W210 Temperature, clock and gear displays no longer visible

[Shamaz Majid]

Hi,

Both of the side displays in the instrument cluster of my W210 are no longer visible. Any ideas what the problem might be and how they can be re-displayed?

I took it to a garage and he wanted £300. Sounded a bit too much so I politely declined!

Thanks.

 

[A-AvantGarde]

I believe this is a fault with the cluster that is relatively common on both the W210 and W208.

Here's a site for a repair service I've come across before (never used them though...)

Cluster Repairs UK - Instrument cluster speedometer repair, correction, modification and spares.

 

[arkamelis]

i know somebody that can repair it for £150, means you have to take the unit out, unless you live close by

 

[Dunhamkid]

I can recommend Cluster Repairs. Very quick turnaround

 

[jefrs]

Oh dear, on mine is was simply that the illumination lamp behind it had failed: pull the instrument cluster out with the bent wire coat hanger and replace the bulb, they only cost a few bob.

 

[tpwuk]

There's a DIY fix for this. Just use the search function.

 

[arkamelis]

i dont think its a simple fix, and that it might just be a bulb, hopefully it is in your case. in my case it wasnt just a bulb, i do think it is a common thing with the w210 and maybe some more models that after time you start to loose the display clocks . do have a go yourself and see if it just a bulb, if not i can give you the details to someone who can repair the unit at £75 per side

 

[jefrs]

Pulling the instrument cluster out really is simple. Took me 10 minutes to figure it out the first time, after that it's 30 seconds tops. Worth doing to check the bulbs. If a bulb has expired then a section of the display vanishes.

 

[Nickk]

Hi

I had this problem. I searched the site and found a full set of istructions here at MB club on how to remove the speedo unit, open it up and then insert a bit of rubber band behind the LED units.. Pictures and everything... I'll see if I can find it

 

[Nickk]

What follows is wordy quote from a thread. The thread has pictures.

It worked for me


Now it gets a bit trickier and you have to start being carefull. On a suitable

clean workbench area, you need to remove the rear housing from the main cluster panel assembly; - 2 clips at each end (one in the white bit, one edge of the black mouding) plus one extra just under the clear plastic strip just left of centre. Now you should have the naked circuit board with the instruments on top and if you look carefully along the bottom edge you will see a ribbon in centre for the main display, and either side of it two black plastic rectangles which cover the lower edge of the temperature & time display units; - these are what we are interested in.
Looking underneath these you will see each has two white lugs coming through the bottom of the circuit board to help secure it. You need to carefully release these and gently ease up the display unit above by
about 1 mm (or 1/16 inches) - NO MORE or you will pull the cables and damage them more or the other instruments on the board.
You can now see that behind the ribbon is a small strip of rubber forming a foot on each display unit & which when normally secured down, presses onto the ribbon where it is welded to the board.
So all you now need is to carfeully insert a suitable thin strip of plastic under the foot, jiggle it around till you position it squarely under the foot (this is where the long thin tweezers come in )and squeeze the white lugs back down to secure the unit with a little more pressure from its new thicker foot. Then its simply a matter of putting it all back together (dont forget those tricky warning light windows) & with any luck it should work pretty well OK.

For suitable strip read something the size of the existing foot (about 30mm x 3mm) and thin like a strip cut from a yoghurt carton or drinks bottle; - it must not be too think else you will overstress the board & obviously it must be plastic or some other non-conducting material; -You should get the idea from the pictures, and be able to gauge the thickness when you have it in front of you.

I got back temperature and time 100%, gear display 98% (has 3 lost pixel dots but quite readable). A huge improvement for zero cost.

I don't know how well this will last, only time will tell.
I hope it is of interest and adds to the community info & I would really like to
know if it works for anyone else out there. Kevin

 

[Melc]

Thanks for this, it worked a treat, I have all my temperature LEDs (including the + which I forgot I had) and just one missing LED from the clock (it worked before I pushed the cluster back) which I will try to rectify later. I used some pond liner which seemed about the right thickness. Very pleased and satisfied.