Side lights permanently on.

Hi,

I have an '08 L322 Vogue that I bought used here in Germany. When I start the car the green side light symbol immediately lights up on the dash and the warning CHECK SIDE LIGHT appears briefly. The sides lights seem to be permanently on even when the light switch is in the 0 position.

The car was an import from Italy and I read somewhere that Italy has a rule about daytime running lights. Could this be the reason or is it more likely to be a fault?

Sounds like there day time running lights hence them being on all the time. you could get them turned off by your dealers or by test book
The error is because one of your lamps have blown.
Hope this helps

DRLs, just check the lamps and be done with it.