This guide covers 2014–2020 Mercedes-Benz S-Class 222 vehicles with factory ambient lighting. The illustrated rear-vent installation retains the knob-controlled airflow function and connects the rear light harness to the matching front-vent light harness.
The final source photograph shows this front-harness connection; it does not specify an independent rear-vent power connection, connector pinout or the compatible front-kit/module versions. Confirm the matching front harness and lighting version with the kit supplier before connecting the rear kit. Do not assign electrical signals from the visible wire colors.
1. Components
Figure 1. Rear vent kit components.
2. Installation steps
The source gives T20 screw locations but no screw torques or power-isolation procedure. Obtain the applicable vehicle/kit procedure before disconnecting the control-panel plugs or reconnecting the light harness.
Figure 2. Installation sequence. The following text clarifies the image captions, including the mistranslated first and final captions:
- Use a plastic trim tool along the edge of the rear-vent control panel to pry it open.
- Release the control-panel retaining clips horizontally.
- Disconnect the control-panel harness plugs and remove the panel.
- Remove the four securing screws with a T20 driver.
- Take the two transparent flexible light guides and the two black lamp-board rear covers out of the kit bag. They are fitted in the following steps; do not treat this caption as an instruction to fix them in place yet.
- Insert a flexible light guide into the hollow center of the vent as shown.
- Route the light wire through the lower notch.
- Fit the light board at the rear cover as pictured and secure it.
- Secure the assembled illuminated vent to the panel with the original screws.
- Release the retaining tabs of the original rear-vent air duct.
- Refit the original air duct onto the replacement vent.
- Route the rear light harness along the gap between the center console and the carpet, then connect it to the matching front-vent light harness shown. The image's “saddle and base” wording refers to this console/carpet route. Confirm the exact front-harness connection described above before energizing the system.
Refit the removed parts and check knob/flap operation, airflow and illumination after the connections and wire routing have been checked.
3. Troubleshooting
- The rear-vent switch operates abnormally: inspect the rear vent and the knob-operated air-flap switch harness for damaged insulation or shorting to ground. Check for loose or incompletely seated connectors. Using the confirmed disconnection procedure, reconnect the knob connector and observe the electronic air flap opening and closing. Check whether the airflow settings on both sides of the climate-control panel match.
- Rear-vent illumination is abnormal: check that the light source and light guide are correctly seated. Inspect the vent-light harness for pinching, damaged insulation or shorting to ground. Check the rear-to-front harness connection against the exact supplied kit documentation; this guide does not establish a pinout from colors alone.
CKCP tutorial reference: CKCP source archive