I recently bought this car with an inoperative instrument cluster. I understand I can’t just replace the cluster with a used one because they are VIN# specific. If I buy a new one (I can get it around wholesale) and install it, can I take it to the dealer to get it coded for the original mileage or does the original cluster have to be in the car for them to extract the mileage first? How much labor should they charge to do the coding or if they install the new cluster?

I had my instrument cluster rebuilt by George Murphy, the head tech guy for MBCA. About $300.00 in my case, contact info on George will be in the STAR mag.

Tim

ati,
when you place the order through mercedes they will need the mileage when they take the order, the mercedes center will enter it in the new cluster before they ship it, they will charge an additional $25 coding fee. when the cluster is installed the dealer, or other shop that has a mercedes stardiagnosis system will have to version code the cluster. the in formation is pulled from the old cluster and sent to the new one, you pull the data from the old, remove the old, then you install the new one and send all the data to the new one. it can also be entered manually if you know what equipment the vehivle has, but as i said before you will need to take it somewhere to have it done. where are you located? let me know if you are near me i can tell you where you can go to have it done.
Ray
mercedessd@cox.net
by the way as far as i know nobody can fix these newer clusters as of yet.