LED interior and gauge cluster

[chimchongdlight]

Hey a friend of mine can get me free LED interior and cluster lights. Only thing is he cant find out which ones i need. Do you guys knows? Let me know if u can. I need all the interior lights and the gauge cluster bulbs

[W202FTW]

Do you have a preface lift instrument cluster or a face-lifted cluster?

[chimchongdlight]

I believe facelift cluster. Mines a 96 c280 sport and the manufacture date is 96 also

[MikeD]

I believe facelift cluster. Mines a 96 c280 sport and the manufacture date is 96 also

If your cluster is still the original cluster that came with your car then it is pre-facelift (facelift happened somewhere in 97). I'm also changing out the cluster bulbs because half of mine went out (not kidding), but I haven't had any luck with finding the right bulb sizes either.

[chimchongdlight]

O ok. So preface. Ill take a pic tomarrow

Yea. Once i find out what siE my bulbs are for the interior domes and gauge cluster. My friend said he will just give em to me. Sweet deal but i cant find out what it is. I think wichipong might know

EARTH TO WICHIPONG!! CHIME IN!!!

[wichipong]

i have those regular ones handy... just need to get the number and take pictures... will let you know by tom

[chimchongdlight]

Cool cool. Yea get me all the LEDs for interior lights. And if u could cluster lights too. Thanks man. I knew u knew. Ur whole interior is LED'd right? Got pics on hand?

[wichipong]

let me see.... but yeah whole interior is LED... mostly festoon bulbs 6418 two up front and one on the rear then a wedge type bulb like 194 for the map light...

[chimchongdlight]

Thanks bro. I just let him know. Should be getting em by this week

[W202FTW]

It's possible to change the cluster over to LEDs on the pre-face instrument clusters. I changed mines over to orange LEDs, but got bored with them very quickly, and they didn't turn out as bright as I thought they would be.

SOURCE: superbrightleds.com
Unfortunately I do not remember which ones I bought.

[chimchongdlight]

how many of them are back there? i want to change every single one possible...anyone got pics of their cluster with LED bulbs?

[W202FTW]

You only have to swap out 4 bulbs to cover all of the gauges and the needles. I don't have my receipts so I looked up what closely resembles the ones that I ordered:

You'll need two of these:
http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/store/index.cgi?action=DispPage&Page2Disp=%2Fspecs%2FWLED-x5.htm

And two of these:
http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/store/index.cgi?action=DispPage&Page2Disp=%2Fspecs%2FB8.htm

I tried to change out the temperature, odometer and clock bulbs (1.2w twist, lock bulbs) but they don't seem to work on those, which makes sense since the post-facelift instrument clusters ALL use 1.2w bulbs for everything, and I haven't found replacements for those.

[W202FTW]

Also, use some bulb grease, since 3 out of 4 of the ones I bought had connection issues. The grease seems to help with that.

[chimchongdlight]

You only have to swap out 4 bulbs to cover all of the gauges and the needles. I don't have my receipts so I looked up what closely resembles the ones that I ordered:

You'll need two of these:
http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/store/index.cgi?action=DispPage&Page2Disp=%2Fspecs%2FWLED-x5.htm

And two of these:
http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/store/index.cgi?action=DispPage&Page2Disp=%2Fspecs%2FB8.htm

I tried to change out the temperature, odometer and clock bulbs (1.2w twist, lock bulbs) but they don't seem to work on those, which makes sense since the post-facelift instrument clusters ALL use 1.2w bulbs for everything, and I haven't found replacements for those.

so your saying with those 4 bulbs i'll be good? and you said the climate, clock, and mileage digital screen cant be changed?

[W202FTW]

Yup. They worked for me, they just weren't as bright as advertised. I found that the stock bulbs were actually brighter than the orange LED bulbs I bought.

[chimchongdlight]

Im not too sure what color i want yet to be honest. I liked my b5 audi interior. All red. Looks pretty good. But i had black interior. I like the blue on my uncles r32 also. But i also like bright white. But i wonder if i get bright white if ill even really notice a difference. The LEDs im getting are pretty darn right. My buddys got blue ones in his car n there hella bright

[chimchongdlight]

does anyone know what bulbs are for our temp, clock, and mileage?

[wichipong]

ill try to get you the pics later...

