MIINT

I have a fair few of them. I gave them mine for an oil service (£190!!) But asked them for a quote to fix this issue, which is where the £805 came from. . I may have to see what the quote entails.. if its just a new cluster, I'll have to get one from BMW.. I think they are around £400... or I could just live with it (like I have been for over 12 months) and hope it sorts itself out again.. but I doubt it.

or_550i

The £805 sounds like the price for a new cluster, install, and 'coding.'

One last thing to try...
Without the key in the ignition, when you press the odometer button does the screen light up at all? (With the car off and no key in the ignition the screen in the cluster should light up and show the temperature, time, miles, etc...).

MIINT

it flashes for a split second and then dissapears... is this "coding" necessary or can I just go and buy one and install it?

AchtungE60

There is no chip that store mileage data, fuel reserve etc. in the cluster. This information is relayed to the car's computer. Have you tried disconnecting your battery. Holding the + and - together for 1 min and the reconnect?

AchtungE60

Even if you cannot get this to work, and you end up buying a used or new cluster, you will definately need to have it programmed for your car. And if you have any other aftermarket accessories on your car while during the program it may not work until it reads the car has all electronics designed for that car. I had my CCC reprogrammed for my AUX input and MP3. Because I have a professional screen from an X5 it would not work. They had to take one from parts, put it in for the coding and then put it back in parts.

MIINT

holding the + and - together?? it does mean crossing the streams!! (does this troubleshooting step do anything)

or_550i

There is, actually. It's redundantly stored in the cluster. This is the reason for the coding - to match the ECU odometer to the Cluster.


Haha... It does what the waiting 30 min does - quickly dumps any remaining current in the cars electrical system. I would suggest not doing it - but it shouldn't harm anything if you did. However, refaie1 probably didn't read that you had already tried removing power by disconnecting the battery.

If the display comes on for a brief second - the fault profile in WDS says that the cluster needs to be re-programmed. Before buying a whole new cluster, see if the dealer would try to run PROGMAN on it and re-flash it.

MIINT

I'll give 'em a call tomorrow to see what they say. Its probably a few years out of data (I have mp3 capability though).. any idea on what they charge and how long it takes (im assuming PROGMAN is the updated version on CIP?)

AchtungE60

Touching the + and - will not hurt anything. I could give sit here and write a long paragraph on it but...... the same goes for all electronics disconnect power source and drain the system by doing this or if no access then you hold a power button down etc etc.....

As far as the chip, I would like to differ as I had an e60 545i I picked up from the auction that had no cluster installed in the car. After thorough inspection of the car, I drove it back to my lot about 1.5 miles. We got a spare cluster and it read 999999 until it was programmed. The programming pulled the data from the ECU. So without the ECU the "display's chip" doesn't store anything. The cluster has a software and hardware version. Unless they are the same on the new one, they'll need programming and all the information will be taken from the ECU and be allowed to be displayed on the new programmed cluster.

Mint, I think an update to your car will fix the issue. I don't think it's will need a new cluster as you stated you were able to reset the all the service intervals. Listen, these cars are very touchy and some things cut out for no apparent reason and sometimes the simplest things get them working. There are two torx screws (T20 i think) holding it in and two plugs. Take it out drain and re-charge the car (start it) with it out. Then drain the car's electrical system again and put it back in. Put everything back together and then start it up. See what happens.

MIINT

tried disconnecting the cluster (which is soooo easy to remove) and its made and its made no diffference, so... once BMW respond to my numerous voicemails and emails I'll see if I can get a PROGMAN update first. problem is that it might cost more if it doesn't fix the issue.