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E36 328is 98 Canadian cluster swap to us Miles!!
I just got this 328is 1998 5 speed manual and i'm really happy about stating a build guys, its going to be my first BMW project car.
Its 1 owner car it need a little care and this project its going to be not race car, just good looking sports e36 with some mods on it.
So the issues is this car come to California 20 years ago from Canada it was register in California and meets California emissions and smog requirements and its been running since then, Now the only issues since its Canadian the instrument cluster is k/m not miles, i called 4 BMW dealers! 2 of them they have no idea what i was talking about!! the other 2 they want me to bring the car to the dealer to check it out, not sure if i want to go and spend $200 just for check.
I Found a US instrument cluster in Ebay for $50 has 134.000 miles on it!! and mine has 200,000k/m, so in miles would be around 124.000miles or so.
Do i have to change the Canadian ECU to us ECU?
Can i just take to BMW specialist and do that for me?
Is it legal to change the whole instrument cluster from k/m to Miles in CA ?
Anyone had this experience before would be kind enough to guide me through this Thank you .
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Does the speedometer have two scales? Usually North America cars have two scales, the outside scale is MPH and the inside light blue colored scale is KPH. Having said that, the odometer display for USA cars is miles, not kilometers, Canadians are metric.
100 KPH is roughly 62 MPH, and there are 1.6 kilometers to a mile. Travel a measured mile, there are small sign posts along the shoulder of the freeway that list the miles, they're called mile markers. If you go from one to the next and the odometer clicks off one new mile, then you have a mile-based odometer. If it clicks off 1.5, then you have a kilometer-based odometer.
You can load and run Waze on your phone, this will give you both speed and distance that you can compare to the displays on your car. I get the impression you might not be sure what you have, so I'm postulating tests you can do to be sure you have what you think you have before you set about fixing something that's not broke. I am not aware of any switch or software setting that can change a car from imperial to metric.
Waze is a very cool map app that lets you tell others that there are cops on the side of the road, or wrecks, or workers, all kinds of stuff that can make traffic patterns change. The Waze lady will tell you to get off the freeway to go around a back up that others ahead of you have reported.
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Thanks JDStrickland, my 328is is kilometer-based odometer not a miles! its has only KM/H in the cluster and it is Canadian models.
Attachment 625234 this is mine.
I want to change the cluster from KM to Miles, is it possible ?
I don't have a problem when i drive it in the freeway, but if one of the family want's to take it for spin or friend, you know the oil, the functions, the engine temps.
I was thinking this may related to the ECU or maybe its written in metric so i may need to change it to a US ECU or coding maybe!! not sure about this!! no clue just a thought.
I know it looks cool with Euro odometer but i want to change it to US Miles since i live in CA.
Yep i used to use Waze a lot! the map usually tell me to get off the freeway and go through weird alley late night! lol! i'm good ill stick with google" Thanks.
Last edited by Bmwsportline; 03-21-2018 at 11:45 PM.
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You ask a good question. I do not know the answer.
Here's something I know, because I read the schematics, the Vehicle Speed Sensor (mounted in the diff) goes directly to the instrument cluster on Connector C, Pins 3 & 4. Pin 3 has a BRN/BLK wire, Pin 4 has BRN/RED. The schematics does not show how the signal gets to the display, there is a solid state device that is pictured as a black box. My thoughts are that if you change the cluster to a USA spec unit, then your information will be correct going forward. After looking at the schematics, I would not expect the ECU to have any bearing on the topic.
There is a Tamper Dot on the cluster that tells future buyers that there is a discrepancy in the miles displayed and the distance the car thinks it has gone. All you need do is log the displayed mileage of the cluster that you install, and the displayed mileage of the cluster you removed. Obviously, the cluster you remove will need to be adjusted from metric to miles, then the difference in the new display from installation to current date is added to the converted mileage of the old cluster. I do not know if you can avoid triggering the tamper dot, or if you can use software to go in and change the odometer display to accurately reflect the mileage going forward.
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Code it with ADS interface and NCSexpert / NCSdummy.Originally Posted by Bmwsportline
Do it properly, retain your old cluster, it's really not hard.
Last edited by E36328Coupe; 03-22-2018 at 03:49 PM.
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Except the lines on his cluster are in kilometers, so the needle points to 100 when the car is going 62.5.
What am I missing here?
And, the odometer reads high now compared to the reading it will have for miles, the odometer is not going to roll back to the proper display. For every mile, the odometer clicks off 1.6 kilometers, if the odometer reads 160,000 now, the miles will only be 100,000.
Shhh.
