zeelaf

Bad things are happening to the S500, now the cluster is blinking are there any good Instrument cluster repair shops any one had any experience

S500 - 4 Matic
2004

G.AMG

This guy does an awesome LED conversion with the W220 cluster http://www.mbcluster.com

tusabes

From their homepage it looks like they aren't accepting new work orders

There are various w220 cluster repair services on eBay for about $159

mcguirja

You might want to take it to a dealer to look at first. I had my 2004 instrument cluster replaced for free based on a recall. It was well past warranty when I had it done.

James

ibeforreal

I agree with James. I know a couple of folks who had their cluster replaced by the dealer after the recall had expired. Definitely worth a try.

Das Geld 2

I just sent mine to BBA RAMEN.

I'll let you know.

tusabes

For chinese noodles ?

I think you meant Bba reman

cybertronicify

My recall appointment is tomorrow. I'll see what my local dealership will do about a recall that expired 2 years ago. I'll just change the transformer myself if they decide to charge me $1000 bucks for it.

ibeforreal

Good luck.

cybertronicify

Bad news... Just got back from the dealership. They denied my request replace the cluster. The reason was it is 1 year and 10 months out of warranty. I'm just going to replace the transformer myself. They were going to charge me $2,220 + tax for the job.

Das Geld 2

I just got my cluster back from BBA- I didn't install it and test yet but they said unable to repair it on the invoice...I need to call them and figure out why..?

If you fix yours hell..I'll pay you if you have the time to fix it.

cybertronicify

If they were unable to repair it, you might have had a burned out fluro-tube. Because the way Mercedes engineered the lighting for the cluster, its not very serviceable. There are 3 main things that can go wrong, the fluro-tube, the high voltage step up transformer, or the switching mosfets. The way to extend the life of the mosfet is for it to switch slower (cranking the brightness, increase duty cycle). But that will make the transformer's life and the tube's life shorten. After reading up about this issue, I might just end up doing a LED substitute for the fluro-tubes. Draws less current, creates less heat, and it lasts longer.

Das Geld 2

That's good to know. Half the cluster is lit- here's a photo.

The middle and parts of the gauges are completely dark unless I squint or get in a dark area.

tusabes

At least u can still see what you need to see

cybertronicify

Oh. Your transformers or mosfets aren't dead. However the two fluoro-tubes on each side are dying. To my knowledge, there is currently no one selling them at a reasonable price. What you can do is go find them at an auto wreck. BTW you might not want to keep driving the car as half dying fluoro-tubes do draw an excessive amount of current.

109,500 miles and that already happens? I'm currently at 122,000 miles, and do far it only flickered (months ago). How do I tell if my cluster was changed out before?

Das Geld 2

Well they replaced something! As I sent them a black cluster my lights died probably 6-7 months ago. Now I have this.

It would be in your Mercedes Service Log if it was serviced at the dealer.

I can just buy a used cluster on ebay..

ibeforreal

I have a cluster from a 2001 S500 sitting in my garage that completely died. I previously sent it to the National Transportation Safety Board (at their request) since I was one of the first people to report the problem before the recall. They returned it to me and it still sits in my garage. Jason if you want to use mine as a guinea pig let me know.

Das Geld 2

I called them up.

They said they replaced the transformers and some other stuff but it wasn't enough to get it fully working. They will be issuing a refund

stand up company.

cybertronicify

Thats good that they are issuing a refund when they didn't fix the problem! Right now I believe my instrument cluster was replaced in 2006. My car was a leased car, which turned into a CPO car in 2006. They replaced a long long list of stuff in the carfax, maybe one of it was the instrument cluster? There should be a date code on the back of the cluster right? My dealer should honor the 10 years by the date code of the cluster.

If not, I will just wait and let the cluster die out. The protection mechanism is more than enough to prevent a major failure. When it does die out, I will have a couple of choices. One is to replace the 3 mosfets and the transformer, or just put in a LED substitute.

John, when my cluster dies out, i'll let you know if I need a practice unit before messing with mines. Thanks

ibeforreal

Good enough.

baldsparky

These guys here in the UK

http://www.clusterrepairsuk.co.uk/fe...ination-repair