Do new bulbs burn brighter than old ones. Have panel out
and was thinking about putting new bulbs in.

Gary

Yes they do. As a bulb ages, the tungsten filament vaporizes and coats the inside of the glass envelope, gives it a silver appearance. Replace them all.

Jeff,
Will replace them all.

Thanks,
Gary

I would replace the bulbs with the exact voltage as a higher voltage might darken the inside of the glass envelope.

Ever since I heard incorrect wattage bulbs will burn out
cruse control, I've only used Osram bulbs. These are what my car came with.

Gary

Some OEM bulbs have a plastic covering to allow the bulb to give out more of an "ambient" light. It's difficult to save the cover off the old ones, and most replacements don't have them, so you might notice an increased "glow" with the replacements. This is especially true with the backlit A/C vent dials.

My '85 300CD had the "dim light" problem assoiated with older MB's. When changing out all the dash bulbs (might as well do them all while in there), my mechanic suggested by-passing the dimmer switch...claimed it would help a little. As I never dim the dash lights, I let him do that.

Don't know if it really helped but my dash lights are sure better than they were. Still not what I'd like.

Hard to believe that this nice car has such a bad dash lighting system.

Nic