[chimchongdlight]

thanks man...i just need to know what size bulb is needed, or whatever the bulb is called...i need the ones for the gauges and the 3 for the temp, odo, and clock...i believe i need::

2 wedge?
5 b8.5d?

is this correct? lol all i need is a yes or no, if no whats the right kind?

[wichipong]

they're not wedge bulbs.... i think...

[wichipong]

check this thread out: (from dying mymbonline)

http://www.mymbonline.com/forum/186-c-class-w202/40394-how-put-leds-gauge-cluster-change-bulbs-no-56k.html

[chimchongdlight]

Ive read that so many times. Still doesnt say what the bulbs are called

[wichipong]

2x WLED-x5 LED Wide Angle LED bulb

5x B8 series Instrument LED bulb

thats what the posts say...

[MikeD]

I tried 1.5W B8s in place of the odometer, temp, and time gauges and they just weren't working. Maybe I just have bad luck but I would bet on the fact that the replacements need to be 1.2W. Lucky for all of us, ebay.uk sells these in LEDs in a wide variety of colors.

[wichipong]

idk ill post the stock bulbs later... got a bunch of them from being too close to a salvage yard..

[chimchongdlight]

This is why im confused. One says this. Another says that. lol

[wichipong]

i didnt get a good picture of it... it says on the bottom osram 12/1.2 then 148 on the rim

[chimchongdlight]

thanks...i already ordered the other ones that u said...hopefully its the right one...im tired of doing the research on it and getting nowhere..lol..to be honest it really irritated me haha..so i said eff it and told my homie to just get it and we'll see if it works or not, what sucks on the cluster is it had to be ordered

[MikeD]

thanks...i already ordered the other ones that u said...hopefully its the right one...im tired of doing the research on it and getting nowhere..lol..to be honest it really irritated me haha..so i said eff it and told my homie to just get it and we'll see if it works or not, what sucks on the cluster is it had to be ordered

I hear you. My method of figuring the bulbs out has been trial and error. So far I have two sets of bulbs at home that don't fit... but I'm getting closer to the right ones lol

[chimchongdlight]

lol so annoying...what year is ur car? and which bulbs have u tried that arent working?

[wichipong]

i might not do this mod unless all my lights go out..

so interior is good... for now... hahaha

[wichipong]

but yeah if you get the right ones post up!! haha

[chimchongdlight]

I will. Seriously this shouldnt be this annoying. Lol

[MikeD]

I have a 1996 C280. I have tried buying these tiny T5 bulbs that didn't work because they didn't have the blue holders on them (for the 1.5W lights). The two replacements I bought for the T10 W5W 2W wedges didn't light up at all (seller's fault, another T10 I had laying around works). I also tried a set of B8.5D T5s that did not fit my cluster because they had these annoying plastic tabs angled 90 degrees away from the metal tabs. All said and done, all of these bulbs were pretty close to what I needed but had major flaws.

[chimchongdlight]

Damn. So i got the wrong ones hu. Is there anywhere else these bulbs would work on? Since u already have them. Might as well use em

What about for my climate control? Anyone know if itll fit there? Or even the gear shift?

[MikeD]

Not necessarily, it would just depend on the shape of the ones you are getting. The next set of bulbs that are getting shipped to me right now are also B8.5D T5s, except they seem to not have this annoying plastic tab on them like the old ones did. I'm thinking they'll work.

[chimchongdlight]

Gotcha. So its not neccesarily the wrong bumb. But the wrong plastic
Housing thing

[MikeD]

Precisely. If I really felt like it, I could grind down the plastic tabs on the lights that don't fit, but the time it would take to do so vs. how much I spent on these bulbs doesn't justify it.

[chimchongdlight]

I understand. This is the answer ive been trying to search for

[autoxpresstech]

I tried 1.5W B8s in place of the odometer, temp, and time gauges and they just weren't working. Maybe I just have bad luck but I would bet on the fact that the replacements need to be 1.2W. Lucky for all of us, ebay.uk sells these in LEDs in a wide variety of colors.

unlike incandescent bulbs, leds have polarity. if they do not work rotate 180' . also make sure your dimmer is set to brite.

[MikeD]

unlike incandescent bulbs, leds have polarity. if they do not work rotate 180' . also make sure your dimmer is set to brite.

