Looking for a good fix for the center brake light, short of hard wiring it. I've done the sanding/filing of the contacts thing, but after a short period of time I find myself doing it again. On the same subject has anyone tried using an LED bulb? Thanks
I was under the impression that the center brake lamp would not display lamp defective msg. I know E class upgraded his brake light to a 00+ led and didnt have any problems.
The LED strip came in 1998 (late). If you change your rear shelf to the later model you will not have a problem.
However if you just want to add LED bulbs to your older 3rd brake light you will definitly get a "bulb faliure/defective" message. you will have to add a resistor to the wiring so that the urrent draw remains stable after changing to the more efficiend LED bulb.
Instead of constantly sanding the contacts try adding some conductive grease to the points ( i think copper grease works). Ask your local hardware store for the grease which is used in home dimmer switches.
Yeah I agree I would not put just a led bulb but rather a led strip! I have been looking for a strip to retro into my car since 99+ shelf is so hard to come by.
On this subject, MineS a '98 E300td.
cENTRE bRAKE LIGHT HASNT WORKED SINCE i GOT THE CAR 6 MONTHS AGO(sorry caps lock)but it doesnt bring up a malfunction light. The bulb looks OK. Is this simply likely to be a contacts problem?
Thanks for the info. As for the defective lamp message. I have received that on a side lamp (replaced), but never for the ctr brake lamp. I like the idea of the contact gease. Like to keep it simple until weather is better.
i have the same problem
changed the bulb and took the whole copmartment out tested ok
but there is no power to the poles as there is no malfunction signal comming up
any suggestion on where is the other end of the cable is where else should i check
re centre break light 
Linear Mode
