last night I lost the LED backlight to my Outside temp, MPG, MPH display in my dash cluster. Does not seem to be a pixel issue as the entire display can be seen very faintly. I can see the display switch when pressing the button on the turn signal. It seems like the bulb or bulbs went bad...lighting everywhere else on the cluster is working fine. My question is, is it a single LED bulb or a series of LED bulbs that need to be replaced, or could it be a fuse for this single part of the display?
Has anyone ever done this and chime in on part numbers that I can't seem to find anywhere ...Thanks.
The display is actually LCD, and is backlit via bulbs, accessible after you remove the cluster. Replace all the bulbs, including the one in the light switch (on all the time) while you're at it.
Thx edjack....and a good idea to replace the lights that are on most while in there....just having a real tough time locating the part numbers...my searching continues
I have the Instrument cluster out and do not see where the bulbs go on the back of the cluster. it looks like the rear bezel on the cluster needs to come off to access the bulbs, but I am having a hard time removing this because of the 5 "X" shaped plastic tabs that do not seem to turn. Anyone know how to access the bulbs and get the rear of the cluster off?
got the 6 x tabs lined up an removed the back of the cluster from the face plate, but I am really missing something here as I still do not see any bulbs and how you access the bulbs... i am looking at the mpg/temp display led but cannot see how you get behind it
k..I gave up and slapped her back together. for the life of me, I did not see where the bulbs were, even after disassembling the cluster. I have read that once you remove the cluster, there are 6 white hex shaped sockets on the back of the cluster that are taken out with a needle nose and have the bulbs attached.
I had no such sockets, did the low cluster come with LED's on a board that sits behind that display?
Not sure if my HID's did it, happened the night of a torrential downpour.
In any case, I thought they were little bulbs like the one below as illustrated in realoem and from the few posts I read on the subject....people were actually succesful in doing this, so I am confused. But you may be right, I did not see a bulb. I took the front cover apart from the rear cluster and had the display accessed, but did not want to start ripping apart the odometer faceplate and pry open the LED display to get to the bulbs or diodes underneath with the possibility of ruining the display entirely...i was entering unchartered waters in accordance to how easy the few posts say it is to do?...Is this even doable?
Why is my cluster different from a '97 540? According to autohausaz and realoem, this is the correct part for the instrument cluster lighting and is what I bought
Strange indeed! I had one part of my back lighting go out a few weeks ago. I went to BMW Seattle and got a handful of the bulbs pictured in post #10 above and after removing the cluster, easily removed the bulbs with a small screwdriver and swapped them all out...they are mounted on the back of the cluster, clear as day. I am thinking the earlier clusters have the bulbs soldered in like on the radio and AC displays. Those you have to open up and have some electrical skills to solder in new bulbs...basically you need to send them out to an electronics repair place, unless you have the necessary skills...
Well I have an 02 530i , and if you look at the back of my cluster, there are no bulbs to remove (see the end of my thread for picture). Perhaps this is due to mine being a Low-spec Cluster (similar to pafferi).
yep, read a post yesterday in my lengthy search that I can't seem to find now, where someone had screenshots of soldering a tiny LED bulb with 2 wires on the end into the circuit board of his MID display....these are probably similar to that for the MPG display....
Well I needed a win after all that and at least got to replace the bezel for the cluster with a newer one from ebay. This guy can probably do it, http://www.vdorepair.com/ but you will lose the cluster for 2-3 days, and not sure if they charge the full 299.00 to do so...I may give a call unless I can find the proper bulbs to solder in and attempt this myself. Can't believe this will be the case for all these little bulbs eventually on this type of cluster and it being soldered diode bulbs to replace ...bummer
I have been recommending you call vdorepair.com all along....please call them. I would not attempt a repair yourself, you may cause damage that cannot be repair, meaning you will need a new core to start out with...
Yes, on further thought, I agree, I don't want to make it worse. It's just going to have to wait right now as my car goes in the shop next week for complete suspension, cooling system, and engine maintenance overhaul. Funny how these things creep up on you with these cars....and usually in expensive bunches.
I had no issues since getting the car for 2 years, had a DDM M5 bumper sprayed and installed last summer...This January on a really cold day, a rock goes right through the bumper on the expressway by my drivers side fog light leaving a quarter sized hole...have to get it repaired and the whole bumper re-sprayed.
I had my rims refinished last June as well, and they took more than the usual beating in just one winter season. Clear coat coming off in a few spots on all rims (look like burns in the clear coat). Guy who did them agreed he will redo them with a partial refund....I will fight for at least half off to have them refinished again as I do not believe he let the clear coat set properly.
Then again, even with the above issues, the car still looks great for 12 years, and I cannot think of anything else I'd rather be driving.
I hear ya...been there myself. I have never found any paint work (wheels and bumper in particular) that hold up as well as factory oem. It will always pit and chip from road rash...be it sand or pebbles....usually you get at least two or three year though, before it needs to be reshot. I always have the plastic film applied to bumpers and hood, but then the film looks like crap after a few years. Nothing you can do with wheels, other than try and keep from curbing them in the first place!
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