I think overall, I like the SE better than the GLE (as long as I can get all the same bells/whistles), but I'm wondering about the gauge faces. I think the normal gauges look very nice and clean, white on black. I really don't care for the white gauge faces and red needles that the SE sports. What would be involved in changing them back to the white on black setup like the GLE/GXE? This is the only problem I have with getting an SE, any input is appreciated.

-Ryan
1996 Subaru Legacy 2.5GT

 

its not so bad just get a cluster from a junkyard but matching the mileage will be a pain, u have to meticulously remove the parts necessary around the steering column to get the gauges out dont know how competent u are at mechanical work so i wont ask but u may need an fsm or some other manual to help ya out

 

I'm pretty mechanically inclined, did all the work on my Legacy. I actually installed white gauge faces in the Subaru, so I would imagine that it'd be similar. Do all of these cars have digital odometers? Is there a way to adjust it? I would imagine it's illegal, but maybe there's a way you can have someone do it for you and match the mileage exactly? I gather from your response that the gauges are totally different, there aren't just cosmetic faces over them?


-Ryan
1996 Subaru Legacy 2.5GT

 

i believe 99 + has the digital one, my 97 doesnt have digital u can get the dealer to do it im pretty sure

 

If you do swap your gauges for the black faced ones, you should post your whites ones on the for sale forum cause i'm sure someone would like em!

 

i have a GLE and i decided to get the indiglo's, and i don't like the white gauges compared to my old black gauges, the black ones have a very nice and clean look to them, at night however its a different story.

If u still want to change ur look, the easist way would be to go to import intelilgence and buy gauge covers...

 

Here is the skinny on the SE gauges- 98-99 have the digital odometer (GLE/GXE/SE included). The Needles on the GLE/GXE are always white, but the needles on the SE were originally black on the white face, but in 97 they changed that. Here is the chart:

95- white (w/ black sides-appears black in daytime)
96- white (w/ black sides-appears black in daytime)
97- orange
98- orange
99- orange
99.5- red/orange on a titanium face instead of white

http://forums.maxima.org/search.php?...der=descending

There is a link to a search string that has a lot of gauge face-swappign information.

The gist of it is that at least for the analog ODO clusters, you can swap the faces off of the odometer gauge and keep the mileage the same. For the other 3 gauges, you could just transfer the new gauges (faces and guts) to the old cluster. It was a simple unscrew, transfer, tighten operation, with the exception of the odometer. Even that was not difficult. Feel free to PM or email me if you have any questions.

Overall, my SE gauge swap was one of my easiest and favorite mods.