It seems almost inevitable to have the dash needles in your Mercedes to turn that hideous yellow color, I suppose I wouldn't mind it that much if they all changed equally but it is obvious that they are simply fading. So what is the cure? Well the only thing short of buying a new cluster would be to try painting it. The only thing you are out is the time as the paint cost a few pennies over $1.
No need for any special tools here, I just took two wires I had setting around and twisted one end 90* so that it can be
slid in normally then twisted to come up behind the cluster. After the wires are behind the cluster simply pull it towards
you evenly. It is just a simple fit with nothing but the rubber seal around it holding it in place. However be very careful
not to bust the front of the face off, prying on the front of the cluster is not good. It should only be removed from
behind with the hooked wire. As you can see in the below picture it is just a friction fit part where that seal is the only
thing keeping it in place. Just as long as nobody used channel locks to tighten the speedometer cable the only tool you need
to get it out is a small adjustable to loosen the oil sensor gauge. I used one of the screws that hold a portion of the
gauges in as a second ground to the dash so I also used the adjustable to back that out enough to get the wire off.
Now that wasn't so hard was it? A few harnesses, couple wires, the oil gauge line, speedometer, and unplug all the lights on the bottom of the dash and it is free. I normally slide it down and out on the right side as that is the largest opening, it went through so easily that it wasn't deemed worthy of a picture. One thing I feel that I need to mention here is to be very careful handling the cluster such that the speedometer needle does not move! If it does move it may be damaged, a very small amount is alright but if it hits 20mph then get used to tapping your dash every time you go from reverse to drive.
Well now that the cluster is out you'll see all of the screws which hold the gauge assemblies in pretty clearly. The first set of gauges that come out are the tachometer and clock. Then the speedometer & fuel gauge portions come out, they actually interlock because of the rheostat (dimmer). Again, be very careful with the speedometer otherwise you'll damage the internal gearing. Since the speedometer/odometer/ trip odometer assembly is out I took advantage of this and finally cleaned the trip odometer off so that it can be read easily!! If the reset button is pushed lightly it will allow you to spin them freely, if pushed a little harder they will be set back to zero. I used some q-tips dipped in Isopropryl Alcohol (rubbing alcohol) to help clean the oily substance off of the trip odometer. The access to the bottom of the trip odometer makes it ideal for cleaning however the odometer itself isn't hardly visible, I left mine alone. Two reminders here, rolling back a odometer is fraud, and again be careful while handling this assembly as if the needle moves to much it will not work perfectly anymore.
I think that the painting is pretty straightforward, just be careful not to get any paint on the black center cap or on the needle stops. I used a small piece of newspaper to cover the needle stop as I did it. While it was inevitable to move the speedometer needle here since I moved it so little the gauge still works perfectly. Do I need to say handle it carefully again or did you understand me the first 5 times? :) If your needles are very darkened then using some isoproprly alcohol on them first would be a very good idea before covering them in your orange paint, I used Testors orange #1127. Below you can see the results and how it looked after cleaning off the plastic window and reassembling everything.
Tools:
Adjustable Wrench
Phillips Screwdriver
Parts:
Testors Orange #1127
Isoproprly Alcohol
Q-tips
Fine Paint Brush
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