The little tiny lite bulb inside the right side passenger vent thumbscrew in the dash is kaput...how might a MB Tech remove it and replace the bulb without breaking anything? Please help so I can get a good nites sleep again!!!

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Jim

1992 500E
2007 CLK63
2003 Audi RS6
2001 Audi allroad

This post might help....

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?threadid=12576&highlight=vent+removing

I couldn't, for some reason, pull up the MBCA article. Getting the vent out consists of using several small screwdrivers to gently pull up the four spring clamps you'll see when you look inside the vent, and holding them all up at the same time, the vent will pull out.

Be careful with getting the right bulb. If you go to the dealer, they may give you a higher-wattage bulb which will burn too hot and eventually melt the socket. As I recall, the right bulb is something like 0.5 watt (the other one is > 1 watt)

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Steve
'93 400E

I'll give it a shot...sounds straight forward but with my luck sometimes I break something critical. I thought maybe there was a trick or special tool but I guess not. I also couldn't open the MBCA article ...anyway.... Thanx much for the helpful insight people.

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Jim

1992 500E
2007 CLK63
2003 Audi RS6
2001 Audi allroad

A 3" putty knife between the vent and the dash face worked for me. Gently insert one in the top and bottom until the spring tabs are released and pull the vent out. The center vent has an allen screw that must be removed.

I didn't have 4 small screwdrivers so I made 2 tools out of a metal clothes hanger and it worked out nice and easy. Don't know why I thought it was going to be a pain...my 190E vent was a pain as I remember. And thanx on the bulb insight...I had an extra 1.2 Watt bulb that works on the lite under the shifter area...I checked with my partsman and indeed it calls for a 'frosted' 0.6 Watt bulb...I'm happy I asked you guys..thanx again.

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Jim

1992 500E
2007 CLK63
2003 Audi RS6
2001 Audi allroad

hey guys -

the MBCA article is there, the link just has an error in it. the last bit should be vents.htm not vents.htmon.

yeah, I'm a webmaster by day...

here it is -

http://www.mbca.org/MBCA_Remove_dash_vents.htm

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Chris
2007 E550 4Matic - 61,000 Km - Iridium Silver, black leather, Sport package, Premium 2 package
2007 GL450 4Matic - 62,000 Km - Obsidian Black Metallic, black leather, all options
1998 E430 - sold
1989 300E - 333,000 Km - sold
1977 280E - sold
1971 250 - retired

"And a frign hat. They gave me a hat at the annual benefits meeting. I said. how does this benefit me. I dont have anything from the company.. So they gave me a hat." - TheDon

Glad it worked out, Jim. I find those kind of tasks to be kind of satisfying (when they go right!) Makes you appreciate German engineering. Most things are not too hard to get apart, but seems there's always a little "trick" to it.

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Steve
'93 400E

Take the glove box liner out and pull the light fixture out of the vent and remove and replace the bulb

I wish it were that easy but the 500E has no glove box, instead the passenger airbag is there so removing the vent is the only way to do it...but, luckily...it wasn't that hard after all. I have the new part number for the correct frosted bulb which superceeds the previous ones if anyone needs it...also got the number for the bulb that lites up the shifter gate...they are quite different...make sure you get the right one in there...some parts guys will just give you a little bulb without checking the correct wattage...which could spell trouble down the road.

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Jim

1992 500E
2007 CLK63
2003 Audi RS6
2001 Audi allroad

I read the messages on this thread and will tackle the center vent again. It appears I will need to just be more hardcore and really wrench this vent mechanism out! I am aware of the allen nut for the vent ON/OFF feature. The center tabs to move the vent direction left and right are missing on mine. There are the 4 recessed tabs on top and I was thinking this only holds the other fascia and not full vent mechanism since I had two left tabs and the metal tabs unclipped and the outer fascia came loose as I wedged between the instrument pod and the left side of the center vent piece. The right most side would not budge. I can remove the airbag if that helps me. I will do the cloth hanger trick to have all 3 tabs unclipped and apply more brute force.

I guess I am "venting" finding this task not as easy as it seems! Any additional tips, please pass on!

Brute force will just break it. It's not in there tight. There's a screw on the right side. You might need to remove the glove compartment to see it (just pull out the little round gray friction fasteners and unclip the light, being careful not to short it).

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AlexTheSeal: hack mechanic, inadvertent drifting champ, builder of infernal devices, professional epistemologist

'87 300D Turbo, roadtrip mileage champ (for sale!)
'92 Isuzu Trooper, mudder extraordinaire (for sale!)
'82 Honda Silverwing, cockroach of motorcycles
And various boring daily drivers...

Oh thanks I see that now! I have an airbag instead of the glovebox and removed this phillips scew and the bezel is now off. Impressed that this is actually metal, not plastic. The rest of the vent itself is still stuck in the dash. The allen nut is detached. Now I think the dash foam may have shrunken down and is impeding the pull out of the complete unit.

The real reason to access the center vent is the center tab piece on the middle vent has broken off on both of them.

Here is a pic of what I am talking about. The back half(plastic) is there but the tab to move the vent left-right direction has gone bye-bye. Removal of the bezel actually allows the vent fins to be removable so I really don't need to go further in the removal process. Barring an umnconvenient visit to the junk yard, does anyone have spare pieces of this adjustment piece?