I know where to adjust the whole dash board intensity levels, but the active display behind the steering wheel is really bright at nite...way brighter than other displays...can it be adjusted anywhere ? If I turn the intensity down all the way, the other controls are too dark.

Thanks !

The up and down arrows are the only place that I know of and since you have already done that you may have some weaker dash bulbs?? I cant think of anything else.

there's a little reset switch for the odometer on the left side of the dash. If you turn it, it controls the intensity of the dash lites. Are you saying the up and down arrows control the intenisty levels in a certain menu ?


Thanks !

The "R" button is to reset your trip odo and your flexible service miles indicator. The up and down arrows are for the backlighting intensity.

but what menu do you have to be in to set intensity with the arrow buttons on the steering wheel ???

its just the flexible svc advisor intensity I need to set...all the other lights are fine.


thanks for your help...I've only had the car a week.

The arrows will only adjust the lighting behind the gauges- You can't adjust the brightness of the on board computer screen.

The up/down arrows may adjust lighting intensity on the E55, Vic, but the reset knob on the left side of the dash does this on the new C-Class (in addition to resetting functions). Read your manual.

On my C320, the reset knob does adjust the intensity of the "multi-function display", in addition to the dash instrument lighting. When turned fully left, the background in the MFD is too bright and gray in appearance... I use the reset knob to turn down the intensity until the background in the MFD is Black. Yes, it does diminish the levels on the gauges to a lower level than you might like, but it's acceptable to me. If the reset knob works on the gauges but has no affect on your MFD, you might add this notation to your list of dealer to-dos under warranty.

Easy there Bob......I have an E55 not a C-Class and my reset button does not adjust the levels of lighting on my computer. Read your manual and Ill read mine.

With respect Vic, Bagwell posted an inquiry on this "C-CLass" forum, asking for pertinent advice concerning his C-Class automobile. It was apparent to me long before your third (misleading) post to Bagwell that the E55 operates differently than the C-class.

In order not to lead people astray, my constructive suggestion would be that you preface your remarks on this forum with, "I'm not sure about the C-Class reset knob, but on my E-Class, etc."

The action must be slow on the E-Class forum...

Yes it is slow in the E-Class forum and you might want to preface your response by telling Bagwell to read his manual instead of just stating it like you did.

This site is for everyone and not everything that we state is always correct but we don't need rude comments. Your statements make one to believe that I was deliberately misleading Bagwell when I was just offering my opinion- Obviously I don't have a C-Class as my signature notates- I guess I will have to put that in all my posts too now.

Vic, the only person on this thread being rude is you. Well, I guess there are now two. Stop being an ***, Vic. If you are going to be so overly sensitive to remarks, such as MB-BOB's, you are the wrong person to be a moderator.

Come on guys...... Let's just get along and continue enjoying the forums... It's all good...

I have the same issue on my dash display. The MFD is way too bright and contains information that isn't that necessary as compared to the speedo and tach, so I don't understand why it's so bright. Does anyone know how to remove the plastic panel in front of the MFD so I can put window tinting in front of it. Or maybe brigther bulbs on the rest of the dash so I can turn the whole thing down.

Maybe if a bunch of us complain to our dealers and they take it up the ladder to MB they'll come out with a Tech Bulletin.

...that MB spent the time and effort to match the color of the MFD/Radio/climate control (C320) LCD displays to the orange backlighting behind the gauges. IMO, nothing looks cheaper than mismatched gauges and radio displays, one in orange and the radio display in fluorescent green.

As far as the MFD being too bright, I feel it's because of two reasons:

1) a limitation in the technology in LCD displays... the range of adjustment in the LCD panel is less that the range of adjustment in the conventional instrument bulbs.
2) a compromise between day and night conditions. If you wear any significant shade of sunglasses during the day, you'll find it hard to read the MFD. So, Buellwinkle, if you manage to put a square on window tint over the MFD for nightime matching purposes, you might find the MFD impossible to read during the day, especially with sunglasses.

Actually, it's not the letters/numbers brightness that is an issue to me at night, it's the background color of the MFD display. To counter this, I turn the reset knob full right (clockwise), then back it off (counterwise) until the MFD background turns from light gray to near black. I notice that the MFD display dims somewhat before the rest of the gauges start to dim. If you play with it for awhile, you can probably find an acceptable setting.

As an addendum to MB-BOB's post, I think that some car companies, especially German ones, set the dimmer to lower peripheral lighting before anything else. It's 2:30pm now, so I can't test it, but if I remember correctly, when I lower my dash lighting, the climate controls, window switches, and map light switches all dim before any of the lighting in the instrument cluster. Since the human eye's peripheral vision is more sensitive to light, I think this makes sense, though I do agree, the LCD does not need to be so bright at night.

Is the dash lighting on a C230K orange at night? My ML was essentially white. I won't have the new car for another 2 months and did the test drive during the day. Help anyone?