I just saw an ad on eBay for super bright LEDs that retrofit directly for the incandescent bulbs for gauge illunication on a 126. Plug-in replacement. This guy is out of Wilmington, NC.

Has anyone tried them and do they work as well as claimed?

Thanks.

(If need be, I can post the link, but I don't know if that would run counter to any forum rule)

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Tom Evans
69 280SE 91K (wish I still had it)
73 220D 98K
78 300D 134K
78 300D 185K
81 300SD 301K (still have)
82 300SD 321K (still have)
84 300D 268K
84 6.2 Diesel GMC Suburban 225K (a whole different story!)

You don't need to go to ebay to get those things, they are everywhere. Unfortunately they also vary in quality. If your instrument panel is dim, I HIGHLY recommend cleaning off the fiber optic prisms on the top of the socket area, as they usually get dirty and/or melt.

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TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

I've done what you have already described. I've even taken other cluster housings apart and selected the best prisms. I am using the correct bulbs and not 194s which will just melt the prisms. I've even played around with individual LEDs, but couldn't get the same light dispersement as an incandescent bulb.

I was just hoping that someone had come up with a good, working retrofit.

__________________
Tom Evans
69 280SE 91K (wish I still had it)
73 220D 98K
78 300D 134K
78 300D 185K
81 300SD 301K (still have)
82 300SD 321K (still have)
84 300D 268K
84 6.2 Diesel GMC Suburban 225K (a whole different story!)

Do a search here. There was a good thread on that about 3 months ago.

I've changed many of mine. After changing them all I experienced a number of problems and haven't been able to solve a couple of them.

In my case, I had to go back to filament bulbs for illumination of the cluster. Since the LED's are directional the didn't provide as much light to the prisms as the filaments so I reveresed that. My battery bulb wouldn't light until the engine revved up as not enough feed current was being provided to the alternator. While not essential, I did go back to filaments for that. They've worked great for the turn signals and some of the other warning functions but they caused a problem with my seat belt warning. This along with a bunch of nagging electrical problems made my effort not really worthwhile. A different style LED for illumination has worked for others but I was trying a single LED style. The 5 or 9 LED style is said to work.

Bob, been there, done that, got the T-shirt. I went back to incandescents bulbs when I couldn't get enough light into the prisms. I tried LEDs from the top shining down. I tried LEDs at the bottom of the cluster shining upward. Good old incandescents seem to still work the best. At least on the 126 models.

__________________
Tom Evans
69 280SE 91K (wish I still had it)
73 220D 98K
78 300D 134K
78 300D 185K
81 300SD 301K (still have)
82 300SD 321K (still have)
84 300D 268K
84 6.2 Diesel GMC Suburban 225K (a whole different story!)