04mbc230

Okay. I hope this company I found is the final answer to the fix that we all been waiting for. With an early attempt from another member that ended with the same result of bad lcds. Well, I had found a european maker and they claim that all materials are made by them in Europe.

I am going to install this but don't know how long can we say that this product past our inspection test.

Look what drop in the mail today!!


This company is FAST. 3 days shipped to my door from Europe. Plenty of Packaging to ensure a safe flight. I have never seen such package pack the way this is. Completely SEALED with three seperate packaging.


Finally the box that holds the FIX. Wow also an invite to their AUTO convention (tickets). Too bad I won't be heading to Europe any time soon.


LCD inside the box. Wow more sealed packaging.


Finally, the last packing (sealed that holds the lcd)


The candidate to end all madness



Like I said, very very professional from a company's shipment. Got my respects so far and very impressed. Had included a catalog of other stuff they sell (they make).

Here's the deal, they wanted $144 shipped. I think this is pretty fair compare to the other poster's cost. They said, if we mass order this, we can have a discount of $5 off.

Okay, I haven't install it yet. I have to review the installation instructions from another forum. I will post an update with the install details this weekend.

Now. I hope I won't break any other parts while I am at it.

Just want to note that I paid them in euros. At my time of purchase it came out to be $144, it could go up or down base on the exchange rate of the day.

samaritrey

if you could get me a high res picture of both sides of screen i would appreciate it. Curious to see if it looks different then the one i got from china.

WaveyKat

i wanna see too :-)

04mbc230

Ok.. Here you go. Please give me good news. The lens seems to be blue and see through. They said it was made in their country. The whole thing.

fookoo303

the original is also blue. The install is really easy. shouldn't take more than 30 minutes. keep us posted. Ive disassembled mine atleast 10 times. If you have any problems, let me know and ill try to help you.

04mbc230

Thanks for confirming. I haven't taken mine out yet, it's too dark outside to work on the car. Will do it tomorrow afternoon.

What about the china part replacement? Is it blue too?

fookoo303

im not sure bout that. I tried replacing mine from a used cluster, but the used one was in worse shape than mine is. Now i am trying to find led's to change the color to white.

04mbc230

Oh.. I don't know if that is an option they provide. I can ask. But base on their catalog, seems as they replace parts to OEM specs. I asked if they are the maker / supplier for VDO. They said no, but they are equivalent to the OEM LCDs.

They also makes all other car brands LCDs. I notice that the 05+ vertical LCD (white) is also available. So that just tells me that this type of LCD will have the same fate perhaps?

fookoo303

well the color doesn't come from the lcd itself. The color comes from the lights that are behind it. The lcd screen itself is just a group of "windows" per say. The windows "open" and allow the light to shine through. That's how we see the numbers and letters.

04mbc230

Hmmz.. if that is the case, then why are changing the lcds? Aren't we suppose to change the lights instead? Also, can't we change the lights to white instead of orange or red?

mleskovar

I am very interested in your success. The supplier that seems to be a problem is Sacer. Several people have tried them with only a 20% success rate. Sacer offers a supposed workaround but it is wrong (actual voltages were WAY out of their specs). I found someone to reman mine but the week and a half of turnaround time (ship - fix - ship) is hard to work with since you have to send the whole cluster.

04mbc230

I know Sacer, that is the China Supplier. Yea, I heard it didn't work. Well, this is not from China and is from Europe. I was thinking since Mercedes were made in Europe, so at least this would be a part that is from the same origin of the Car.

This company that I had bought with do all types of repairs and focus only on repairing clusters. There is a whole lot of other tools they sell to diagnos the cluster and such.

Yea, I am hoping this would be the fix to this dreaded issue.

Well, I'll put it in tomorrow afternoon and see how it goes. Any suggestion of the Sacer product that shows the error or would the wrong product like Sacer cause anything to go *KABOOM*

fookoo303

well the lcds go bad because those "windows" stop closing completely or opening all the way so it appears to be dim. Yea we can change the colors, just have to change the leds. But the problem i am running into with the color swap for the lcd is that i cant find a company that makes the right size led in the bi-color with white and red.

04mbc230

Ohhh... I am intersted. Just wondering, if that is the case. Can't we just pull out the leds from the 05+ clusters and install it in here. Since they do have white letters and i don't know what is the color when it's in warning mode.

I'm going to ask the LCD company I bought and see if they can lend a helping hand. Perhaps they sell them too or if not, to see if there are any recommended European maker / suppliers.

04mbc230

Can you check out my pictures I posted about on the LCD. Is this the same as the Original (OEM). The cable ribbon design and all.

Thanks.

Then again, I'll find out tomorrow.

mleskovar

Despite being a European supplier the manufacturer could still be in China. MB sources from the lowest cost manufacturer that meets their specs.

Make sure you orient the screen correctly so the ribbon cable goes in right (see notch in cable). Disconnect ribbon cable first. Push on the screen to clear the two tabs that hold it in an rotate up. The failure I'm aware of are lines going through the display and contrast so bright you can barely read it. Also....DON'T start car with cluster removed or you'll trigger an SRS light fault that needs to be cleared with SDS.

04mbc230

Yes, I know there is a possibility. I asked them where it was made and they said 100% European. So I guess I have to believe that. Also this is why I am going to test out the product first prior to releasing the flood gates.


Thanks for the tip.

Taiwanese

Subscribed

samaritrey

Well it is not the same one i have so that is good hopefully it won't have the voltage issues that mine had. keep us updated. if you need any help installing pm me i am free tomorrow and could walk you though it if you run into an issue.

SGTzAMG

...has the LCD been installed yet???

fookoo303

This might work but its doubtful and probably cost more. I've found white led's that would swap out all the other leds in the cluster, but because the warning color is different, its been hard to find the led's for the lcd portion.

its pretty similar, heres some pics of an oem one. Sorry for the low quality cell pics.

hanknum

04mbc230

Nice. I think I will see that in a bit.

04mbc230

One last concern. Will plugging in the wrong lcd and turning on the system cause any errors? Example: like the China Supplier one where the voltage is wrong? Will this cause any damage to the cluster?

Just trying to do the check list, since this is my first time.

fookoo303

I dont see how it would cause a problem, as long as you have the cluster itself plugged in. If voltage specs are different for the lcd then the lcd just wont work. I have plugged in my cluster with the lcd completely out and everything was still fine. keep in mind that to swap the lcd you do not have to touch any of the needles, so try your best not to move them. I dont know if moving the needles will cause any problems but when i was playing with the spare cluster i have, i was pretty harsh on the needles and now when i plug in the spare cluster the speed needles clicks loudly. So be careful not to move them around too much.