I just wanted to sincerely thank the person who originally posted this. I bought my X5 in February of this year, and noticed that some of the pixels had died, which made it hard to read the MID. Replacing the cluster was high on my list of priorities, after getting the 60k transmission service and inspection II, of course. I was skeptical, since the original post was back in 2006/2007, so I sent an email to Melissa Murphy-McNamara at BMW NA and the next day got a response telling me to just fax her my registration and she would have somebody give me a call. The next day, Tim Brown called and asked the usual questions: when did you notice it starting to happen (as soon as I test drove it), where did you buy it from, etc. I was hesitant to tell him I bought it from craigslist, but I was just beyond ecstatic I actually got a call back from them, so I figured I owed it to him to be honest.

He did some checking around and told me that the replacement was approved, BMW NA would pay 100% parts and I would be responsible for labor. I just had to call and set up a service appointment at Hendrick BMW and call him back to let him know when it was and he would handle the rest. Not a problem, I said, I was just thrilled that BMW was actually helping me out on this. He told me that since I bought an X5 he approved it, but said he wouldn't do the same if I would've gotten an X3. So we both got a chuckle from that. But really, thanks to whoever posted this. And sorry to bring this thread back from the dead, but had to relate my experience.