Am I the last person to figure this out?? The bulb holders for the two filament bulbs (1157) are different on the 240 sedans. Sure one is black and one is white but I never really paid any attention to that before now.

The white must be on the passenger’s side while the black one must be on the driver’s side. Physically they will fit either side, but electrically it makes a very big difference.

The bulbs are turned 180 degrees in the black one when compared to the white one. So if you install the holders on the wrong sides you effectively end up with no (visible) brake lights. The filament that is supposed to be powered by the brake circuit (brighter) will become the tail light filament on both sides. So when you apply the brakes the second filament (dimmer) is hardly evident.

I am trying to figure out when this swap came about on one of our 89 240’s. It would appear that the added heat distorted the plastic in that part of the tail light as well.

I haven't had a chance to check the 740 or 940 sedans, but it is probably the same setup. I can't believe I hadn't noticed this before.

Randy