W212 faulty reg plate wiring?

[clk320x]

It takes about 4 minutes to put things back together, seriously easy, I did it today. Taking apart is easy enough, but I had to 'figure it out' and then I felt like I was breaking stuff, until i realised that I wasn't. I could do it all again now in 15-20 mins, but it's about an hours job in the cold and wet weather, with no real DIY to help you!

The arms need to be removed before the boot liner is tucked into them!

Hey Ed,

Thanks so much!!

Just a few questions sorry for being a pain! So I got the clips out of the carpeted area easily with my trim tool. But I can’t fit it behind the clips I have labelled ‘2’ in the pic below? Which tool did you use on these?

Also do we need to remove the part I have labelled ‘1’ ??

Thanks so so much!!!
Abs

 

[TeddyRuxpin]

Hey man,

I just made a quick video to show you - however it was freezing, dark and raining so, apologies if it doesn't make sense! I am not gonna be out and about during the daylight hours, so thought I'd just do it now. I haven't watched it back to see if it's any good because nobody likes the sound of their own voice!

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Hope it helps!

I answered your specific questions in the video but may as well explain again - you need a pry tool for the no.2 clips in general, but on those ones, i simply got my fingers under the plastic trim and pulled the trim 'downwards' towards the floor, with force. It feels wrong and that something is going to snap, but it's fine - it's just the way it's done. If any one of the 'fins' on the clips bend, it's not the end of the world, they will still work - or buy some replacements to be safe, if you want. I reused most of mine, and needed one extra as one was missing.

The no.1 bits do not need to be removed, they are simply bump stops. The plastic trim will fit through them when you pull the trim 'towards' you. Do not pull it too quickly towards you because the boot tail light is still connected. You need to disconnect that, and the plastic trim comes away completely. This is your chance to replace that with a powerful LED, if you fancy it. It's not that big of a deal, but I would recommend changing the two on either side of the boot as it's so quick and easy (takes 30 seconds per side) and makes a huge difference - as you can see my boot is really bright, it's cool. I can give you the link to the lights

Cheers!

 

[clk320x]

Hey man,

I just made a quick video to show you - however it was freezing, dark and raining so, apologies if it doesn't make sense! I am not gonna be out and about during the daylight hours, so thought I'd just do it now. I haven't watched it back to see if it's any good because nobody likes the sound of their own voice!

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

Hope it helps!

I answered your specific questions in the video but may as well explain again - you need a pry tool for the no.2 clips in general, but on those ones, i simply got my fingers under the plastic trim and pulled the trim 'downwards' towards the floor, with force. It feels wrong and that something is going to snap, but it's fine - it's just the way it's done. If any one of the 'fins' on the clips bend, it's not the end of the world, they will still work - or buy some replacements to be safe, if you want. I reused most of mine, and needed one extra as one was missing.

The no.1 bits do not need to be removed, they are simply bump stops. The plastic trim will fit through them when you pull the trim 'towards' you. Do not pull it too quickly towards you because the boot tail light is still connected. You need to disconnect that, and the plastic trim comes away completely. This is your chance to replace that with a powerful LED, if you fancy it. It's not that big of a deal, but I would recommend changing the two on either side of the boot as it's so quick and easy (takes 30 seconds per side) and makes a huge difference - as you can see my boot is really bright, it's cool. I can give you the link to the lights

Cheers!

Hey Ed!

Thanks so so so much!!! I really really really appreciate you taking the time to film the video! What a great and informative video! Superb! Thanks so much again.

The car looks great pal, really really nice!

I’ve got some of the plastic tools on order for delivery tomorrow so hope I can get this job done tomorrow! I’ve got the 2 w5w bulbs you linked before in hand, yeah I’d really appreciate the link for the bulbs that’s light up the interior of the boot?

Thanks again,
Abs

 

[TeddyRuxpin]

No problem!

Here are the boot ones: 100% CANBUS 5W ERROR FREE 14SMD LED PURE CREE WHITE W5W T10 501 SIDE LIGHT BULBS | eBay

I actually had the following ones in, instead, which I put in the door puddle lights and door mirrors. They are apparently supposed to be brighter (750lm vs 400) but in reality, the first ones I posted (400lm) are brighter - definitely in the boot! Could be the directionality of the leds, but whatever, they are the best. Maybe one day I’ll change be door ones as they’re easy, not sure I can be ****d doing mirror ones again!

