Update:

This electrical prob. has now escalated to the car not being able to shift out of park, also brake lights are not functioning. WTF! Instead of horsing around with trying to troubleshoot this myself (especially removing the instrument cluster) i elected to simply have it towed to the dealer. It seems very simple for the dealer to diagnose these problems so the idea of sending the cluster to some unknown to save maybe 50% not including my time seems kind of ridiculous. I am definitely going to throw a fit about some sort of "cost sharing plan" as the car is beyond warranty but i also believe that you have to "pay to play". I will write an update as soon as MBSF calls me back. Thanks!

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05 E55
03 E500