Repairing Pixel damage & other cool stuff

[X Foomph]

Hi all, I came across this ad on ebay for pixel repair. I don't need it yet but will hang onto the details in case of future damage.

Has anybody purchased & or used this info yet ? Looks impressive
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/BMW-Instrumen...ayphotohosting

Foomph

[Weasel]

The same information he's selling is available for free, I have found it on this site before.... That guy might have taken his information from here for all we know. It is just a matter of removing and pulling apart the display under the radio and fixing the connection at the full width ribbon cable to the display. The only problem is that it is a tedious on a very short cable and you have to be good with meticulous wiring work.

[X Foomph]

Hi Weasel, I appreciate what u r saying however I noted that he does not advise to use silicon spray re [FONT='Arial','sans-serif']

[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']Be wary of offers where they instruct you to use contact sprays – in the short term, this may help, but in the long term your tacho will not to be repaired. A few weeks after you use spray the unit may experience complete failure [/FONT][FONT='Arial','sans-serif']) what the unit requires is repair, and one that can be done at home[/FONT]

[/FONT]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif'][/FONT]
On X5world and in particular this item Pixel Fix for BMW Cluster Problem it mentions to use silicon spray.
I hear u and am sceptical of ebay dude, that's why I posted with ??.

Bottom line - I hope I don't have to use either version at all.

[Dannyell]

I need to get in this fix as my pixels are dying especially with cold weather coming...will post pics when it happens ...

[blueagle]

My X5 is also showing some signs of dead pixels. I drive an o2 E53 X5 3.0d.

[Weasel]

The one you mentioned with the silicone spray is for the gauge cluster, not the radio display. I would never use silicone spray for electronics anyways... I would recommend simply a contact cleaner. But for the radio display fix it is a ribbon cable that gets funky contacts to the printed board with the display. And unfortunately it is not a connector, but the ribbon cable "clamped" straight to the board. The fix is to trim 1/8" or so of the cable to get to fresh wires and re-fix it to the board. But like I said, it is a short, wide cable with not much slack to work with.

I just searched around and the link wasn't on this site, but on bimmerboard. It shows the repair being done on an E39 display, but its the same for the E53. Here's the link.

http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/504260

[jayjay_dee]

thanks for the link Weasel...

after putting the chrome gauge rings on my X last year, some pixels are dying usually when its cold (never experienced it this summer), but now that autumn is here, those pixels are acting up again and it annoys me...

so i might try to clean the contacts on my gauge cluster

[X Foomph]

Hey Weasel, u da man. Thnx for the info & link, v informative. I'm afraid that looks like pixel black belt material of which I don't have
That link tells me you'd only have 1 shot at fixing the pixels. Mine are ok at the moment, hope they stay that way.

Good luck to those who attempt this repair.

[Brit6]

I tried this last night on my E53 MID, its a little different than the E38 MID. I was not able to get the board loose from the metal brackets. The connectors are also different.

I am going to see if i can get the OP to fix mine for $$

[Weasel]

Originally Posted by Brit6

I tried this last night on my E53 MID, its a little different than the E38 MID. I was not able to get the board loose from the metal brackets. The connectors are also different.

I am going to see if i can get the OP to fix mine for $$

If he does bite, he could essentially start his own MID repair business!