The clock/gear position display on the dash of my 2002 E320 has faded out... you can actually still see the display very weakly lit if you look closely enough.

Is this a replacement that's easily performed?... is there a battery that supports this... what's the diagnostic and/or replacement process for addressing this problem?

__________________
Todd
2002 E320 4Matic
1998 E320 4Matic Wagon
1992 300E

The culprit is the ribbon cable that is connected to the various displays...the conductive strip deteriorates at certain areas, causing pixels to drop out.

This should have been a recall campaign by Mercedes as many of the models equipped with the same displays suffer this problem...but then again, you know Mercedes and how they bend over backwards for this sort of thing.

My CLK has the same ailment...the temperature gauge and the shift indicator/clock. I find that when the car is out on warm days, it seems to restore itself...I guess the conductive lines expand enough to complete the circuit.

The only fix offered by the dealer is a full cluster replacement...$1200 or so!

There is a guy on eBay who will offer to repair your cluster for a few hundred $$$.

There was also a thread posted by a member who apparently has some skill with electronics. He used care, a powerful magnifying lens and a conductive pen to restore the ribbon lines and get his cluster to work properly.

__________________
2009 ML350 (106K) - Family vehicle
2001 CLK430 Cabriolet (80K) - Wife's car
2005 BMW 645CI (138K) - My daily driver
2016 Mustang (32K) - Daughter's car

Beckmann technologies in No Carolina can re-pixel those clusters

__________________
MERCEDES Benz Master Guild Technician (6 TIMES)
ASE Master Technician
Mercedes Benz Star Technician (2 times)
44 years foreign automotive repair
27 Years M.B. Shop foreman (dealer)
MB technical information Specialist (15 years)
190E 2.3 16V ITS SCCA race car (sold)
1986 190E 2.3 16V 2.5 (sold)
Retired Moderator

I've heard these guys http://www.paspeedo.com are pretty good.