LauraS

MY grandson hasn't removed the instrument cluster to replace the fuse for the centre console yet due to the cold weather we have been experiencing but has asked me to post a query here for him about replacing the incandescent bulbs withh LED bulbs. The Canadian versions of the 190E came with daytime running lights that, unlike most DRL light equipped cars, power all the lights that would come on with the regular light switch. Dash lights, rear lights, headlights all are powered with the DRL. He is worried that because the dash lights come on all the time the car is operating that the dash lights may burn out and require the instrument cluster to be pulled wheres the LED's should last much longer. It has not ever been a problem for me and I can't recall ever in 31 years needing to replaace any dash lights but he does have a valid concern snce these bulbs are becoming old wth time. Does anone have experience or advice concerning LED dash lights that can pass on?

dolucasi

Hi Laura, you know what I'm going say but here it goes anyway. Since I have about 3 times the mileage you do and if we assume night time usage percentage is similar I hope this is a good data point for you.

Not a single one of my dash lights, switch lights etc are burnt out so far. I was also worried about the exact same thing but the data is there. I would not replace the bulbs thinking they are going to burn out. Also the led's you replace them with, can you trust their life? Where are they made? I may not have told you that I worked in the LED lighting industry in the early days and I have seen it all.

I am surprised these tungsten dash light bulbs can last this long but then again, it is not that many hours. For my car probably maybe 8K-10K running hours and if it is 20% with lights on we are at 2K hours.
I could be off by as much as 2x here. This is the general life of a good quality tungsten bulb, so you would expect them to start failing. But why are they not?
My guess is that the bulbs in the car operate at very low power rating compared to their build. They do not even get that hot as you know for good reasons. Not like home lighting anyway.
And of course we have heard of 100+ year old Edison bulbs still working because they may have been over designed/under powered.

There is another issue with LED bulbs in automotive or home lighting, if the hue/color does not match each other they look awful. So it is an all or nothing approach. And you will need 2300K or 2700K LED bulb for all of them. Will you be able to find them in all different form factors?

Also remember LED bubs are unidirectional and inserted the wrong way could blow fuses (particularly the one you are replacing) if not inserted correctly. Not sure if they all have current limiting resistors to avoid blowing of fuses.

For me I have replaced the dome light (rear and front) glove box light, license plate, all brake lights, parking lights, including European city lights with LED's. Those are the one that matter for power consumption. And now there is more light coming out of those lights as well as 1/10th the power consumption. Also these bulbs are easy to replace if needed unlike the dash bulbs.

For your car, I would not even consider replacing the dash bulbs. But if you decide to, make sure you get them from a reputable place like superbrightleds.com. I have replaced all my landscape lights from there (and for the W201 ones I mentioned) about 10 years ago. Not a single one has failed so far. And these guys unlike the auto stores have the period correct coloring, not the 5K or 6K rubbish that looks very blue in a W201. Those will certainly clash with the new Continentlal Radio you just put in.

Here is an example, you have seen the EHA and Voltmeter gauge I put in. Originally I had a 2700K LED bulb in them. They looked awful and did not match the rest of the lighting even at 2700K.
I had to replace them with an "orange" LED, and now the match is near perfect. So it takes some experimentation as you see.

My 2 cents worth.
Cheers and Happy Holidays!

LauraS

Thank you. I will pass this information along to relieve his anxiety about the dash lights. Merry Christmas!

dolucasi

Merry Xmas Laura! Once you remove the cluster you will see it is very easy and takes no more than 20 minutes to do it once you have done many times like I have, so even in the event of the remote likely hood of a bulb going dark you will not be concerned about replacements in the future.

One more issue with LED's that members who have done this should respond to. I wonder how well the rheostat/dimmer works with LED's. I suspect not very well.

- Cheers!

dolucasi

I have to ask you about the 90's version of the Canadian DRL Laura. So is there any way to turn it off? Is it truly turning everything but the headlights on, all the time? And there is no way to turn it off?
I sometimes turn on my parking lights to benefit from the city light feature but that does not turn on the dash light as far as I recall.

