ojaved

Hi all,
I need help changing the dashboard light bulbs. A few bulbs have gone bad and so the interior looks really dull at night. Any help in this regard would be highly appreciated...

Thanks,

E-Klasse

What lights are out? Instrument cluster, Climate control, Dome lights...?

Gabe

Hey, this is something I need to do too.... I've got a light out behind the tachometer and I haven't figured out the puzzle. A description of the process is greatly appreciated.

E-Klasse

You have to remove the small side cover of the dash that meets up with the door. You will see on screw behind the cover for the face covering the instrumnet cluster. Then drop the lower part of the dash that is at the knees of the driver. Now take the face of the dash off from in front of the gauge cluster. There are clips at the top and a couple of screws at the bottom. You will have to get the cluster past the steering wheel after removing the screws holding the cluster in. Now unplug the connectors on the back of the cluster. Install it back in the reverse order. Can take about an hour.

Gabe

THANK YOU... I've tried this avenue before but stopped when it seemed that something was stuck and I didn't want to break things. I'll try it again soon....

E-Klasse

When you pull the lower part of the dash down it will pop as it comes apart. Part of it is clipped to the upper part and it will take some force and sound like it is breaking.

bazzle

Actually mine did break, a couple of the clips. Welded them back with a soldering iron.

BAzzle

Gabe

Success!

I bought a small 1.2 bulb from the dealer on my way back from work and proceeded to take apart the puzzle. Unscrew here, unscrew there, push hard and snap! broken tab here, broken tab there.... set aside with gorilla glue.

Removing the connectors in the back of the cluster was a challenge but observation and German thinking led me to find a tab that you have to push in before the latching lever flips out. Removed cluster from behind steering wheel.

I actually had two bulbs out, a small one and one of the large 2w so I drove to Pep Boys and found some Sylvannia replacements for those (cheaper too). Looks like new again!

I would just recommend that you look carefully and find all the screws under the dash before dropping that lower part. There is a tricky one on the edge where your right knee is at while driving. It is in a deep hole and that is one of the tabs I broke.

Thanks for the advice.