I know that if you swap one in with higher milage it'll trigger the tamper dot, but I'm unsure how that'll react going CDN to US. Otherwise if you don't care about tamper dots or what the total milage says then the easiest way to do it would be to make sure you buy a OBD2 6 cylinder cluster (so out of a 323 or 328). That way it'll be plug & play and the cluster won't need any coding and the RPM's will read correctly.
Heres a thread that may help you out a bit as well: https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...8#post28441498
'93 Bmw 32oi /// White leather, H&R race springs, Style 125 reps, Evo X wing
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If he has the same model cluster he could swap just that
Or recalibrate
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E36328iCoupe,
I found 2 Cluster both of them 1998 same year as my car and same models 328i
One has 136.030miles on it and the second has 99.100 miles on it .
My car has 203.000 k/m! so to miles conversion that will be 126.000
ill do some research about NCSexpert and inpa for coding too thanks
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Silenced,
i don't really care that much about the tamper dot as long as can pass the smog easy and the speedometer works fine, i'm not sure if it has something to do with the smog but i'm planing to keep the car, i thought the e36 from 95 to 99 comes with OBD2?
Hopefully the cluster won't need any coding like you said just plug&play.
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JDStrickland,
I'm glad that the ECU out of the topic. but i also read that there is small ship memory in the back of the odometer, do you think if i plug the ship in my k/m odometer to the us miles odometer will automatically update itself? i may need to plug it and see the result anyway
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E36328Coupe,
I found 2 cluster both of them 1998 out of 328i one has 136.000 miles on it and the second has around 99.000 miles on it.
My Cluster has around 204.000 K/M so in US conversion that will be around 126.000 miles.
I hope as you mentioned just swap it and recalibrate!
i also need to do some research about nscexpert and inpa coding
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Will Broken odometer or tamper dot fail smog check in CA?
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There are various models of cluster - the circuit boar is in the back half
if you take the front off the cluster the individual gauges are quick release inside that, so if all the same type swapping the gauge is a way to swap the dial.
With ADS because the cars ZCS (a bmw code no will say km) use ncs dummy to flip to miles.
ORRRRRR
If the circuit boards are the same you could fit the miles dash, read and save the config
Fit the MPH gauge to the old dash
Fit the old dash
Apply the config off the MPH cluster to your original KM cluster and I am reasonable sure it will display the equivalent in miles - same way as the OBC has a default but you can flip it.
Wait a few hours and I will hook up and get you some screen shots
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If the late model clusters have the coding plug there is a procedure to sync to the highest, so no tamper dot, or get someone to correct it.
On older E36 the mileage is only stored in cluster so even though the dot exists I have never managed to activate it except to test functionality deliberately.
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Kombi
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Bear in mind everything here is a UK car and hence miles AND pretty much everything is in KM except a couple of tick boxes to represent the output in miles.
There also appears to be a section for selecting the maximum speedo value.
Hence my idea being keep the old cluster, drop in the Miles speedo, set the old cluster to display in miles (as long as same models of cluster) tweak speedo top reading if required.
Not played with this but bear in mind they are European car in KM and UK is in miles and it looks like only real difference is speedo and ECO gauges and flipping the output is normal stuff, same as the OBC displayed in both KM and MPH but has a default (although you can switch that yourself on the front).
Below are courtesy of using NCSdummy to make translate the easy stuff to tick boxes
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3 - Copy.JPG
4 - Copy.JPG
5 - Copy.JPG
Last edited by E36328Coupe; 03-25-2018 at 10:50 AM.
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E36328Coupe,
I really appreciate it! Thank you for the detailed and informative review! ill keep my Cluster and i will follow the steps and update you guys!!
i just ordered the software NCSExpert, NCSDummy! so exited!!
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Just remember I didn't say it would work but it looks like it should
Get an ADS or build almost free ADS. Get NCSdummy, READ the trace and then open it with NCS dummy. Make backup copies of the files so you can roll back if needed.
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I would probably flip the cluster to miles before doing anything else to see if the digital readout correctly adjusts and then swap the speedo if all else looks ok, then work out if a straight swap or needs calibrating.
Take your time, learn the basics and if stuck shout BEFORE messing up.
You could even put your other cluster in and read its config and play with that.
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Balogne Cajones
why wouldn't you just swap the faceplate in the cluster to one that read km and miles? or are the markings on the faceplates not the same increment ?
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I didn't say you couldn't, in fact that is half of what I did say, but it's not a speedo cable on the end and that won't flip the digital display to miles. Unless the maximum speedo deflection is for the same velocity whether it be miles or KM, which is an exercise for the OP, it may need further playing. Obvious really if you read my posts.
Last edited by E36328Coupe; 03-27-2018 at 03:25 PM.
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Balogne Cajones
I didn't see that it was a digital display. Was the failed attachment a pic of the cluster?
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Don't they all have a digital display for the servicing and elapsed miles?
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