Post-Mortem: Failed E500E Headlight Switch

[gerryvz]

Headlight switch failure is common for W124s because of age.

Fortunately, the part is still available from MB, part number 000 545 62 04. The current list price is $102.00, and the switches can be purchased in the $75-80 range via discount online MB parts dealers.

Comparison of old (left) and new (right) headlight switches.



Other forum members have replaced their switches, and disassembled them to find many broken plastic bits inside. You can see this here, and here.

I recently replaced my switch, and upon removal and disassembly, I found that it was broken way beyond repair inside.

Here are a few photos of the inside of my switch as I disassembled it.

Popping the metal cover off of the plastic back-housing:



Separating the parts:



Separated parts, and a pile of broken plastic:

 

[nocfn]

Mine went last fall... It sounded like a maraca...

 

[lowman]

wow..thats cheap.
Here in norway, they are 211 dollars ...bugger

 

[northNH]

My ‘92 CE (180K) is on it’s third, my ‘86 BMW (180K) still on it’s first.
Age?

 

[cole67]

I'm on my third switch replacement and was surprised how quickly the second switch failed. It wasn't from use as my car isn't used at night very often. More than likely cheaper materials used during manufacture is my guess.

 

[sheward]

I get the feeling Mercedes used a wide variety of plastics in the years of the W124. They were not sharing a lot of parts between models and always seemingly wanting the best materials for the application. Virtually all plastics become brittle with time. We are seeing this in headlight switches, mirrors, and brake lights. Quite a good record really. I've never seen a W124 with a cracked dash or much else really.

I just replaced the switch in my 63,000 mile car last week.

 

[northNH]

I don’t think MBz in the 124 era was looking much at cutting corners with parts, neither in-house or from their many suppliers.
But I do think there are plenty of disappointing (what I consider premature) parts failures that I think they were blindsided by their focus on their engineering prowess.
Open the hood of a 124 and think brittle/fossilized.

 

[maw1124]

I'm on my third switch replacement and was surprised how quickly the second switch failed. It wasn't from use as my car isn't used at night very often. More than likely cheaper materials used during manufacture is my guess.

This has been my experience as well. The first one lasted almost 30 years and 80k miles. The next one lasted maybe 3 years and almost no miles.

maw

 

[gsxr]

Seems the originals were better quality. Disappointing, to say the least, that the new ones have such a short lifespan - especially given the $100 price tag.