W210 - blown bulb in pod

[Parrot of Doom]

Hi there

A light is out behind the revcounter - does anybody know if the steering wheel has to come out before the pod is removed?

I understand I need special hooks from MB to remove the pod?

Also, what kind of lighting is behind there? LEDs, surface mount, bulbs....

 

[Shude]

Most likely bulbs, the wheel doesn't need to come off, it's a lot easier if it can be adjusted so it's closer to the driver though. Hooks aren't neccessary either, you can push the cluster out from behind if you remove the lower dash trim - it is held in by friction alone!

Good luck

 

[Parrot of Doom]

Thanks, unfortunately there is no steering wheel adjustment that I can find - unless its a hidden mechanical handle I don't think its possible.

Which bit of the dash trim do you mean exactly? If you could point it out to me on this image that would be really helpful:

 

[Shude]

Thanks, unfortunately there is no steering wheel adjustment that I can find - unless its a hidden mechanical handle I don't think its possible.

It's a hidden mechanical handle on cars with mechanical (telescopic only) adjustment. The lever is near the parking brake release lever IIRC. If it is a power-adjustable steering wheel then I've no idea where the button is.

Which bit of the dash trim do you mean exactly?

The bit above your knees when you're sitting in the driving seat, between the steering wheel and the pedals.

I'm afraid my knowledge of the W210 is limited, but it's very similar to the W202 in most respects.

 

[Parrot of Doom]

Thanks, I'll have a look around now.

 

[Shude]

I should caution you that removing the instrument cluster can in fact cause more bulbs to break due to the shocks and bumps of removal.

Someone once suggested that before removing the cluster you should buy one of each bulb in preparation for a number of them breaking during removal.

Be careful with it!

 

[Dieselman]

There is no reach adjustment on your column.
The dash pod can be withdrawn with the wheel in place.

You will probably find the binacle too stiff to push out by hand but hooks could be fashioned from strong coat-hanger wire. Bend only about 4mm of hook and push in by the wood trim.
the binacle might be so tight that you need a carefully placed screwdriver to lever it out first time.

Dash hooks are about £5 from the dealer.

The bulbs are normal capsule bulbs, 1.2W I think.


WARNING.
DO NOT SWITCH ON THE IGNITION WITH THE DASH POD OUT AS THIS WILL INVOKE A SRS ERROR WHICH YOU CAN'T RESET.

 

[Hawthorn37]

Here's my observations. I tried the pullers from the front, and the display didn't budge. On my w210 (2002) the cluster is held in place by two pressed steel sprung clips at the bottom lip of the cluster. You can prise these off with a thin bladed driver once you remove the trim under the steering wheel (but they are impossible to get back on!). The cluster then pulls from the front easily (no tools). Lower the steering wheel down to lowest angle and you can access the two multi-pin connectors (move securing grey hook back), and the whole cluster lifts out. You can now service any blown bulbs.
Beware!! if you split the back off the cluster there are two triangular pieces of plastic (masks for the bulbs) that will pop out. They're devils to get back in correctly aligned.

Now the bad news. Once out, it appears to be impossible to get to the temp / gear / time LCD's, or even the circuit board. I stopped here, as I didn't see much purpose pulling needles off etc. I believe as others do that the missing segments are due to a dry joint or three (sometimes they show, sometimes they don't), and I was hopefull in fixing this. I was wrong. A replacement is all I can hope for., but at least I won't have to pay MB for the fitting, although the EEPROM does cause me some concern.

Hope this helps - new to this forum today, some good advice all round.

 

[Dave320]

I have a 2002 W210 E320 with a connected problem. I'm also new to the forum.

The computer display (RDS, trip computer, etc) beneath the speedo has recently become very dim and is now almost impossible to read (completely impossible at night)

Is this down a blown bulb that can be replaced, or is the display itself at fault?

 

[jimti]

I have a 2002 W210 E320 with a connected problem. I'm also new to the forum.

The computer display (RDS, trip computer, etc) beneath the speedo has recently become very dim and is now almost impossible to read (completely impossible at night)

Is this down a blown bulb that can be replaced, or is the display itself at fault?

Hi Dave320, welcome on board.
I had the same problem with trip meter reading (might be different on my 1999 model), it turned out to be a blown bulb in my case,

 

[blicky_1]

Yep have had the same problem in the past when I changed a bulb a week later another goes, best to replace all main bulbs at the time the pod is out IMO.

BTW good luck getting that pod out

 

[Dave320]

thanks Guys, great response

well I got the pod out ok, eventually. Tried option 1 - the coathangers, but it was just too stiff, too scared of damaging something. So option 2 was removing the trim under the steering wheel and pushing the pod out from below which worked much better.

Both the bulbs for the computer display are blown, just trying to source new ones now. My local filling station/garage doesn't have them (

btw, what are the nearby red bulbs for, some kind of emergency alert?

 

[DrNick]

They make your LCD display light up red for certain messages, like driving off with the handbrake partially on.
Best to get the bulbs from MB. I used Halfords ones and they weren't quite the right fit - took a lot of adjusting to make them work reliably.