Best price on a new instrument cluster from dealer

[IMOLA 4.6is]

shoot for 75 percent just say economy is bad i need a little more room and make sure the dealer charges you warrenty hourly rate not the normal hourly rate. I cost me a little over $200 with tax and an half and half, not worth the risk of having a TMU...

You dont happen to take your car to Henderson BMW are you urrrrghhhh I just got my X last week from Henderson Audi Lamborghini and they wont send me over the service records due to privacy..... ughhhhhhh

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.

[o. l. t.]

I just walked outside and forced a pixel error, then fixed it, then forced it again, then fixed it, about 3 times in 20 seconds on my own OBC.


YouTube - obc errors

[gitchies]

you can always call a dealer here in Canada......lol...i called my local dealer...895 before labour.....yikes....
i think i'll give the new ribbon idea a shot when the warm weather comes around...this is what my cluster looks like after not driving a week...when its cold, it lights up properly....as it gets warm, i assume the ribbon gets loose? so then it fades...

[rph74]

I've heard a lot of good about these guys:

http://vdorepair.com/

I need to get this done on my 540i soon too.

[sunny5280]

Originally Posted by rph74

I've heard a lot of good about these guys:

VDORepair.com | Automotive Instrument Cluster Repair

I need to get this done on my 540i soon too.

I went with a repair for my MID for two reasons:

1. I didn't have to do the work. Having someone else do it puts the responsibility on them to fix / replace anything that may be damaged during the repair.
2. It came with a lifetime guarantee. I have more faith the repair will have less problems than the replacement of the cluster (which I've read end up failing too).

I don't think I used VDO for the repair but the company (person I believe) who did the repair on mine did an excellent job.

[rph74]

You are correct in stating that dealer replacements can fail. I had my cluster replaced on my e39 back in 2004, and it started failing again 3 years later. A repair couldn't be any worse!

[HPIA4v2]

Originally Posted by rph74

You are correct in stating that dealer replacements can fail. I had my cluster replaced on my e39 back in 2004, and it started failing again 3 years later. A repair couldn't be any worse!

I have a feeling, humidity maybe a major factor in this problem, though can't imagine BMW not using gold plated PCB traces where the ribbin cable connect to (gold won't oxidize like copper). Hope I don;t have to replace mine again after the first goodwill by BMW.

[vegasX5]

Originally Posted by HPIA4v2

I have a feeling, humidity maybe a major factor in this problem, though can't imagine BMW not using gold plated PCB traces where the ribbin cable connect to (gold won't oxidize like copper). Hope I don;t have to replace mine again after the first goodwill by BMW.

In regards to humidity being the culprit, I can tell you it was certainly not a factor in my case. My X5 has been in Las Vegas with basically no humidity since the day it was purchased and has never ever seen snow and probably seen rain fewer than 10 times in it's whole life. It could be a factor in some locations, but I can guarantee that it has not had an impact in my case (pixels started going out around 40k miles and 4 years old btw).

[sedate_driver]

For the DIYers out there, try this:
LCD pixel failure repair for BMW instrument cluster, MID radio & OBC unit.

[jeanm]

Any links for detailed instructions on actually doing the pixel cable replacement?