I was following an Infiniti G35 Sedan at about 90mph & when he hit his brakes his LED tail lights including the third brake light flashed a couple of times before lighting up. Is this something that can be retrofitted to MB Brake lights?

 

This is a safety feature to warm a the car behine the infinite, they are making a emergency stop. I saw an infinite the other day with the rear lights blink and they stay red, kinda cool feature. Only can do with LED'S. My X wifes, Hyundai Xg350 has this feature also. Another interesting safety feature in Europe is the friendly front end if you hit a passenger, it has a collaspe zone. Supposedly injuries are decrease, but only works at low speed, if you hit some poor soul at 90MPH there is little chance of survival, even if the front end is made out of foam. Also, most Euro cars ar equipped with city lights, so pedestrians can see you. I had a set on my C280 for awhile, but not the proper light switch, so I wired them to the parking lights, didn't like the look so I switch to DRL's which will work on USA spec cars, you have to change a module under the dash, whicxh switch on the headlights when you start the car, but with less wattage then normal and turn off when you turn the car off. My sons friend has a Toyato and you have of choice of DRL or no DRL via a stick on the right side of the steering wheel column. Also Infinite I think have headlights that turn when the car does. A feature used in the Tucker in the late 40's. But Mr Preston Tucker used a center headlight that turned, and the two regular lights were stationary. Interesting how thinks come full circle.

 

Thanks for the info. I kinda like those flashing lights though.

 

Though the OEM flashing lights are controlled by the computer in the front, a retro unit can be designed cheaply and be housed in the high-mounted stop light.

It does not matter you have LED lights or legacy tunsten lights, what you need is a RC circuit like the ones used in older cars for turn signal. Changing the size of the capacitor or the resistor changes the speed of blinking. However if you want to get fancy...like blink a few seconds and then remain lit....then you need 555 IC Timer and perhaps a few CMOS chips. Still, this is a basic circuit design that any EE student can draw in the sleep. Cost is less than $20 for parts. Labor for design should be practically free.

 

I like them myself and also the LED look, I tried to wire them to my 99 C280, first just using the LED bulb, your could barely see them. then I bought some transformer, I think they are called and you had to wire them to the cars system. These were supposed to be for the stop lights. Since the stop lights on most post war Mercedes cars the stop light with the CORRECT bulb are part of the cruise system. Some cruise controls will not work with after market bulbs.I change to the OEM fastoon bulbs back to Mercedes brand and the cruise control worked. the previous owner had bought some fastoon bulbs at auto zone. Sylvania has the correct ones, and Phillips, but use a 1156 or whatever the singel filament is and your cruise might not work. Also, I bought some Sylvania bulbs for the turn signel, silver plated and bright. The clicker module stopped working, replaced the stock bulbs and the clicker started working again. Very priority systems in thse wonderful cars.

 

I have some experience on dealing with the dead bulbs on MB.

On our newer Benzes, the computer senses the Amperage that flows through a light bulb when that bulb is activated. If the amperage is not in a predefined acceptable range, LIGHT BULB WARNING light will come on. So, either a wrong bulb or a dead one will trigger the warning.

So, if we are installing a retro unit that flashes, we have to make sure it draws the same amperage as the legacy filament bulb. Otherwise, the computer is gonna bitch. Perhaps, like C280Wizard suggests, the cruise control might refuse to engage.

I guess...one day in the future, if your date is not hot enough, your Benz might refuse to start. Then, a warning light will come on: "Replace Date."

Hmmmmm......!