Hi all... I got a CLK350 , 2006 with 11 K Miles. today my trunk brake light fell off! No accidents, no nothing. I closed the trunk first thing this morning after putting my office bag in trunk and closed it (not a damaging thud, but still..), and as I was sitting in my seat, I heard a sound and was amazed to see my tail brake light right above the Number plate FELL OFF!. Inspected it to realize that thered reflective face of it broke clean off of the reflective dome olding the light bulb! Gee MB, you need to have better parts suppliers! I guess theearly 2000s parts quality issues haven't gone out of the system yet....

Anyone else had similar problem?

 

Happened to me too with my 07 CLK 350. Came out to my driveway one morning and the lens was on the ground. I thought it was possibly vandalism, like someone tried to enter through the trunk. But after inspecting it, it appeared to have just fallen off in the night. I think its a somewhat common problem. Maybe the glue used to seal it some how weakens the plastic -- i'm not sure. My brother is a service adviser and has seen it a number of times. I had it repaired under warranty... no questions asked. No problems since, well except for "irregular" wear on the front tires. I blame the soft suspension and guey Michelins.

 

mb forgot to take into account how we like to slam the trunk, the trunk flexs and overtime it will crack the lens and eventually fall in. kinda a badflex spot but where else would it look good on the trunk.

 

apperntly that should be done with out any charge by mb

 

I have a 2005 CLK320 which has also had this problem, they first replaced the boot brake light in 2006 when it became cracked. Following this replacement now in 2008 I closed the passenger door to hear a sound from the boot of the car to find that the cover to this light had fallen off onto the floor and the rest of the light unit was inside the boot. Both times it has been during the winter month’s following frost so not sure if water is getting round the lens edges and then freezing? But since the first replacement I have been very careful when closing the boot thinking that it was something I had done by slamming it down too hard, but it looks as if there is a design fault here. Also the first replacement was done under warranty but the second one I have had to pay for, I sill have not finished talkingto MB about the issue yet. Anyone else had any experience of MB replacing this part FOC?

 

I have a 2002 CLK 320 (first of the 209s) and I am now going to buy my this light for the third time! The design changed between the original and the second one which told me that there was a design flaw. I have tried gluing the lense back on before, but that only lasts for a few weeks (there is enough lense surround to use) so this is going to become a regular cost as far as I am concerned and the Garage deems this to be wear and tear so they won't cover it. I have owned the car from new and apart from the Garage, I am the only one to drive it.

BTW - The metal bracket of the back of the lamp unit is very heavy for what it needs to do and I must admit I am not surprised by the poor quality of this.

 

Just spoke to my local Mercedes dealer and they said that the current parthas a new model number for this year, which he said means that it has been modified for 2008.

Why change a part that has no issues!?!?!?!?!?!?!?[sm=bustedsign.gif]

 

Mine just happened at 53K miles. The dealer said it would be $150 for the part, $100 for the labor. I pulled it out to see if I could fix it, it does appear that the very heavy bracket is not anchored in the trunk, but uses the plastic on the lens cover to hold it in place. After a while, the plastic gives way. I don't think it will hold if I repair it, might just be out $250. I love when the service manager says, "Of, this happens all the time to this model... that will be $250 to fix."

 

Mine has fallen off literally 5 minutes ago 30,000 miles. 2007 so should be warranty.

 

mine fell off last night. This is the second time. The first was replaced under warranty. Given that i am out of warranty i'll find out if they warrant the warranty!?