stormtigers

Hi Fellas

I have been quite keen for some time to change the dash look in my 300CE to something a bit more sporty, similar to what AMG do with some of their dash layouts when they change the speedo.

After fiddling around for awhile with design I got together with a friend and we put some together. Unfortunately the speedo calibration marks from our template was out of wack so the speedo marks were not aligned.

We figured 240kmh should be standard layout but wasn't the case !



Anyway here's the pics of the first two gauges installed.
When the speedo get's fixed I will re-post.

Like 'em ?

BEFORE

AFTER


DAMN YOU HAVE TO BE CAREFUL PUTTING NEEDLES BACK IN - SLIGHTLY LOW SETTINGS ON THE ACCESSORIES.

stormtigers

SPEEDO held up in traffic ! Hahahahahahah Xmas Mail Traffic !

Anyway whilst I was waiting I had a little play (I hate it when he does that) and came up with some addityional add-ons for the white gauge face look.

NOW before your berate or go YUCK or whatever, this is my FIRST ATTEMPT and I have learnt quite a few lessons.

For example some images were a little large, the printing medium needs to be high quality, and LED replacement bulbs are ideal behind for illumination of the warning signs ! And I also used too many colours. I will be reverting back to red, black and orange.

Anyway it was just a bit of fun - not sure whether I like them or not.

RHW

Have you seen the zebrano trim that would fit inside the clear plastic/around the speedo and tach?

RBYCC

The replica AMG white face gauge overlays were available a few years ago and very inexpensive.....

Jim's500E

It looks well done in the pix !

What did you use to make them?

stormtigers

Yes I had seen them and they are still available.
Unfortunately he graduations on the MPH one's are not in synch with the OZ delivery 240kmh gauge, it is quite a bit out, and they don;t do just kmh ones.

I have opted for this look recognising the fact that my car is equipped with a Zender styling body kit. This is the original mockup I did of the design using the AMG gauge look as the basis for what I wanted to achieve.

stormtigers

To-Scale Scans of Originals, modified drawings, re-printed onto photo quality paper then thermo sealed and cut out with small edging overlap to retain seal.

WDB124066

That's not bad Stormtigers!

I saw a while back the instrument surround done in wood, looked very nice indeed! That was the binnicle not the flat "back of gauge" piece you often see.

stormtigers

Okay after some more refinement and some other attempts with colors, these are the one's I have had in place for a few days and they are growing on me.






PS The new Speedo dial has been completed so stay tuned for the complete package installed pictures.

stormtigers

Well after much experimentation I have finally put all the pieces together and finished this little project.
Items Used :

Set of Customised White Face Gauge Dials and Warning Light Inserts.
These overlay the existing dial cluster and with the inserts just slide in on the side of the cluster after removing existing ones.
These are heat sealed in thin transparent film. Zender logo was added to complement my vehicle's body kit (Zender of course) and the MB Star was added to the big blank space on the accessories gauge. They use existing mounting screws and clips from your existing cluster arrangement.

Colored Cool White Wedge Bulbs for Instrument Lighting and Colored B8.5D LED bulbs for warning light panel and indicators. Right hand warning lights are wedge bulbs inserted into existing sockets (red LED).

ILLUMINATED WITH HIGH BEAM ON




NORMAL STATE

E420guy

Stormtiger, I like the white face gauges with the chrome rings. It looks really good, but I'm not sure how I feel about the warning light inserts. Anyway, how hard was the to do? How do you get the white face gauges in there?

stormtigers

I can tell you .....

But then I'd have to kill you

Not that hard really my friend. Cluster removal is a little tricky if you haven't done it before but there's about 6 lead blocks plugged into the back as well as the speedo cable. Once you have the biggest round pin plug removed which is quite tight, the cluster comes out a bit further and you can get your hand in to undo the speedo cable.


Once you have the instrument cluster out there is about 8 screws holding the 3 modules together in the cluster. Once they are separated the white faces are laid "on top of" the existing dials so there's no glueing or damage to the standard face. The speedo basically uses 2 small screws, the accessory gauge a screw, a locator pin and a u shape at the top which the dial slips into and the tacho and clock is similar.


