'02 530i - can one swap in another instru cluster, or does it need to be "coded"??

[gmushial]

I'm having to have the steppers on my cluster replaced, and it looks like I'll be without a instrument cluster for 2+ wks [and since this is my DD of choice :-( ]... so my question is: there is another '02 530i in the junk yard nearby with nearly identical specs [OBC, 5AT etc] - where the only difference is that it has 150k more miles on it... can I buy that cluster, pull the one needing repair, swap in the junk yard one, ship the original one off, and still have a DD until the repaired cluster is returned?

[JimLev]

Why don't you just get the junkyard cluster coded to match your car, then install in.

[gmushial]

Why don't you just get the junkyard cluster coded to match your car, then install in.

A possible... though with 200k miles, wondering if one wouldn't be buying the same potential problems with the servo motors going south... plus I don't think it is possible to reset the mileage to match what's currently on the 530i... my though was to just use the junkyard cluster as a stopgap measure and as soon as the original cluster is back, simply reinstall it... though the operative question is: would a cluster that's not coded to my vehicle even work, or would block the car from even being runnable?

[JimLev]

Geargrinder and Blackknight530i are the two guys that I know that should be able to answer that question.
The cluster may need to have a chip replaced to clear the mileage, I think the VIN can be changed to match your car.

[edjack]

Everything you ever wanted to know:

Instrument cluster swapping and virginizing

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=934284

https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?2343283-Another-pixel-fix-thread

[gmushial]

Gents - many thanks :-)

[1823alex]

You can send yours off & use the junkyard one in the meantime HOWEVER - if you drive more than a certain amount of miles without the originally mated / coded cluster, you WILL get the red 'tamper dot of death' if the mileages stored in the LCM & IKE are not within a certain range / margin of error.

Now imo, if you're not planning to sell the car or you just don't care about the tamper dot, why not keep the junkyard cluster in your car? I'm sure it's cheaper than paying for your coded one to get repaired?

Personally I repaired my cluster on my own (dead pixels), and when I did break one of the motors I got one from a local eBay seller & swapped it in myself.

[TerraPhantm]

You'll get the tamper dot immediately, not within a few miles of driving. It gets set when there's a VIN mismatch between the LCM and cluster. Nothing else triggers that light. It also automatically clears without a trace when you fix the mismatch

[geargrinder]

Yeah hit up blackknight. Unless somebody tries to work on it and botches the job, The motors don't crap out that frequently honestly.

I'd say just have him swap your chip into that one (or if you dont want to be without a car for the downtime - maybe he can virginize that one for you and then teach you how to clone your data to it when it arrives).

If it DOES ever crap out you can always have the old one fixed at that point.

[gmushial]

Yeah hit up blackknight. Unless somebody tries to work on it and botches the job, The motors don't crap out that frequently honestly.

I'd say just have him swap your chip into that one (or if you dont want to be without a car for the downtime - maybe he can virginize that one for you and then teach you how to clone your data to it when it arrives).

If it DOES ever crap out you can always have the old one fixed at that point.

I've heard that over and over [that the motors generally don't take a dump]... but in this case I'm pretty sure it is at least the speedo one, ie, it'll hang at 40mph even though the car is parked and off; and then when I tap on the top of the dash, it'll drop down to 0... likewise, it'll make major jumps on the way up. ... so I guess I've had the "fortune" of witnessing a 3 or 4 sigma event ;-) :-( ... I'm also seeing some, but much more minor such actions on the tach... [the tach on the Z, which is almost the same year, is smooth and flows like a real analog gauge, even though it is also servo based, ie, if they're working properly, they should be smooth and no detectable "pixilation"/"quantization" ].

[geargrinder]

Oh I didn’t mean to poop on your diag. Sounds legit. Just saying I’d roll the dice on another used one for sure.

[1823alex]

I could've swore I heard somewhere if you drive too much and your old cluster's mileage is off by more than say 100 miles (don't know actual number) compared to the LCM's recorded mileage the tamper dot will show up and be permanent unless you can recode the mileages to match.

[TerraPhantm]

I could've swore I heard somewhere if you drive too much and your old cluster's mileage is off by more than say 100 miles (don't know actual number) compared to the LCM's recorded mileage the tamper dot will show up and be permanent unless you can recode the mileages to match.

I've definitely heard it too - there's a lot of misinformation regarding the tamper dot, mileage mismatches, VIN mismatches, etc. Some of it likely deliberate on BMW's part to discourage "tampering".

What does happen is if there's a mileage discrepancy of > ~100km(?), the LCM will stop syncing with the cluster even if the VIN matches. But that doesn't set off the tamper dot.

[Qsilver7]

I could've swore I heard somewhere if you drive too much and your old cluster's mileage is off by more than say 100 miles (don't know actual number) compared to the LCM's recorded mileage the tamper dot will show up and be permanent unless you can recode the mileages to match.

I've definitely heard it too - there's a lot of misinformation regarding the tamper dot, mileage mismatches, VIN mismatches, etc. Some of it likely deliberate on BMW's part to discourage "tampering".

What does happen is if there's a mileage discrepancy of > ~100km(?), the LCM will stop syncing with the cluster even if the VIN matches. But that doesn't set off the tamper dot.

Yes...there's a lot of misinformation/confusion about the tamper dot and mileage differences. But it is covered in the information below about REDUNDANT DATA STORAGE between the IKE & LCM.

Take note of ALL six datapoints...especially #1 which explains when the tamper dot will illuminate and #5 which explains what happens when mileage between these two modules reach a certain distance in mileage/kilometers:

hint: the amount of mileage/kilometers get jumbled by the many as well as the difference between a data transfer fault vs illumination of the odometer tamper dot

[blackknight530i]

First of all OP, used clusters can indeed be reset/virginized. I do it all the time when I repair clusters as I replace the entire circuit boards in clusters with the later ones BMW made to fix the failure for good. The new boards use a connector for the ribbon cable to the LCD rather than glue, so they really don't fail again. Anyways, I have an eraser/programmer that can erase the chip, then I restore a virginized backup copy of the EEPROM data from the same HW and SW versions of the cluster I'm restoring it to. It's not as simple as just desolder the chip from one cluster and solder it to the other one (not an easy task anyways) since the hardware and software versions can be mismatched and cause issues. Even if the two cars are both the same month and year of production, there's no guarantee that one of them has not had the cluster replaced before.

Rather than buying a cluster at the salvage yard and then paying someone like me to virginize it for you, I have tons of the later model clusters already and can virginize them and send them to you as plug and play, so long as you can get me your ZCS code from the car. This is easiest to get from either PA Soft or NCS Expert. Both are software for Windows that can be found cheap with their respective cables and can get the information I need. Having the ZCS code means that the new cluster will be coded for the options your car had from the factory and since it will have 0 miles on it when you get it back, as long as the VIN matches between the cluster and LCM, it will download from the LCM and update the cluster upon first start. This means no tamper dot, no weird issues, no bad pixels, correct mileage for the car, etc.

PM me if you have more questions.

[geargrinder]

^^^^ see. told ya so.