So, recently I did the brake light mod on my 85 300d to hopefully keep me from being rear-ended in Atlanta traffic. I decided to take it one step further and, with a turn signal relay and a little wire I had lying around, rigged it up so that the extra set of brake lights flashe when the brakes are applied. It only took about 30 minutes even with me soldering all of the connections and figuring the best ways to run the wires. If there is interest I can post photos and a How-to.
ben

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1985 300D 170k

Do you want them to flash all the time? There is a setup you can get for morotcycles that cycle the lights for a few seconds then goes solid.

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RRGrassi


70's Southern Pacific #5608 Fairmont A-4 MOW car

13 VW JSW 2.0 TDI 193K, Tuned with DPF and EGR Delete.

91 W124 300D Turbo replaced, Pressure W/G actuator installed. 210K

90 Dodge D250 5.9 Cummins/5 speed. 400K

Anywhere in a 100 mile radius of the State Capital you want the brake lights
to "Strobe" continuously when applied.

Say you're stopped at a light and you're the only car at the light(your pulsing
relay has stopped flicking the brake lights after 15 seconds).Some soccer Mom
talking on two cell phones,while putting on makeup rear ends you doing 45 MPh
because she cannot SEE your car(much less the brake lights).
Please substitute a male physician,checking the faxes on his right seat mounted
fax machine,whilst prescribing Viagra on the cell phone to one of his 95 year old
patients,for The Soccer Mom in the interests of PC.

Atlanta I Love IT!

Traffic at a total gridlock,Some Human on a rice rocket,in the emergency lane
doing triple digits south on I-75,'cause he's late for class at Kennesaw State.

A turn signal flasher is probably much too slow and will look like hazard lamps. I would find something to flash them faster, like a modulator for a motorcycle tail lamp or headlamp. It's probably not legal to flash your lamps this way, but somehow I very much doubt that you would get a ticket.

It is a little slow and looks similar to hazard lamps, but combined with the regular brake lights I think it draws more attention than not flashing. It was also free since I had the parts lying around. I've had a set of hyper lites flashing led brake lights on my bike for about 6 years/20,000 miles and have never been been questioned about them.

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1985 300D 170k

Motorcycles have completely different requirements. For example, it is legal to run a 100W high-beam in your bike, but it is not legal in your car. Also, there was a time that Lexan non-sealed-beams were not legal for cars, but they have always been legal for bikes.

so that is why my silverstar bulbs say for motorcycle use only


oh well ^_^

I remember reading that Mercedes had to do a lot of stuff to get the flashing brake lights for the new S-class cleared for US models

I find those non-stop flashing lights to be extremely annoying. If someone wants to install one of those it should be mandatory that they also install one on the hood of their car and that it flashes in the driver's face along with the one in back. If you are really that concerned with distracted drivers and are willing to live with the annoyance you foist on all the attentive drivers, then go ahead.

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1984 300TD

I would much rather annoy drivers and not get rear-ended. What annoys me is people yaking on their phones while driving... if people hung up while driving I probably wouldn't need to have flashing brake lights. Besides, I've never been annoyed by someone else's flashing brake lights.

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1985 300D 170k

a third brake light would be very useful. I think there is are provisions for mounting one on the parcel shelf sheet metal.

I completely agree.

Do not forget that flashing lights attract drunk drivers like a moth to a flame...either way, you will get rear ended.

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RRGrassi


70's Southern Pacific #5608 Fairmont A-4 MOW car

13 VW JSW 2.0 TDI 193K, Tuned with DPF and EGR Delete.

91 W124 300D Turbo replaced, Pressure W/G actuator installed. 210K

90 Dodge D250 5.9 Cummins/5 speed. 400K

Flashing brake lights distract and irritate the heck out of me when I'm following them... for one thing, it makes me think the driver is just tapping the brakes to drop a little speed and I end up getting closer to them than I would have anyway because I can't tell that they're actually stopping.

Not to mention how irritating all these new bright LED lights are when you're driving behind them at night.

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~Michael S.~
Past cars:

1986 300SDL
1987 300SDL
1982 240D
1982 300SD


Current:

1987 300SDL

If I saw flashing tale lights on a older Mercedes I would probably ask the person if they needed any help & is everything ok?

I agree! Even the ones that are supposed to flash a few times and then stop end up effectively flashing 100% of the time as folks are always on and off the brakes in traffic.

I suppose you don't care about being a victim of road rage? Flashing brake lights annoy the heck out of me!