Daimler Super V-8 console bulb replacement

This account relates to a 1998 car. Later models are likely to be similar, but I cannot guarantee that yours will be identical. You will need a 7mm socket, cross-point screwdriver(s) and a scratch-free lever (half a clothes peg serves well).

Move the gear selector to N. The half clothes-peg shows where to start levering the trim. There is a slot for the purpose. Lever a little at a time, working around the trim: the pegs securing it are plastic, slender and easily broken. Detailed pix of the dismantled assembly.

The black plastic support is held by two 7mm nuts at the front and hexagon-headed screws at the rear. Remove these, disconnect the electrical connectors from the switches (cruise control and sport button) and lift away the trim support, complete with switches.

The veneered trim is located at its top by a hidden plastic lug, cemented to the back of the trim panel. The lug can easily be broken away, so lift the rear of the veneer, flexing it carefully just enough to clear the gear selector assembly before drawing its top downwards to release the lug (see RH pic).

CAUTION You are now in peril of dropping screws into regions whence they will be very difficult to retrieve. Take great care not to do so (rag stuffed into voids is a sound precaution).

You can now see the three screws that secure the instrument/control panels. (In this pic, the lower RH screw is behind the gear knob.)
Remove the two lower screws; these secure the lower panel (ICE and telephone controls). NOTE the two recesses at either side of the top screw: behind these are pegs that locate and hold the top panel in place and can easily be broken.

Carefully extract the lower control panel and lay it to one side. This account does not address bulb replacement in this unit (because I have not needed to do that); if you need to, you will have to disconnect the relevant connectors and explore the unit. I imagine that the principles will be little different from what follows.

Remove the screw at top centre of the remaining panel and pull the panel straight backwards, being careful not to break off or damage the pins moulded into its top edge. In this pic, the panel has been extracted and tilted back: you can see the LH peg and the socket into which it fits (top centre-right). This is fiddly.
The next processes are somewhat expletogenic. There is an electric cable attached top centre with a self-locking catch. You have to squeeze the catch, which is on the underside of the connector, requiring tiny fingers or a suitable instrument such as a short, thin tommy-bar; do so, disconnect the cable and express your feelings appropriately.
You can now tilt the top edge of the panel towards you, as shown in this pic. The panel is still attached by more electrical cables, and you have next to remove a couple of screws and the box secured by them.
The tip of the screwdiver on the centre-left of the pic is resting on one of those small cross-headed screws. The other is out of shot on the right of the unit. They secure a component box, containing electronic gizmodgery.
Remove the two screws. You may need a short screwdriver for the left-hand one.
Squeeze the sides of the box together to release it from the lugs that locate it in the main panel's moulding.

This pic shows the aforementioned multi-way plug (centre), its socket (lower right), and the interior of the gizmodgery-box. You have now to disconnect the three cable connectors inside the box - a yellow one, left of centre, another yellow one lower right and a red-brown one partly visible below the latter. These pull off, but take care to support the edge of the circuit board whilst pulling on the RH ones: a broken board could cause you some anguish.

The panel is now free and may be removed from the car. I discovered (as you can see) that some damage had previously been done to one of the locating pins (missing in this pic) and the top screw hole, presumably by less than perfect handling.
You can see the three connectors and the circular backs of the little bulbs that illuminate the panel. These need only be turned an eight of a turn anti-clockwise to release them.

In this pic, I have removed one bulb and placed it in front of the panel at the bottom of the pic.

The bulb is covered with a coloured (in this case, blue) silicone cover, which can be peeled off carefully and re-used if you are unable readily to find an exact replacement assembly. The bulb itself is a common type and can be replaced in its wedge base simply by winding its wires around the base. You may want to try substituting LED(s) for incandescent bulbs, in which case you will need to determine polarity.

Reassembly