So it's been posted several times as well as my own encounter with the driver side LED strip failing to illuminate on my V8V and the only solution I found was to replace it as the dealer also suggested with an associated cost of $2400 +$400 labor. Someone also posted a link to Pistonheads where a poster specified a company in the UK who can repair them for 400 pounds not including the shipping, or removal and installion costs.

I also was weary of purchasing a used one since I've read the hues may be different and I also didn't really want to fork over $2800 for a headlamp considering that's roughly 1/20th of what I paid for the entire vehicle.. so after many hours of calling electronic repair shops that handle PCB repair I found one in Rochester, New York whose owner is also a sportscar enthusiast that was pretty adamant he could repair / replace the PCB. I'll be mailing it out to him tomorrow and will keep you posted. He's repaired Audi LED headlamp panels so here is hoping he can repair my V8Vs for under $200.

 

The dealer price of a headlight is really $2800? Holy crap. For the first time I am not sure I can afford to own this car. Maybe when it's time to sell I'll just part the thing out. I could probably get $400k for it in parts. Honey, you need to remodel the bathroom? OK, I'll sell the passenger seat and a couple pieces off the transmission. Oh you want a marble shower surround? That's one AC compressor coming right up!

 

I'm not totally familiar with the construction of the headlight units but it's not hard to de-solder and re-solder LEDs on a PCB. If the PCB can be removed from the assembly, it should be less than two dollars in parts to repair.

 

There typically are many units for sale on eBay for a couple hundred dollars. At this price you could even afford to buy a couple, make sure the color matches then resell.

 

Cadman showed how to take them apart and fix the issue in this post back in Dec 2015

https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...rn-signal.html

 

There we go. In his case it was a capacitor that failed. Even easier to replace than an LED. In fact, I fixed a dead computer monitor by replacing a couple of capacitors just last week.

 

He was able to repair it but I had to pay a bit more than anticipated while he tried to figure out how to separate the lens; guess you just have to heat the butyl up to 320degrees in the oven and it comes apart with ease. A LED bulb was defective which he replaced and it works perfectly now, but if I need anymore repairs I'll hit ya up Messar

 

I am somewhat quite surprised that no member does this from time to time. Several MBForum AMG guys will look for a E55 or E63 totaled to part out and seem to do well on it. I wonder what a totaled AM parting out would do. Now, AM Bits site is parted out cars like that, but I guess a dedicated website, and the time you could, but still wonder.

 

can you share the contact info for the fellow in NY state who did the pcb/lcd repair. I live in toronto and have a problem with my rt lcd array

 

We would all love to hear a repair solution... Its the control board inside the headlight that develops different types of failures... not the LED strip itself. For me it was not the capacitor. AM buys the entire light as an assembly thus you can't get 'parts' for it. It is a mother of a job to get the headlight out of the car. I put mine back only to find the board malfunctioning a month later. As of late I did buy a used light on ebay to get another board. So the next time I have 5+hrs I don't know what to do with ... I can take the headlight apart again... Blech.

Keep us posted!

PS .. yes new part costs for this car are nuts! New heated windshield installed was $3800! 10% the car's value.