Chrome gauge rings install question

[JV]

Ok, I am not sure what's going on with the gauge clusters on your specific vehicles, but twisting the + tabs was perhaps the easiest part of the whole deal for me, save for removing the cluster itself.

Doc, I'm surprised at you. Don't tell me I'm better at "Operation" than you are! I took a combat medic course in Ranger school but that was nothin!

Maybe BMW or VDO makes a tool which matches the configuration of those tabs? Anyone know?

JV

[statdoc]

Yeah, I don't know what was wrong. I kept hearing a buzz and a red light flashed, whenever the needlenose pliers touched the side.

[JV]

Originally Posted by statdoc

Yeah, I don't know what was wrong. I kept hearing a buzz and a red light flashed, whenever the needlenose pliers touched the side.

[AutoXer]

Ok, sell me your new 4.8 wheels and I will come over and install them for you

I had to twist the + tabs pass where the unlock position was, and it relax back to the correct position. Don't worry about the broken one, you don't need it there because the four clips will hold everything in just right. I think BMW purposely put those + tabs there to discourage us from messing around with the instrument cluster.

Also if the car is under warranty, they can tell if anyone has played around with it, and if there are some evidence of tampering, they can void the warranty on that part. I actually had to replace an instrument cluster out of warranty on an older BMW and they actually charged me a core charge of around $150 for the part.

Good luck. Take your time, and it should come apart.

[pepatrick]

Here is what I did to position the tabs. I took a pair of needle nose pliers and inserted them into the "+" and twisted it about 90 degrees past the slots. When the "+" springs back it will more or less line up with the slots in the cluster. Once you have done this with all five "+" you can peel the vin number sticker back carefully not to rip it. Take a small flat blade screwdriver and insert it into each of the four tabs and carefully lift and slide it back just a little. If you can do this with all 4 of them...the whole cluster will come apart.

If you use a very thin cloth or tissue when you insert in the "+" you can do it without scratching anything up...also on a good hot day the vin number sticker will peel off with out any problems.

The pictures below are from my old 4.4i. I removed the cluster and replaced it with the another cluster I had the did not have the rings...I figured I may try to sell this on ebay for $70.00 or so since the rings are already installed. Just a thought.