third brake light housing now!

The replacements were just as brittle...right now I have clear packing tape holding everything together! :rolleyes:

Well, I guess I fell into the 99.99 percent category. Both my clips broke. It seems to stay together without them though.

yeah it happened to me with my last 300E and my friends and many people on here. It's all good though lol...

It might keep falling off every time you brake so if you want, you can put a little bit of tape where the clips held onto the housing and it'll be reinforced and won't budge.

haha I hear ya.. the packing tape does work wonders!! Makes me wonder though how much that part would be from Mercedes?

Mine's already cracked. I can assume that somebody before me tried to open it to change a bulb.

I'm also curious how much a new one is (or whether you can get one). Also, if it's just as brittle, is that gradual from sitting in the sun, or from the type of plastic they use?

I haven't been able to get new ones...so I purchase "decent" ones from others who are parting out similar models.

Unfortunately, those have had as much exposure to the heat as my original, so they tend to be as brittle.

Seems odd that this is a Mercedes part, as it's the only shoddy component I have run into so far...I might consider swapping out with some aftermarket alternative if I can get it to work with the "bulb out" indicator.

The cover on my W210 also shattered when I removed it, man that thing was brittle! Has anyone priced a new one at the dealer? I'm currently driving without the cover, and it looks totally ghetto with the wires hanging off. There has to be a better way...

Tabs broke on my W124 when installing new bulb. I put a small dab of shoe goo where the tabs were to hold it together till I can find unbroken light and now I find out they all break. GRRR!

Mine wasn't totally brittle. I guess I got off lucky as only the ends of the tabs broke off.

Fix for rear brake light housing - broken side tabs
 

I got tired of tape/glue failing to hold the housing on. And when the housing is off, and you brake, the light shines in rear view mirror and is annoying/safety hazard.

So...I fashioned side tabs out of metal - @ 1 in long by 1/2 in wide. Drilled 2 holes in each tab - near the end. Using small machine screws, I attached the housing cover to the base. The tabs fit into the indent where the tabs normally go on the base.

Barely noticeable. Keeps the housing on tight, free of rattles.

check with your dealer on those arts. I wanted to get one from the dealer some time ago for my c280 as the heat from the bulb melted the lense but you couldnt just buy the lense. They are color coded per the color interior at least on the c class and if I remember right were over $100.