Sorry for the dumb question, but where is the fuse panel on my 85 300D?

__________________
85 300D
245K and running strong

There is a black cover underneath the hood, right up close to the firewall, directly in front of the driver. Remove the cover and the fuses will magically appear.

it is an art removing the fuse cover and putting it back down.. but you will get it down to a science soon

Yep that's the spot. Thank you.

__________________
85 300D
245K and running strong

...some of the threads have aired the pros and cons of various types of fuses: the "original" type with their ceramic base material and either an aluminum or copper strip, and the newer glass fuses. My fuse panel is a mish-mash of "classic" style fuses and I had considered updating to at least the copper strip fuses or even the glass ones. In any case, I need to know how many of each kind.

The card attached to the inside of my cover does not show anything powered from position 5; can anyone explain why it nonetheless has an 8A white fuse in it?

There are 14 numbered fuses and four "letter" fuses, a total of 18, or 17 if number 5 really is a "dummy" position. According to the list on the card, I will need: 9 (or 10), 8-Amp; 7, 16-Amp; and 1, 25-Amp fuses.

Caveat: the card notes that, for some accessories (heated seats, etc), some of the fuses must be replaced with larger ones. Therefore, your list may be different. My list probably covers the "most common" situations but you need to double-check for your own car.

I suspect that many M-Bs from the 1970s and 80s are very similar as regards fuses.

Jeremy

__________________

"Buster" in the '95

Our all-Diesel family
1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car
2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car
Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022)
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762
"Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz."
-- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970