Previous postings suggest that higher watt bulbs are not a good idea, as they often melt things. The dimmer is a rheostat and can be eliminated or simply bridged by a wire soldered across the terminals. That will take care of the dimmer corrosion and loose fitting contact; and will return the lights to their original bright condition, which by the way is not very bright. Some have advocated going to an LED replacement for the bulbs. Check the archives for other postings on that idea.

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1961 190Db retired
1968 220D/8 325,000
1983 300D 164,150