Mercedes-Benz: SLK tail light assembly corroded

The brake lights on my '99 SLK recently failed to illuminate except for the
small one at the top of the trunk, and when I took the car in for service
they told me that the tail light assembly had corroded. They said that the
problem is fairly common with this model.

Has anyone else with an SLK had a similar problem?

In message
<0cIeb.160896$ops.worldnet.att.net>, John
Cisarik <att.net> writes 

Oh yes, many of us. After several tail lights started playing up, I took
the whole assemblies out this summer and sorted them out successfully.

Three small bolts allow you to remove each unit. [Be careful not to drop
the spanner of the bolts or they could fall in amongst the roof
hydraulic pump!!]

I cleaned each terminal with either wire wool or fine wet'n'dry paper,
including the base plate and the contacts on the plastic bulbholder.
Generous amounts of electrical lubricant, WD40 or similar were sprayed
on before refitting. An easy job, that takes less than an hour. Deep
pitting should be scraped with a blade or screwdriver to ensure a good
contact. Might be a good idea to replace bulbholders where the contacts
look weak or blackened, since they only cost a few pounds?

Owen, Pembrokeshire 

--
Owen Jones