Probably the trickiest part of the whole thing is where you have to remove needles from gauges you need to pass them over the pin and let them rest at the furthest point, mark that point and try to get them back on at that point again. Other guys have done it without doing this and of course the gauge is reading weird ! It's tricky because a couple of them have a tiny slot in the middle of the needle base which must locate on an equally tiny pin. Tooky a couple goes but I got them right. Once you've had the cluster out its dead easy pulling it again and making the adjustments.

The chrome rings were already installed on mine. A bit tricky to fit I imagne as you need to reveal the glue strip on the back of them then pass them though to the front of the cluster inside the glass, position it correctly around the black fascia then put a little pressure on it to make it stick.

I also refreshed the needles with a little bottle of fluorescent paint from Hippo in the USA, about $5 with more than enough to do all the needles and they look great.

The gauge dials are sealed in side a heat sealed plastic so they won't fade or curl and they can be made to any configuration you need. They come out at around $50, $60 with custom logo if so desired one to be added to the speedo.

There are other one's that are stickers, not a big fan of them as first and foremost they didn't do kilometre speedo's and secondly they glue to the gauge dial to the face of your existing dial. You use water to place it and if you happen to miss a bubble underneath the sticker it looks terrible.

PM me if you want more details !

E420guy

Wow, Thanks Stormtiger! I ask because I found a place over here that will customize the face plates to say some thing, like "John's E420" or something along those lines. I thought it would be nice to have that personalized touch. I have no intentions of ever selling my E420 since it was a gift to me on father's day, so it's something I'm highly considering.

stormtigers

Easy done ! I played with couple ideas just for fun mainly on the accessories gauge as it had a large blank space in the middle..

I do know of one guy who has a similar words on his speedo - his name of course - sort fo like this...

E420guy

Yup, you hit the nail on the head. I like that on the speedometer. Ahh, but...I'm wondering if they can do personalization in gold? IE, "John's E420".

stormtigers

Anything can be done John boy !



Big thing to remember though is gold printed as a colour is only an approximation of the color of real gold.

What color is your car - would gold face suit you better than white ?

E420guy

My car....It's black with the gray lower half. I do have the gold roof runners and rear window trim...I'm thinking that's how it was purchased. It has the Black Leather interior...I have a pic in my garage here. I don't think the gold face would look good.

stormtigers

Yeah agree there - as I said when you have gold lettering done on wallets and things it's done in gold leaf and has to be cold punched which I would have thought was not an option for a speedo dial, or else it is a colored representation of gold which never really looks the real thing.

I honestly think white face dials would set your dash off nicely though and break up the monotony of everything in black. Not too mention they reek of sporty ! As for the wording John's E320 - could be done basically in any color on a white face and still look good. Dark Blue, Dark Grey and also whatever font you choose be it script , plain thick thin.

If you have any ideas just let me know and I can create a demo of it to show you !

E420guy

Stormtiger, you rock, brother...I don't care what the bathroom walls say about you....you're ok in my book!

stormtigers

Can you check the phone number they are written on the bathroom walls ?
I think it might be the wrong one - phone hasn't rung in ages !

E420guy

LOL....it's just a saying, my man....

stormtigers

Actually I came across a post which showed couple AMG Gauge dial pictures and it was an option to have your name or initials added to the dial face when you ordered the vehicle so your idea is not that "left field". Sometimes it was added at the top others down the bottom just below the odometer.

stormtigers

Reviving an old thread - at the request of someone on another forum I did a video of the white face gauges at night in action.

It also happens to include the sound of the Magnaflow 3 inch Cat replacement at 80 km/h for those interested in whether the sound is a killer.

1988 300CE with White Face Gauge Mods running at night & Magnaflow 3 inch Free Flow Cat

Magnaflow Cat at idle

HJoeSA

super late to the party! But do you still have contact of your friend/ anyone to recommend that can make custom face plates for me for a R107?

cheers!

khomer2

HJoeSA hasnt been active on the forums for 4 years.

https://www.heiler-tachodesign.de/na...s=r107&search=

There may be cheaper (sticker-type) versions online