The bulbs just turned out to be a bad batch. The new B8.5D bulbs fit perfectly and are bright!

Just to update, the B8.5D LEDs also worked for the time/temp/odometer slots so I guess the wattage difference wasn't an issue after all.

[Seattle_202]

Got his mod done a few months ago. I got them from superbrightleds.com. They have a specification sheet for each one of their different types of LEDs. I just matched the back of the bulb holder/socket to the specs of the LEDs they have listed. Took about two hous and a good caliper. I took my time so wouldn't order the wrong one. Got them in less then a week. Everything fitted perfectly and didn't spend more then what I needed. Good luck.

[siC36 AMG]

i just ordered 50 pc 3mm bulbs and resistors for all the switches and stuff $2.95 shipped will post pics when i get started and possibly my first diy thread

[chimchongdlight]

Got his mod done a few months ago. I got them from superbrightleds.com. They have a specification sheet for each one of their different types of LEDs. I just matched the back of the bulb holder/socket to the specs of the LEDs they have listed. Took about two hous and a good caliper. I took my time so wouldn't order the wrong one. Got them in less then a week. Everything fitted perfectly and didn't spend more then what I needed. Good luck.

post pics please. How well do the LEDs light up? i still havent done this mod yet. Putting it on the back burner til i figure out exacly which bulbs are which. If anyone ends up ordering the right ones, would u mind ordering them for me too? lol at least ill know for sure they will work..blue batch would be nice..thanks in advance..lol

[chimchongdlight]

Anybody ever run into this problem?

When i put in my LED panel lights for the domes, everything is fine. Then when i went to put in my map light LED. Everything went black. Even my radio, my radio went out and defaulted all my settings. Now none of my interior lights work. I looked under the hood to check the fuses, all of them fine. Now im puzzled

What happened?

[wichipong]

try banging on the dome switch...

[chimchongdlight]

Why would banging on it work?

[MikeD]

This exact thing happened to me a few weeks ago and the problem was a blown fuse (either #26 or 27 on mine). Did you try actually changing the fuse?

[chimchongdlight]

No didnt try to change it. Why would it do that? If i change the fuse, wouldnt it just pop again? I looked at both those fuses too. After u changed the fuse. Did it work ok? An why would my deck go out and reset everything? Sucks bc now i gotta redo all my mids n bass and treb. Idnt remeber how it was. And now my subs arent hitting like they use to :(

[MikeD]

It worked just fine after I changed the fuse. I was working on the dome light in the rear and I touched the metal bracket that holds the light in place in a weird way that blew the fuse. If your problem is indeed the fuse, then make sure the map light you were putting in is installed properly before reconnecting the fuse.

[chimchongdlight]

What if the fuse isnt blown? Should i change it anyway?

[MikeD]

Anything is worth a shot I guess. It seems to me that something must be blown somewhere in the circuit.

[chimchongdlight]

Changed the fuse ad still got nothing.

Whats the next step?

[wichipong]

i think there's a short in your dome lamp switch thingy... that's what my friend experienced on his w202... can you open/close your sunroof?

[chimchongdlight]

Yea sunroof works fine

[wichipong]

hmm thats weird... have you tested regular bulbs and see if they are fine? and if yes, have you tried switching the leds around? they have a polarity thingy so it only goes in one way unlike the halogen ones...

[chimchongdlight]

Before this all happened my stock dome bulbs worked fine. After the incident of it going pitch black. Now when i put in the stock ones, they dont work now

[wichipong]

then i believe something shorted the dome lights...

[chimchongdlight]

Tomarrow ill check if im getting 12volts from the dome light using the voltmeter, then ill go from there

[chimchongdlight]

Couldnt find the voltmeter so i did some digging and when i opened my dome light panel to look if anything back there was burnt or out of place. Abd this is what i find
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e208/chimchongdlight/49cbd138.jpg
What wire is this? It was just dangling there. Black and blue female harnass wrapped in foam

And also, when i opened up the plastic cover i see this,
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e208/chimchongdlight/dc2a14f9.jpg
Are these metal rods suppose to be connected there? Kind of like a bridge. It looks like its been snapped maybe? No burn marks at all. If you guys can be so kind to open urs up and take a pic for me.

[chimchongdlight]

Anybody?