Trying to replace my back-up bulbs. I removed the rear access panel and most of the side carpeting I got the old ones out, after that everything turned to **** ! couldn't get the new ones in, bulbs fell out of the sockets into the taillight housing, had to remove the taillights to get the bulbs out , put the bulbs and taillights back in after taking out more of the side carpeting, put all the carpeting back which is also a pain in the *** and attempted to re-install the rear trim panel. Two of the nylon trim fasteners popped off and flew somewhere in side of the frame. I stopped drank a few beers and finally found the fasteners on Ebay $5 for 10 free shipping moral of the story: don't change the rear lights if they don't need it, if one goes out change them all so you may never have to do it again
https://www.ebay.com/itm/10pcs-Bumpe...72.m2749.l2649

 

Thank you kindly for the post (and the link). I made the terrible mistake of pulling the plastic panels out of the back of my coupe. Being told the old plastic fasteners are brittle I ordered 50 replacements. Well the new fasteners are also brittle. As I was learning how to re-install these panels I continued to break the fasteners. This may seem hard to believe but I ended up buying another 50 fasteners of another brand. After a few weeks of struggling with these hard panels I finally got an acceptable solution and only have a handful of those fasteners left. A minor nightmare..

As for removing the tail lights, it's just three nuts and two electrical connectors. I was tapping into the reverse light for my camera along with some other options. I found the carpeted panels quite easy. I'm grateful for another resource for those Bumper Trunk Panel Plastic Push Retainer Rivets and I hope I never need them again.

 

Many of those plastic fasteners are cheap knock offs from China; I bought some from ebay and the head cracked loose after a week. I went back to Mercedes online and bought their clips. After a year, they are still holding the panel in it's proper place. Basically, you get what you pay for.

 

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And, I bought a pack of 50 off a fleabay china site when I did my sagging roof liner WAAAAAY back, and all the clips are still good to go. Nylon type plastic is nylon type plastic, in my case.


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