Originally Posted by vegasX5

Contrary to your apparent belief, I don't just "roll out the checkbook" at every available opportunity because I love supporting the dealership or enjoy getting taken advantage of. You're new here so I'll take your post with a grain of salt. I have actually never once taken my X5 to a dealer, and I have only taken it to a independent one time in 6 years of owning my X. I have replaced the brakes, brake lines, MAF, cam sensors, 2 CV joints, 2 window regulators, multiple FSRs, re-soldered and repaired multiple tail lights, 2 batteries, coolant exp tank with hoses, done all regular services, etc. in my garage with my tools on the weekends.

I have also bought and sold many, many cars and there is one HUGE red flag I have always avoided like the plague with every car I have ever looked at - a title deficiency. There is something called TMU - true miles unknown - that can make a perfectly good car nearly worthless in a business sense. I do not want to take the risk of trying to save $300-$400 and causing an issue with my cluster that could render such an issue that the mileage cannot be confirmed. If the dealership replaces the part with the correct tools and the correct part with the correct documentation, I can be confident I haven't devalued my investment in my vehicle because I accidently broke something or caused a tamper light to come on trying to save a couple hundred dollars. Do I like having to pay anything out of pocket? Of course not - however I'd rather do it this way than regret a little science experiment I did with my car to save money.

I've been driving around with my pixels going out for some time now, but the X is getting old and soon the time will come to sell it. I'd prefer to get top dollar out of it, and one way to assure that is to have a 100% functional cluster replaced by the dealer not hamfistedly repaired by me.

BTW kudos for helping the Lexus guys. I had an LS400 with a cluster issue so I'm well aware of the deficiency there.