Well, a quick intro is always a good start, so my bio is not stunning! Almost 30yrs in Australian army, served in Infantry initially, progressed to Intel and finally ousted to the History unit. None were bad, just being medically discharged with PTSD, TBI, and some physical damage makes life somewhat harder than it should be. I'm fed up with Global politics from all the lying and cheating Democracies, mine inculded. Just looking for the next fix on war to keep their budget going. MHO. Enough of that crap...
I was a Ford man for a long time and whilst living on a military handout (they call it a pension), towing a caravan was not practical while using petrol/gas. I had the chance to sell my beloved Ford for a tidy sum and found a 2006 BMW X5 diesel with 6 speed transmission. So much more torque and not revving hard to do it. It handles well, comfort is great, (six discs damaged) on the stock seats so far. Even the economy is pretty good, considering people tell me it is not the best. So, I now have a car in the one colour I swore I would never own...BLACK...! But it looks great, metallic black with a blue fleck in it.

So, my questions, and yes I am aware of the search functions and tried it, I will get it right and save asking once I have mastered it.
1) are all instrument clusters the same, can they be used from one type to the other as long as they are in the same classification? eg E53 3.0i to 3.0d
2) for some reason the roof lining was recovered, great, but they did not put back the panoramic sunroof blind. Summer here is not pleasant. Any thoughts or suggestions on what I can do to fix this one?


Many thanks in advance, Jeff