I'm looking into adding backlight illumination to the headlight switch on my '04 300m. Apparently the savings was so overwhelming for Chrysler to not screw in a couple of 5-cent incandescent lights into this switch assembly for the (I'm guessing) '03 and '04 years. I guess they thought that if it's dark when you get in your car and you manage to find the switch and turn your headlights on then you don't need to see or deal with the switch again while you're driving.
As I'm looking at this I'm mildly interested in the "headlight motor" feature that the european m's had, so I'll be investigating whether or not the wiring harness for these motors are there somewhere rattling around behind the bumper, and if they are then if I can get my hands on these motors (I've seen photos of them) and if they just bolt or snap onto the back of the lenses and if I can get my hands on a european dashboard headlight switch then it all might just come together.
In the mean time I'm working with the original switch and adding the wires to the PCB for the mini-backlights. The lights in my '00 300m have a small deep-blue rubber "condom" on them - somehow that gives them the teal or sea-green color visible on the outside.
I'm looking at the wiring diagram and I note that the panel dimmer control has 2 positions beyond the dimmer setting, which we know turns on the overhead or dome (aka map) lights, which is the second position, but the first position is called (and I did not know this) the "Funeral mode". If anyone can explain what comes on during funeral mode, please do.
Another curious thing is the rear fog lights for the european M. The schematic diagrams show a separate switch for rear fogs in the dash switch module, but unless it's bulit into the headlight-leveling switch then I don't see how or where there's a separate switch for that. I can see where there appears to be a separate PCB connection point for the rear fog LED indicator. As to where the rear fogs are located, the wiring for those runs to the rear tail light connector (not a separate connector) so again I'm curious how they re-worked the rear tail lights to include separate fog lights.
Lastly, as I'm putting both the 04 and 00 switch modules back together I notice that one of the interior dimmer wheels has a small white indicator line painted on it, the other doesn't. Since I got them mixed up, I don't know if it was the 00 or the 04 that had the white line.
As I'm looking at this I'm mildly interested in the "headlight motor" feature that the european m's had, so I'll be investigating whether or not the wiring harness for these motors are there somewhere rattling around behind the bumper, and if they are then if I can get my hands on these motors (I've seen photos of them) and if they just bolt or snap onto the back of the lenses and if I can get my hands on a european dashboard headlight switch then it all might just come together.
In the mean time I'm working with the original switch and adding the wires to the PCB for the mini-backlights. The lights in my '00 300m have a small deep-blue rubber "condom" on them - somehow that gives them the teal or sea-green color visible on the outside.
I'm looking at the wiring diagram and I note that the panel dimmer control has 2 positions beyond the dimmer setting, which we know turns on the overhead or dome (aka map) lights, which is the second position, but the first position is called (and I did not know this) the "Funeral mode". If anyone can explain what comes on during funeral mode, please do.
Another curious thing is the rear fog lights for the european M. The schematic diagrams show a separate switch for rear fogs in the dash switch module, but unless it's bulit into the headlight-leveling switch then I don't see how or where there's a separate switch for that. I can see where there appears to be a separate PCB connection point for the rear fog LED indicator. As to where the rear fogs are located, the wiring for those runs to the rear tail light connector (not a separate connector) so again I'm curious how they re-worked the rear tail lights to include separate fog lights.
Lastly, as I'm putting both the 04 and 00 switch modules back together I notice that one of the interior dimmer wheels has a small white indicator line painted on it, the other doesn't. Since I got them mixed up, I don't know if it was the 00 or the 04 that had the white line.
