merceBENZ

Does anyone have light in the night on headlight switch panel? I don't have a single illumination on that panel. I can see transparent markings and they are invented for light to go through. I heard rumor that it has been removed from newer models but I find it hard to believe.
Thank you.

floridawriter

Same question. Seems contrary to all other ergonomics in the car.

willy_manilly

My 2004 CLK240 doesn't have any illumination either. Either did my 2004 W211 E-Class or my fathers 2013 S500. I think you're just meant to leave it on Auto and let the car figure out what light you need? haha

merceBENZ

But the panel is transparent! It has been designed for light to pass through. It is very hard in the night to find the knob and forget about any buttons or anything else this panel has.

floridawriter

In looking at the swtich itself, it has three bulbs that are positioned directly behind the transparent panel:

__pierce

My headlight switch and icons illuminate - I have an '03 w209 320. I've heard of this issue before, some illuminate and others do not. Not sure if it's related to year or trim level. Perhaps the plant where your car was manufactured makes a difference or the individual settings using Star..

gixxerboy

mine light up on my 09

merceBENZ

This is messed up. I have feeling that our panels don't have light source or bulls/led are dead. How to find out? I can't believe that this is programmed by star.

merceBENZ

Would you mind to snap a picture at night? I just would like to see how does it look...

merceBENZ

Here it is! Being so, how do we light them up?

willy_manilly

Do you have rear fog lights in America? I know Australia and Europe have them and therefore this may explain why our switches light up vs yours that don't.

See screenshot here: http://prntscr.com/9ycejz
And this one: http://prntscr.com/9ycfax

The screenshot explains how to get those two lights to illuminate.

Rudeney

Yes, USA models have the rear fog light. My understanding is that the panel illumination was deleted at some time early in production.

xsever

Yeah I remember us visiting this topic and arriving to the same conclusion.

merceBENZ

Can we just install a new panel? Some members here do have illumination on their w209.

Martin_F

My '09 lights up too.

merceBENZ

Here comes the question
Will installation of 09 switch eliminate my problem?

Yidney

Let's make sure we are all talking about the same thing. When you say "lights up" what do you mean? Is each of the little icons arranged in a smei-circle around the switch backlit? Because that is what was lit on the early models, then disappeared. This would be the first I've heard they brought it back just for '09.

Martin_F

The two lights on the left are front and rear fog lights.
When I pull the light switch out once, the fronts come on, and the first light illuminates. When I pull it to the second step, the rear fog lights come on, and the lower light illuminates.

As for the third light on the right, I can't remember when/if that came on.

I just checked the for lights yesterday...

merceBENZ

That is pretty neat. This is exactly what we need for our cars. The question remains the same. Is it a switch or star programming?

Yidney

Right - there should be some lights on the panel - the whole panel should not be dark. But in the early years, the big knob itself was lit, as were each of the little icons around the knob. Not just when the fogs were on. I just had a feeling people in this thread were talking about different things.

Yidney

I think your two little fog icons should light up if you actually turn the fog lights on. But not otherwise. But you can see the icons above the round knob and on the knob itself are just paint - they are not transparent. They used to be.

merceBENZ

They are not paint. 100% sure because I looked very close.
But what if we will install switch from 09?

Yidney

I think we are still not on the same page. I asked Martin F what he meant by "light up" and he only mentioned his fog icons on the left. The other icons on an '09 do not light up. No different than my '08 or an '07. If somebody with an '09 says they do, then post a pic.

merceBENZ

I agree. One picture worth more than thousand words.

Yidney

I feel pretty sure that MB did not redesign the light switch for the last year of the model run. Somebody with an '09 would have chimed in long before now on the several other threads there have been on this subject.