2016 340i Instrument Cluster Issue

[disham]

Hello,

I have a situation with my car and I'm veryinterested to hear in your thoughts and opinions relating to this situation. Iapologize for my lengthy post as I attempt to describe my situation. I'm a newbie to the forum but not to BMW cars. Past owner of2006 325 and current owner of 2010 128i and 2016 340i. My 2016 340 has 38889 miles on it and doesn't get drivenmuch. I've put 15747 miles on it in the past 4-1/2 years.

My situation is this: my 340i was in need of anoil change and the low battery warning was telling me my battery was in need ofreplacement as well. It was the original battery from 2016. Took me severalweeks to getting around to making an appointment with the local dealer and inthe mean time I drove the car around town a few times before my appointment.Never did the battery completely die, require jumping, or exhibit signs of strugglingto turn over my car, but the warning light was constant. The car has always runand operated flawlessly since the day it was purchased.

It was a Friday earlier this month when I took mycar to the dealer. The car was running and operating perfectly without anyissues. The dealer performed the oil change, new battery install and I also hadthem install new spark plugs only because the maintenance schedule was callingfor it to be done. Hindsight, the plugs were a waste of my money.

The dealer had my car pretty much all day andtoward late afternoon they called to advise everything was completed but now myinstrument cluster wasn't working properly and they were checking intoit. About 30 minutes later they called again to tell me they got it workingagain, all's well, and they car was ready to be picked up. I wasn't told whatwas wrong with the cluster and I didn't bother asking either. I picked up thecar and brought it home. It ran fine and seemed to be operating properly,although I really didn't pay too much attention to the finer operating detailsof the car. It's only a 15 minute drive to/from dealer.

Car sat in the driveway over the weekend untoucheduntil early Monday morning when I started it for my wife to use to run a quickerrand. We dropped her car (128i) off at the dealer the evening before for anoil change as well. The car started, stalled and hiccupped then the checkengine light came on. My wife used the car and it seemed to run fine withoutfurther issue but the light stayed on and didn't correct itself.

Made another appointment to bring car back to thedealer that week Friday afternoon. The dealer had my car all day then advisedmy fault remained and was do to the instrument cluster. The car needed asoftware update to correct the problem. Since it was already late in the day nthey were unable to start the update and asked that I make an additionalappointment for the following week Friday. Appointment was made.

Brought car back to dealer on that new week Fridayfor software update and noticed my instrument cluster clock was not keepingtime correctly. Engine light was still on. Car ran fine. I advised the dealerupon drop off. Dealer had my car all day then called late afternoonadvising software update was complete, but my instrument cluster still was notworking properly and check engine light keeps coming on. The were reaching outup the BMW service chain for help on possible root cause and solutions. Theykept the car over the weekend and into the new week. It wasn't until thefollowing Wednesday they advised that my cluster was bad and needed to bereplacement. Quoted me $1800 and ordered a new one. They advised part wouldarrive following day, Thursday, and car would be ready for pick up in theafternoon. This day came and went, Friday came and went, and about 10 minutesbefore closing on this Friday I called to learn that they still needed my carover the weekend and it won't be ready for pickup until Monday, maybe.

I understand that electronics can fail randomly atany point in time, but I find it highly suspect and suspicious that my clusterall of a sudden failed at the same time my battery was being replaced. It'shard for me to believe that the statistical probability of my cluster failingwith 38889 miles on the car that rarely gets driven and when the car wasrunning and operating absolutely flawlessly, except for low battery warningbeing on, up until I brought it in to the dealer for oil change and batteryreplacement.

Any thoughts and/or opinions on this situation?

Thanks,
Doug

[328 Power 04]

Hmm, I would be a little skeptical too. The time in the cluster is the only thing that is faulty now? Or are there other things?

I would say a good scan of everything would be a good start or if you have a list of codes from all modules from the dealer's scan. This is a little unusual.

[disham]

Thanks for your response. From what I recall the clock was the only thing I noticed not working correctly when I returned the car to the dealer. Everything else appeared to be working at the time. I'm not sure what the BMW tech was experiencing or seeing. Car is still at the dealer as of today.

[328 Power 04]

A quick search shows that it's not an isolated event, however up until now, I hadn't heard of it.

https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=929691

I would go with a software update in cluster as they recommend, and then possibly turning off the automatic time update to see if it acts any differently.