This evening I lost all interior console,shifter and instrument panel lights in the car.Radio still works as do the extrior lights. A quick look in the dark in the fuse box did not reveal any (obviously) blown fuse.I will do a careful check in the daylight.
Any possible suggestion as to the culpirt ?
TIA

1987 300SE Euro

I narrowed it down a bit- It seems that all electrical functions work, except for the illumination within the instrument panel, the light that illuminates the console and shifter plate switches.
Any Ideas?

youve probably blown the bulb that lights everything in your console...i think its all lit with one bulb,and uses fiberoptics to get light to different sources.....try searching for "octopus" or "light for shifter"...itll probably be in the diesel discussion...hope that helps

Thanks for the input.I will go there in the morning .I am still wondering however whether there is some fuse along the way that might have blown..Reason is that not only the center console and shifter lights went out - but also the bulbs lighting the instrument panel gauges,speedo,tach.Those I know are seperate from the "Octopus" - I had recently replaced them.

you might try turning all the fuses with your fingers,rolling them back and forth in thier sockets....you might get someone to sit inside the car while you do this with the switch for the lights on,to see if they come on while youre moving the fuses around....a while back i had my windows quit working just out of the blue....i checked every fuse,and none were blown...but sometimes corrosion or whatever prevents them from getting a good connection...i rolled all the fuses back and forth and it solved my problem...i like the blade type fuses better,that way the connection for them is somewhat sealed...these fuses and the connections for them is pretty much in the open,except for the box cover,and they can easily get corroded and fail to keep a good connection...just trying to save you from ripping the car apart to find whats wrong with it...i always try the easiest stuff first hope that works for you...other than that,im afraid i dont have anything else to add

The cover of the fuse box on my 126 has a fuse index. Your fuse box cover should have one, also. You might want to check. You can also eyeball the fuses and look for one with a burned filament. I recently went through each fuse, one by one. I pulled the, inspected them and replaced any that looked suspect.

"just trying to save you from ripping the car apart to find whats wrong with it..."

I always try that easy stuff first too.
I did check all the fuses, rotated them etc. Like us all, I had been there done that..
The fuse cover diagram does not address my "specific" (stupid me) problem. But to make a long story short, as I was mentally preparing for this possible long journey into the dash board (in the most inappropriate time) , one last thought crossed my mind - the Dimmer in the instrument panel. VICTORY. the damm thing controls all the illumination that I mentioned as missing - both bulbs and fiber optics. It is either corroding,which I know could happen, or someone to whom I've been married too for a long time was messing with it.
So an easy fix in the end. I thank you 85drtysthbenz and gemoore for your input. Great forum

well,i feel like an idiot right now....the dimmer switch never crossed my mind....oh well,im glad you got it fixed,and yeah this is an awesome forum

May the wind be forever at your back.