LauraS

The DRL system includes àll of the lights that would come of if the headlights are turned on. A nice feature in a snow storm perhaps but otherwise not.

dolucasi

So how do you turn the DRL on? Just by turning the headlight switch Clockwise one notch? Or is there a separate switch?

LauraS

Dolucasi, The lights come on automatically with the ignition. The headlights are on low beam. To activate high beam the light switch must be on. I hope that you had a lovely Christmas. It was clear and cold here last night with temperature at -20C. Cozy in my little nest with children and grandchildren here so lfe is good even at 78!
My grandson tells me he is going to join the forum so he can pose his own questions.

dolucasi

I had no idea about this Canadian headlight feature. That is certainly not a European thing either. Interesting. We have had rain for the last week or two since we have been in a drought lately. We had family over for a change. Nice holiday season this year. Looking forward to hearing from your GS in the future.

Cheers!

LauraS

Dolucasi, Winter here has been very wielrd also with periods of rain and above 0 temps. The DRL in the 190E is pretty unique. Most just have the headlights at a reduced intensity (voltage?) and no tailights where as the 190E lights are all on full intensity.

dolucasi

What would have made sense in Canada (if allowed) would have been having "city lights" (the 5W parking lights in Europe) turn on when the light switch is turned to park and not have the dash light come on with one click over to the right. This is effectively what happens in Europe except I'm not sure of the dash lights if the ignition is on. And the second click would then turn on the headlights and the dash lights. There must have been a Canadian DMV regulation that was different than any other country I'm aware off.

Weather patterns have certainly been strange lately. Never heard of a tornedo in December either....

LauraS

Dolucasi, I am not sure why Mercedes took this way to install DRL's. I have not known of any other car model in Canada to have this feature and over the years people have asked me about it. It came this way from the dealer so I never questioned why either? Maybe it was dealer fitted? It is not a big deal and in some ways is a great idea. Sometime back in the early 1990's my husband changd the headlights to the European model like he had done to my previous cars because they offered better lighting on our remote highways where moose can sometimes wander onto with sometime fatal consequences. He never hooked up the city light feature since the headlights are on all of the time anyway.

190Efan

I vaguely remember reading something about Canada requiring daytime driving lights. It must've been in one of my daily auto magazine emails. Glad everyone had a nice Christmas as did I, strange weather included. My much loved W201 has decided that my Christmas present this year will be to drain my bank account, UGH!. I really can't complain since it's the first major work in 31 years of ownership. I've had a real challenge finding parts but amazingly, I've been able to find some needles in haystacks. Looking forward to your GS joining his forum Laura.

dolucasi

You must be back home and working on the car. What has gone wrong other than your CIS-E issues?
As for me, for the first time ever that I recall my car is having a harder time to start near 40F weather. It starts, but struggles for the first 30 seconds. Before, one quick strike and it would just start in a fraction of a second and hit 1000+ rpm right away. I will have to look at the usual suspects. Most likely the cold start valve is not firing as it should. Fortunately, I have the EHA gauge in the console so I know it is not related to fuel enrichment. Maybe that gauge is paying off already....

dolucasi

You must be back home and working on the car. What has gone wrong other than your CIS-E issues?
As for me, for the first time ever that I recall my car is having a harder time to start near 40F weather. It starts, but struggles for the first 30 seconds. Before, one quick strike and it would just start in a fraction of a second and hit 1000+ rpm right away. I will have to look at the usual suspects. Most likely the cold start valve is not firing as it should. Fortunately, I have the EHA gauge in the console so I know it is not related to fuel enrichment. Maybe that gauge is paying off already....

190Efan

It's been a myriad of issues mostly caused by aging rubber. I'm not surprised after 31 years. My finances are very unhappy but I need to understand that my W201 addiction is expensive. There are far worse things to be addicted to, imho.