W213/S213 E-Class (2017–2022) – Instrument Cluster Flickering, Dealer says £4k replacement :/

sujsuj

Hoping someone here can help, as this forum has been more helpful than the professionals in the past!

Car details:

• Mercedes-Benz E-Class Estate – S213 (2017–2022)

• Issue: The main digital instrument cluster (speed, revs etc.) flickers on and off. The central infotainment screen works fine. (see video)

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Timeline:

• About 2 months ago, after a long trip to North Wales (first proper run after a dealer service), the cluster started flickering.

• Two days later, it stopped and worked normally.

• 2 weeks ago, while waiting roadside in a remote area for my partner’s car to be recovered, I got a low battery warning.

• The next day, the flickering returned and hasn’t gone away since.

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What I’ve done so far:

• Paid £200 for diagnostics at the dealer → they say: “Need new screen/cluster, approx. £4,000+.”

• Charged the battery at home (as I drive less nowadays due to less commuting. Unfortunately, charging made no difference.

https://youtu.be/_sYrIwl4QvI

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My thoughts / questions:
✅ The only common link I can see is long trip / low battery – could the issue be battery-related rather than a faulty screen? Last time when I started using car screen was back to normal!

✅ Is this a known issue with S213/W213 cars? Possibly battery control module, alternator or poor ground?

✅ If I get a used cluster (grey market):

• Would the mileage mismatch?

• Could it block the odometer or cause MOT problems?

• Does it need to be coded to the car?
  ✅ Are there good specialists who can repair or refurbish these digital clusters rather than replacing?

• 
  

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Any ideas, hints or shared experiences would be hugely appreciated!
Thanks in advance 🙏

paul_c123

Worth testing the battery properly (which is best done after a full conditioning and charge). And if you replace it, use an AGM battery (if its specified for one, which I bet it is). And if it has 2 batteries, charge/condition both and test both.

Frozen_up_north

Do you have an independent Merc garage or a car electrics repair shop near you? They could be much cheaper.

sujsuj

Great. Thanks. That could be good choice, but provided they have all diagnosis equipments.  Any idea what sort of diagnosis equipment might be needed for this..? 

Goudy

Check the battery and alternator output.
Check the fuses.

But I don't think it's the cluster, some have had replacement clusters under warranty and it's not fixed it, or power problem but a communication problem.
I've read on a few forums that there is possible a communication software update that might fix it.

W213 instrument cluster goes off and on | Interior | MBClub UK - Bringing together Mercedes Enthusiasts

daveyjp

MBclub website is a starting point.  When I had a Merc they provided me some good advice on a problem I had.

It's also a pre requisite of Mercedes ownership to find the best local indie.  MBclub also have a directory of those.

sujsuj

Well, I managed to get the entire instrument cluster sorted and coded for £800instead of £4000 quoted by the dealer. I’m going to monitor the screen for a couple of weeks, and then I’ll share the details of how it was done and who helped.
All in all, a really good day at the office!
Thanks everyone.

sujsuj

Nearly a year after the replacement, I can confirm that my E-Class screen is still working perfectly. The new screen has truly given my car a new lease of life.

The work was completed by Raf @ AFTERONE UK for £800, and I couldn’t be happier with the result. Great service, great people, and an excellent price. I got

I highly recommend them. Thank you very much!

Afterone UK | Customer Service w: https://www.afterone.co.uk e: afterone.help@gmail.com

LightFlare

glad you got it fixed

Thankyou so much for coming back with an update (many don’t) which could be useful for someone else with a similar issue

WellKnownSid

Thanks for coming back - always good to hear a success story.

For a while my son and I had a little cottage industry going - buying cars off Autotrader and marketplace that had been scrapped because of a faulty IC which had rendered them a non-runner.

Sadly, we live in a throwaway globalised economy where the circuit design and components used in your Mercedes are identical to the ones used in my Dacia - and a proportion of early failures are just a fact of life. Most consumer products have gone the same way, however replacing a TV after five years for £150 is a different proposition to potentially scrapping an entire car!

On the plus side - the failure modes are well understood and generally an easy - sometimes a no parts required - fix, and fixing the old one generally saves the trouble of having to re-code. There are still a few component-level repair specialists out there - and the good ones will fix all the known weak spots at the time giving you a cluster which is not only repaired, but better than when it came out the factory.

born_again

All manufacture take the easy route & simply replace the faulty item. As it is cheaper for them, rather than spending hours trying to trace a fault.