Recently I have noticed that just the top lines and bottom couple lines of my MFD are intermittently fading. Does anyone know if I can replace the MFD separately or am I going to have to replace the cluster as a unit?

 

so is mine. i can see that some squares are lighter than others. i would also like to know the answer to this.

 

I think this was discussed recently - try a search. IIRC, people were having the MFD replaced under warranty, so not sure how much valuable info there is here on the topic for those of us who are unfortunately not still under warranty.

I'm in the same boat; once it's sunny and over 60 degrees, I lose the bottom half of the numbers in the bottom row of the display. Gotta love Mercedes quality control.

 

A common problem with LCD displays is a loss of connectivity between the coated glass and the circuit board. The connection is established using a rubber "zebra stripe" strip. The zebra stripe has a fine-pitch of alternating conductive and insulating rubber-like material. The zebra stripe makes the connection between the nickle contacts on the glass and the tinned contacts on the PCB.

The symptoms are caused by increased contact resistance.

It is easy to fix, once the assembly is opened. The contacts and the zebra stripe are re-assembled and the "weak" segments will work fine.

 

Also.....extreme heat and cold cause LCDs to behave erratically with the symptom you describe. Once it warms up/cools off for a while in the cabin the display returns to normal.

 

Mine has been on the fritz for maybe, 6 months? It tends to come and go in severity but I'm always missing a few lines.

Chalk me up on the list too