Weird dash light problem

[bhatt]

Took apart my 300SDL dash to find the "octopus" bulb that lights the fiber optic cluster. All of my dash lights were dead, with the exception of the shifter (which uses a separate bulb on this car).

When I plugged the new bulb in, it didn't work. Noticed that I could get the new bulb to alternate between one of three modes:
1)Completely off
2)Partially on - I'd guess about 30-40% of the usual brightness
3)Fully on

Can't figure out why the bulb is intermittent.. tried the following and ALL of these things resulted in no change -- the bulb has a mind of it's own..

-Wiggled bulb in socket
-Held wire and wiggled socket
-Tugged on wiring
-Pushed on wires a bit where they come out of the harness
-Turned headlight switch off and on numerous times
-Wiggled ignition switch/key

Can't get the light to do anything different.. HELP!!! This is driving me nuts and I don't want to take apart the console/radio/ashtray again if I don't have a good idea on what to try before going in!

Thanks!
Neal