Gear Selector Lighting

If the gearshift lights on your W126 are out, the problem is most likely a blown bulb, as usual with center console illumination. There is one bulb down under the front of the gear selector "box", which is located under the large wood panel. This bulb illuminates the gear symbols, and the fiber that accompanies the shifter, adding a brighter light to the currently selected gear.

First you have to take out the ash tray. It's held in place with two philips screws located under the chrome cup. Unscrew and pull.

After this, the front section of the middle wood paneling lifts off. You have to lift the front end of the panel, after which the whole bit lifts off. This may be either a wood panel like mine, or a storage tray, depending on model/year/options.

Once that piece is off, the large wood panel slides forward and lifts off.

Do not just lift, the plastic clips that hold the panel in place will break.

Completely removing the panel is not necessary to just replace the gearshift bulb.

The bulb is the white piece visible directly below the forward edge of the wood panel:

Pull bulb housing downwards, replace bulb, repeat above steps backwards. Enjoy your great new illumination!

While I was in there, I looked at how the gearlever shaft is connected to the box. My plan was to change gearlevers immediately. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like this will get done this time round.

The shaft is screwed on with a locking nut at the far end. The far end is obscured by a rubber sock, hidden inside the shifter box. To get to the nut, I'd have to unscrew two easily accessible screws at the top, and four bolts at the bottom.

The four bolts are proving a problem and basically preventing the whole thing. They are located under air ducts heading to the rear passenger compartment. To remove the air ducts, the side panels of the center console have to come out. To remove the side panels is basically an equal task to just lifting the whole center console out the car.

In addition, it is recommended that the gearlever be separated from the gearshift linkage before it is taken out. This has to be done from the underside of the car.

The knob cannot be simply swapped from the shaft I bought to the one in the car. OEM leather knobs are sewn onto a T-shaped shaft. Separating the knob from the shaft would require cutting the seams and peeling the leather and filler off the shaft in pieces. The aftermarket knob has been installed by a PO by dremeling an OEM knob off the shaft, and attaching the knob to the shaft-stub with a silicone-like paste.

In a nutshell: installing the OEM gearshifter is a real bitch of a job and won't get done now.


In other news, in preparation for installing the original Becker sound system, I ripped out the aftermarket front speakers that stood out like a sore thumb. Spot the difference: