funkgab

Well i have an 87 w124, and you know the cluster lights suck! i was thinking about just dropping in leds, of the same size.. would they work fine? i mean in terms of melting the plastic or something like that

and i don't want to upgrade whole cluster out again as i have already swapped it due to a dead speedo :/ so it shows incorrect mileage haha

Saijin_Naib

LEDs = Less heat. They don't produce light by heating a filament, they produce it by having the electrons drop an energy level, releasing a photon of light.
/physics

Anyway, they should be fine so long as you keep them in spec (Voltage of original filament bulbs, wattage, use discretion).

Also, you should look into the prisms from the later model clusters (92+?) which are larger, therefore collecting more light.

funkgab

wow fast reply..
well i was looking into prisms, but doesn't that require the whole assembly to be swapped? like i said i already swapped the cluster because the speedometer and odometer didn't work.. the only other thing i did was retrofit a later model outside temp display

have any idea how i can find out what the voltage is and where i can find the proper leds? (i was looking through google and ebay)

Saijin_Naib

http://www.peachparts.com/Wikka/W124InstCluster
According to this, the prisms are a direct swap.

This is an acceptable bulb replacement:
http://www.bulbtronics.com/Search-Th...ookieSupport=1

Looks like 12v (no surprises there) and 3w. Again, with LEDs you should be able to get away with more wattage as they produce much less heat. Use discretion.

The ***** of it will be finding LEDs with the proper base or retroing LEDs onto the proper basing.

As for the fast reply, I'm up late dodging sleep and bored out of my mind. Forum time

funkgab

hmm if it is a direct swap, i shall retro the prisms in when i have time hehe.. i thought 3w was alot for older cars, i thought most use 1w or so, but sounds great.. also the bulb you posted, is it a yellow bulb or a white bulb? not that it matters.. just want all the visibility i can get

and literally "dodging/procrastinating" sleep huh? can't have any good effects on you.. trust me.. i've experimented too much with it :P

Saijin_Naib

Well, if you want MAX visibility look for a bulb with anywhere under 5100k color temp :P Yellow can be easier for your eyes to focus on, increasing viewability. The closer you get to blue/white, the less visible it actually becomes.

Not sure on the bulb, I'm just using stock bulbs/prisms. I agree, it seems a bit dim but it is also not intrusive at night which is key. I believe that is why Benz stuck with the lighting color it did.

funkgab

well i agree with that i guess, the orange does keep my eyes nice and dilated but i do have an 87 model so its probably a bit darker.. its kind of sad that i can't really see most of the gauges because its so dark (yes i have replaced the dimmer assembly as well) and the retrofitted temp gauge is the brightest thing in my cluster haha but ill get those prisms for sure, and upgrade to sylvanias.. way better to be safe than sorry (learned the hard way for many things)

Saijin_Naib

According to the PeachParts Wiki, I have the upgraded prisms. With those and the stock bulbs, my ambient temp gauge is no brighter than the gauge faces. It works out rather nicely actually.

funkgab

sounds great, i will order the parts now thanks alot saijin hehe

ps2cho

Funkgab, my 88 300TE's instrument cluster is amazing, while my 87 260E's is absolutely terrible. You don't need LED's. You need the updated prisms or just clean the ones you have. I haven't got around to fixing it yet, but it is so bad you can't see the bottom of the display at night.

Saijin, I didn't know the prisms were able to be dropped in? That is great to hear! I will order the updated prism to fix my issue

funkgab

one bit of problem.. i can't seem to find the prisms anywhere.. :/ is it a dealer/junkyard only item?

ps2cho

Probably...I can't find it online anywhere either. I am going to shoot Phil at peachparts an email to see if he can source it. I'll let you know if I have any success.

bigdogbitu

I used a method found somewhere in the forums. I wanted the original look but just brighter. I took out my prisms and cut them back off the light bulb about a 1/4 of an inch. Why? No melting issues using 5 watt bulbs! I then painted the bulb cavities white which increased the illumination throughout the entire light channels. Works great!

funkgab

Alright thanks ps2cho, give me the price too if you do
And big dog the cluster looks great.. Not too great at cutting things tho if I do, usually they stop working ;p

Saijin_Naib

Bigdog, do you think painting with a reflective chrome paint would improve even beyond the white paint?

funkgab

also what kind of paint did you use? i thought if stuff gets on lightbulbs they go pop

Saijin_Naib

Well, yeah, try to keep anything off the bulbs themselves. However, in the area around the collectors and bulbs you can paint to reflect more light.

bigdogbitu

Chrome paint? Now that was a thought..............

I used some bright white primer paint laying around in the garage. I painted the bulb area and along the light channels too! Checked for melting issues several times and there were none. I saw a post somewhere where someone gave a tutorial on it. Maybe it was just me but the original even light look matching the rest of the instrument panel was my choice. I tried LED's but the color was off, the light was uneven and they occasionally flickered from time to time. I have LED's in other areas of the car like the footwells, glove box and trunk but not for the cluster!

funkgab

good idea, i shall paint the channels and bulb area if i find the little suckers.. and i guess i will go led for the glovebox and trunk as well.. did you do an led swap on the maplight and rear light too?

bigdogbitu

I tried the LED's there but decided to leave them alone. The light wasn't much brighter than the orginals and the color was off to me. However, the LED's in the trunk looked good! Some LED's tucked behind the trunk light out of the way and two more on either side in the corners. Doesn't look that bright with the dark carpet but reflects well off objects in the trunk...............

bigdogbitu

bump

funkgab

trunk looks good.. so far im thinking about doing the trunk.. not too sure about the glovebox yet, and the license plate lights

124 forlife

hello guys I am new here. Superbrightleds.com/car_bulb is the place where you can find deshboard led lights with a sucket in diferent colors.They go for less than 2$ a piece.Have fun.

funkgab

mmm im actually set on just keeping the oem look, leds seem to throw it off :/ so im going to just upgrade the prisms and change the bulbs later on

bigdogbitu

Yea, good choice!

I love LED's but just not in the cluster!