MB probably does not consider changing light bulbs an owner task for the W211. I recently removed the left side taillight. It's not difficult, but, this project will probably take you an hour or so.

You have to remove the plastic trim along the rear edge of the trunk opening. It is held in with a few plastic fasteners. There are two parts to the fastener. Pry the center out with a small screwdriver. Make sure you protect the trim from being scratched by the screwdriver. Then each top corner is held in with a concealed clip on the inside. Before removing this trim piece you need to disconnect the cable for the bulbs on both sides.

You need to remove the side trunk liner to gain access to the taillight. It is held in with some push pin type connectors and a few screws (holding the net clips in place). The right side is different from the left. I recall that it was necessary to remove the upper cover over the spare tire before removing the side panel You may be able to just pry the rear edge of this liner away to gain access to the five 8mm nuts holding the taillight in place. There are four on the back and one on the side. You will hace to remove the "bulb support" in order to get to your dead bug.

Hope this helps.

 

I remember hearing somebody saying the right (passenger) side is blocked by some kind of air tank, probably for airmatic or dynamic seats. If you have this air tank you will need to remove it to get to the light.

The whole process is a real pain in the ass. The MB engineers decided common people shouldn't replace a lightbulb so they designed it as dealer service repair.

 

Great post!
I just switched both my tail lights!
Thanks for your help!

 

Hey i had the same thing,,a huge dead grasshopper had found his way in there and then died trying to escape lol,,,i thought,,,no big deal,,i hate seeing him in there and will just take him out,,errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr,,,MB could have made this a much easier task!!!!!!!,,,many swear words later he was out,,,,but im not sure how many dissasemblies these cheap plastic fasteners can take??????

 

It`s actually pretty easy...
All you need is a small flat headed screw driver..
Just stick it in the side (any side) of the fasteners and pop it out by pulling it up.
Don`t worry, the fasteners won`t brake...
Let me know if you got it!

 

Trouble in access to Tail Light

Hi,

I am trying to get access to Tail Lights for their replacement with 07 Style.
When I tried to remove the plastic trim in the rear end of the trunk I could not pry the center part out with a screw driver. The center part seems to be strongly held with 2 side fasteners? (please see my pictures). The side top corner fasteners are easily loosened as you see.
Can someone give me further instruction on how to remove the center part?

Thank you.

 

You have to pry out the centre part of the expansion rivets, from the two you have circled in the first photo. Once the centre part is lifted, the rivet comes off.

 

Diesel Benz post says it all...

 

i'll guess i'll have to do the same. have a beatle in my right taillight for the last two years. been too lazy to figure this out. thanks for giving me more work to do.

 

i have the same problem only i got a rolly polly stuck in my left one... a very odd bug to be in your car in the first place lol im going to take it out today since i came across this thread :thumbsup:

 

Some things never change! I'm a new owner of an 07 E 350.........got it home and found a dead tree frog in the right rear taillight. Well preserved and cute, so I may wait awhile to do the removal now that I know how.........but it still bugs me Mercedes made it so much trouble.

 

A Clarification:

Tools needed:
star #20
small flat screwdriver.
8 mm - if you need to replace the box itself.

The process:
1. On the plastic bar there are 6 latches: 2 on each side and two as appear in the Red marks of bs79's picture. First pull out the inner part of them, and only then take them out.
2. Then the plastic bar can be loosen.
3. Take out the lights plugs on both ends.
4. To have better access to the left tail lights unit, take off two round latches similar to the 6 mentioned before on the upper left side of the carpet near the hinge, and two 20 star screws on the bottom.
5. The lights box is attached by 5 nuts of 8mm.
6. The electric board is attached to the plastic box with 3 star #20 screws.

 

Here's a great article I used to remove my tail lights for cleaning. Step by step with quality photos.

Pelican Technical Article - Mercedes-Benz W211 - Taillight Replacement