digimurda

hi all,

i have a 05' 545i
the instrument cluster is shot, only certain lights on it turn on at times, which is kinda annoying...
i recently bought a used instrument cluster instrument cluster from a local salvage and I'm thinking about
swapping it with mine, only thing is my car has 80k miles on the odo, i was told the one i bought has 100k.
which mileage will show once i install the instrument cluster i purchased???

ETNav382

First, welcome to the forum! Second I'll just copy my post from bimmerfest for you here.

You can put in a used one and you will just have a dot after your mileage stating that the cluster mileage doesnt match whats in the key, engine computer and wherever else they store mileage. I know because I have an M5 cluster that I test fitted to my 550 and other than the transmission and electronic damper faults everything worked fine. The only reason I got those faults were the cluster was programmed for SMG and I have steptronic. The second I put the car in first manually the trans fault disappared. Moral of the story get a cluster that was from a car that has the same tranny as you and you'll be good. Otherwise anybody that knows how to code can fix that for you. Also go over to 5series.net and search for the people that did the M5 cluster retrofit, they might tell you slightly more that what I have and the correct coding process since dealers wont do it.

AchtungE60

You will have the miles on the car that the cluster has. But do not expect your MPH, RPM and so forth to work. You will need to get the KOMBI recoded to work but the miles will be off. It may have just been easier to fix your old cluser. If you have someone talented enough they can fix all of these errors quickly.

umichchris

i dont believe he can code the KOMBI unit as it will reject programming once the VIN numbers dont match....same issues with the M5 cluster retrofit programming.


either way it goes OP, plug it in and drive that thing likes its stolen, most functions should be fine and when you pull it out your car there will be no lasting damage or code issues...

ETNav382

Oh man, my understanding of the cluster retrofit was it was just a swap and programming that anyone could do... When I plug mine it I get a few errors like the suspension and trans fault and no service indicators. Can those at least be coded away?
If those can go away, I might just swap needles and the backlight then.

nomis_nehc

It's more involving than that.

It would be quicker to just swap the needles.

ETNav382

Thanks Simon, I think thats what I'll end up doing. Do you know if you can just switch the little circuit board that has the LEDs over? I like to have the brightness all the way up but with the highways up here not having any lights on them, its too bright for me.

nomis_nehc

Are you talking about the white LEDs I put in are too bright?

I think the ribbons are the same, but I don't know whether or not there might be resistors or other parts that might be different.

ETNav382

Lol yea, the cluster was great back in SoCal where the highway actually had lights on it but here in the middle of nowhere not so much, since the base here is about 40 miles from the nearest city really. That along with winter and fall darkness from 430pm til 7am, it's a little too much.

AchtungE60

You can, requires a bit more skill but you can flash KOMBI and update the UIF with the correct VIN if you were so inclined. If the OP isn't I would just swap over the parts that aren't working ... this will require skill too.