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#1
01-25-2015, 10:33 PM
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W123 Dash Lighting
A few years ago I replaced my dash light rheostat but the lights still seem dim even at full, so I am considering wiring around it all together. I am wondering if anyone else has ever done this and if the jumped wiring has provided more light than the usual dim-full-bright position of the rheostat.
__________________
 Don't Chrome them; polish them 
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#2
01-26-2015, 11:01 AM
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I bridged my rheostat connections and it didn't make a difference in my case. These units were NEVER very bright on the W123 and early W126 when new. Don't put in brighter bulbs, as they will overheat and place a brown film on the clear plastic prism that carries the light from the back of the unit to the front. I repainted the area where the bulb is housed with white paint. This helped a bit. On my 1981 300SD, I ended up buying a new instrument cluster (minus the instruments of course) and this greatly improved it. This was 15 years ago! Not sure if this part would even be available for the W123 (and the cost may be ridiculous!!).
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All the best, J. P. Mose 1968 250SL 1970 280SE 3.5 Cabrio 1987 560SL 1990 560SEL
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#3
01-26-2015, 01:43 PM
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I heard there are LED lightbulbs that fit our instrument clusters and are very bright. I'm gonna ask the person who told me and see if I can get us a part number.
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Current 1972 280SE 4.5 Dark Green, Cognac. Pics! 2014 Range Rover Sport Supercharged. Santorini Black, Dynamic Package, Front Climate Comfort and Visibility Package, Vision and Convenience Package. Gone But Not Forgotten 2010 Explorer Limited, 2010 R350 4MATIC, 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland, 2009 Audi A4 Cabriolet, 2009 Ford Flex, 2008 Mercedes-Benz ML350, 2008 Mercedes-Benz E350, 2007 Mercedes-Benz C230, 2005 BMW X5.
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#4
01-26-2015, 02:23 PM
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If you are at all handy with a low wattage soldering iron, the bulb can be replaced with an LED for a dime or less.
Pull the bulb from the cluster. Carefully lift the glass bulb out of the housing. Unsolder the leads and solder in the LED. Plug it in and check it. If it doesnt light, rotate it 180 degrees. Folks can argue all they want about which side the resistor should go on. At the end of the day, it makes no difference, just that its there
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1985 300D 198K sold 1982 300D 202K 1989 300E 125K 1992 940T "If you dont have time to do it safely, you dont have time to do it" "The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not."
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#5
01-27-2015, 07:35 AM
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If you google W123 dash lights you will find a number of articles and videos on this. The problems include old bulbs, bad rheostat, and damaged light tunnels. Watch a few of the videos before you do anything. I also think there is a plug-and-play LED bulb that requires no solder if you want to go that route. I did that in my Alfa GTV...
I just rebuilt the cluster in my W123 (broken odometer, leaking oil pressure gauge BIG MESS) and one of the dash lights was burnt out. I replaced the bulbs and the lighting is fine. I also cleaned the rheostat with contact cleaner but that wasn't really an issue.
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#6
02-26-2016, 05:27 PM
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I finally did it. I removed the rheostat completely, jumped the terminals, and replaced the two bulbs in the light tunnels. The condition of the cluster is all good - nothing melted, so all the lighting is now very different. I can actually see everything now at night in the cluster and center console. This must be what a w123 looked like when it was new.
__________________
Don't Chrome them; polish them
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