Sprinter Rear Light 5/6/7 Pin Sockets

PLEASE READ: For educational and entertainment purposes only. I give no guarantees and take no responsibility for what you do with these parts. Use at your own risk.

The Sprinter's 6-pin female plug (A0375453528 or A0375453328) on the rear light cluster can mate directly into this 6 pin male socket part here, to expose all of the signals, without cutting the OEM wiring harness. This makes it possible to rewire a VS30 / W907 van from the US to EU, or vice versa. These parts accept OEM crimp pin sockets, so fit with the OEM wiring: unplug the cable from the rear light cluster, and plug it directly into this part.

My van was Made in the USA (2020 Winnebago Revel VS30 / W907), but now lives in the EU (Berlin), and is road legal having passed the TÜV inspection. To make it so, the wiring had to be modified from the US integrated brake/turn signals (both red) to EU-legal red brakes and yellow turn signals. The scope of this project is beyond the creation of this part, so left as an exercise for the reader, with hints below.

I could not find a Mercedes part number, or similar replacement part in a 6-pin. They may not even be made by Mercedes. Therefore, this is a rebel part, and may void any warranty you think you had. YMMV.

To complete it, you need the proper male pins:

TE Connectivity pins: 2-962841-1

https://www.digikey.de/en/products/detail/te-connectivity-amp-connectors/2-962841-1/2054516

Note that the plug (male OEM part) has female pins, and the socket (this design) has male pins. It's super confusing.

Versions for 5, 6, and 7 pin parts are included because I did encounter these when doing research. The 5-pin socket equivalent from Mercedes is A0425453628. I could not find this socket in 6 or 7 pin variants.

For reference, here are the Mercedes "plugs" that should mate with the design of these "sockets":

• 5-pin plug:A0345454128

• 6-pin plug:A0375453528 or A0375453328 (I don't understand the difference)

• 7-pin plug:A2115450328

Designed to be printed in ASA. I believe the OEM Mercedes mating parts are ABS.

In the wiring harness picture, you may see the resistor shunt. This tricks the computer into thinking the brake lights are connected properly. Otherwise you'll get a dash error that a bulb is out. Actuating them independently of the primary OEM signal requires this bypass. The US-spec LED modules consume 0.12A or 1.44 W for the red running light, and 0.7A or 8.4 W for the brighter brake light. My measurements found the look like the equivalent of 200 Ohms to the computer, hence 2x 100 Ohm resistors in series will prevent the computer from thinking they are disconnected.

The two loose wires in the harness are used as inputs for the brake, and turn signal. The brake signal can be obtained from the center rear LED signal, but must be appropriately wired to supply the correct current. The turn signals can be obtained from the left and right rear view mirror turn signals (inside the front doors). This allows the hazard lights to also work properly. In all cases, you can't just wire from the source signals to the rear bulbs because the circuits don't supply enough current: instead you have to run through some kind of circuit that supplies sufficient current, like an opto-isolated relay. (Exercise for the reader!)

Free advise: Making this change was a pain in the ass. On reflection, I recommend you sell your van when changing countries, and get a new van in your destination. It was my mistake for not doing so. Don't make my mistake unless you have the time to correct it. End to end, it took me 2 years to correct.

Note that, it is published here so you can print it for free. Free as in beer, eagles, USA, and Germany.

Obviously it took a bunch of my time and testing to make it work. I feel I've gotten enough from the #vanlife community that I wanted to make it available to other makers. However, it is not licensed for you to sell it.