SUHAIL

Yesterday while diriving normally, the Instrument Cluster only (not the Nav, Audio/Tel) went blank. (Dark). The car, a 00 S500 drove as normal, upon returning home, the car was parked for a few hours. I started the car again, this time no problems. I had to make a few errands so I took the car, no problem.

This morning I had the car scanned at my local mechanic, the only fault recorded was in the Airmatic and BAS from last month, indicating low voltage, There was no fault recorded for the instrument cluster.

Together we decided that it may be time to change the battery in the car which we did, he is going to do some research on this issue. Any one out there who faced a similar problem.

Many years ago used to own a W124 E300, the windsheild wipers came on eratically just before the battery died

esntrk1

Yes, your cluster is going to evenutally go bad. This is common problem for 2000 W220. 2001+ models received a modified circuit board. When it finally fails you can replace with a new one or have it repaired.

SUHAIL

Can I take it in for replacement of just the board you mention. was there a recall notice for this issue

DMI+RY

On MY01 S500AMG I had recently replaced IC (Instrument Cluster board).
The symptoms were similar... It just blacked out for about 80%, then totally blacked out and then in a few minutes all gauges stopped...
I heard from other posts and forums that IC installed on MY00-MY01 models had some glitches and eventually went down.
The new IC added a feature - digital speed readout (from the menu where you can see total mileage, tire pressure, etc.) which was cool!
Hopefully the new IC will last longer...

esntrk1

DMI+RY, did you replace the entire instrument cluster or just the circuit board? It sounds like you replaced the entire instrument cluster. Replacing just the circuit board would not yield any new features or functionality. If anyone knows how to get the circuit board alone, please share.

csumt76

Recently those clusters were on backorder from Germany.... I changed one in a S500 last week. All the orders should be filled by mid november.. It happens quite frequently and you may have to replace one of the 5 amp fuses in the driver side fuse box under hood. I think the positions are 22, 23, 24... check em.

esntrk1

Take a look at my other post: https://mbworld.org/forums/showpost....83&postcount=8

DMI+RY

The entire IC was replaced.
This was covered under warranty though (was my last month within mfg. warranty ) otherwise it would end in over $1k in costs (may be a little less through my wholesale account).
Anyways, one more thing I have to add.
There was a problem with memory (steering column was not memorized and/or moved with 2 keys out of 3 I have). I had to bring this car 3 times and every time it was supposedly "fixed" until I showed up and noticed that NOTHING changed.
Anyways, to make a long story short, the last time (it was 4th time and in the beginning of October) the Globe Mercedes (Fairfield, NJ) managed to fix the dang thing with memory setting but they screwed up my 1-month old IC (that they replaced recently). So they ordered a new one and that went on backorder for 6 weeks.
Last Tuesday the job was done and I received a brand new backordered IC (just arrived from Germany) and that has a new additional features.
First thing - you can change metric and imperial settings (i.e. Celsius and Fahrenheit temperature as well as Miles/Kilometers) without stopping the car - which is cool because I grew up in Europe and sometimes metrics make more sense for me.
Also tyre pressure you can now measure in Bar or PSI.
One thing I also noticed that they changed fuel consumption algorithm. At the end it comes out with the same numbers, but it calculates differently. Previously when you cruising down the hill on idle and reset counter you would get instant 99mpg reading, now it won’t work like that…
Besides that, the new addition was in personalized settings - a few additional options.

Yes, and one more thing