2X T10 W5W 501 LED CANBUS 57 SMD CREE BRIGHT WHITE CAR INTERIOR SIDE LIGHT BULBS | eBay

The first ones are a couple of mm smaller too so that’s helpful in the fitting as these are much larger than the OEM halogens

 

[clk320x]

No problem!

Here are the boot ones: 100% CANBUS 5W ERROR FREE 14SMD LED PURE CREE WHITE W5W T10 501 SIDE LIGHT BULBS | eBay

I actually had the following ones in, instead, which I put in the door puddle lights and door mirrors. They are apparently supposed to be brighter (750lm vs 400) but in reality, the first ones I posted (400lm) are brighter - definitely in the boot! Could be the directionality of the leds, but whatever, they are the best. Maybe one day I’ll change be door ones as they’re easy, not sure I can be ****d doing mirror ones again!

2X T10 W5W 501 LED CANBUS 57 SMD CREE BRIGHT WHITE CAR INTERIOR SIDE LIGHT BULBS | eBay

The first ones are a couple of mm smaller too so that’s helpful in the fitting as these are much larger than the OEM halogens

Hey pal! Got the number plate lights done today!!! Thanks so much for your tips there’s no way I could have got the clips I labelled ‘2’ out without your advice! Also the plastic pry tools I got from amazon were invaluable! Only 3 clips got damaged so got those from Mb £1.20 each lol, probably cost them about 0.01p to make so the markup is pretty extraordinary

Anyhow, hopefully I don’t have any issues with the lights now as I don’t wanna take it all apart again lol

Will order the bulbs you linked for the inner boot too!! Thanks again!

Cheers,
Abs

 

[clk320x]

I owe you a beer!!!!!

 

[clk320x]

I used some LED bulbs from eBay, they are canbus safe and don't produce errors. They are very similar in light output to the halogens, I wanted something conservative and not too bright, just a nice OEM look. I bought a range of LED bulbs to test, some are expensive and really fancy, however you can't use bulbs that are any bigger than the halogen bulbs - the brighter bulbs I have are all too long to fit the reg plate. So I had to use the lowest powered ones.

Here are the ones I used: XENON WHITE 5 SMD 501 T10 W5W CANBUS ERROR FREE LED SIDELIGHTS HIGH POWER UK | eBay

Hey how are you getting on with these bulbs? Mine have started to flicker, maybe I got a faulty batch :-(

 

[TeddyRuxpin]

Argh, oh no! Sorry to hear that - mine are still working okay so far. Are they both flickering? It's unlikely that both LEDs would go bad at the same time, no? Perhaps there is a moisture or rusty connection issue?

 

[clk320x]

Argh, oh no! Sorry to hear that - mine are still working okay so far. Are they both flickering? It's unlikely that both LEDs would go bad at the same time, no? Perhaps there is a moisture or rusty connection issue?

I’m not sure Ed, I guess I might have to take it all to bits again and chuck in some filament bulbs and see what’s what

 

[clk320x]

Argh, oh no! Sorry to hear that - mine are still working okay so far. Are they both flickering? It's unlikely that both LEDs would go bad at the same time, no? Perhaps there is a moisture or rusty connection issue?

Hey, it was the LEDs at fault! The company sent out replacements FOC just hope it doesn’t happen again. Taking the bootliner off only took me about 5 mins now though, practice makes perfect lol

As you can see they have clearly burnt themselves, hopefully it was just that I got unlucky and got a faulty pair!

 

[TeddyRuxpin]

Damn - sorry to hear that! Hope you have better luck this time. I haven't had any messages from the car computer, so I hope/assume all is well with me.

Yeah, it's funny how quickly you can do it when you know how. The only downside is those clips breaking!

 

[clk320x]

Damn - sorry to hear that! Hope you have better luck this time. I haven't had any messages from the car computer, so I hope/assume all is well with me.

Yeah, it's funny how quickly you can do it when you know how. The only downside is those clips breaking!

Thanks Ed, I had no computer messages either but I noticed them flickering when I went to get something from the boot. I was probably just unlucky

Managed to get it out with none of those clips breaking somehow!

How are you getting on with your engine light? Has it come on again?

 

[TeddyRuxpin]

I haven’t driven it for a few days so, no!

It’s only been on twice, briefly, since I got it - but if it’s anything related to the weather it’ll definitely come on soon, with these storms!

Will send DM now

 

[clk320x]

Will send DM now

Ok mate