16:9 Widescreen Not Same For X5s and M5s - Page 6 - The Unofficial BMW M5 Messageboard (m5board.com)

1mpowerme · 27th March 2006, 08:49

This is great stuff. Thanks for everyone's help. I should be getting my 16:9 screen any day now and when I install it I'll be sure to see how things look and make adjustments at that time.

cosioboy · 27th March 2006, 18:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by mottati

I followed Frits' instructions and adjusted my monitor today. It really was easier than i expected. Frits, you instructions were good. I took a few pics, i posted a couple below, mostly of those Kupenwhatever cables. They look more like little ribbon cables, and plug into a connector on the board of the monitor. The other pic shows the screws to adjust. I used the second from the bottom, as Frits suggested mostly, and did a minor adjustment to the bottom one, which seemed to improve the color after i brightened it. It's still largely invisible with polarized sunglasses, but that is ok, it looks many times better out in the sun than ever before. I pulled the car out of the garage, windows and sunroof open, to do the adjusting.
I can't believe i'd lived with the monitor the old way for so long!
Mike

Good to hear all went smooth, Mike. Hopefully next weekend I get to try it too, especially if the difference is that noticeable.

I guess one can easily do it alone, although a helper might come handy, especially when doing the final color/brighness adjustments.

mottati · 27th March 2006, 21:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by cosioboy

Good to hear all went smooth, Mike. Hopefully next weekend I get to try it too, especially if the difference is that noticeable.

I guess one can easily do it alone, although a helper might come handy, especially when doing the final color/brighness adjustments.

No helpers needed. Not enough room for extra hands. I plugged the monitor in, slid the main unit in place with the screen only connected by the ribbon wires. You can sit it in position to look at it, then pull it away a couple inches to adjust the screw a bit. Here's a pic of the adjustment, it is so much better!
Mike

1mpowerme · 28th March 2006, 08:26

Well I installed my screen tonight. I was told it was out of a 5 series. All I can say is it's bright and somewhat hazy from my view at the driver's seat. I suspect this was not in a 5 series but rather an X5.

To test that I wasn't being overly critical, I sat in the center of the back seat and leaned forward over the arm rest, then I leaned down with my face almost resting on the arm rest and the screen became darker and a lot more clear.

I then went back to the driver's seat and decided to turn down the brightness and all that did was make it darker and still hazy.

I am 100% certain I need to make screen adjustments. I'll use your method tonight Mottati. Thanks for the tip.

I have a ton of install pics by the way for anyone who is going to upgrade their screen from a 4:3 to 16:9.

cosioboy · 28th March 2006, 16:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1mpowerme

Well I installed my screen tonight. I was told it was out of a 5 series. All I can say is it's bright and somewhat hazy from my view at the driver's seat. I suspect this was not in a 5 series but rather an X5.

To test that I wasn't being overly critical, I sat in the center of the back seat and leaned forward over the arm rest, then I leaned down with my face almost resting on the arm rest and the screen became darker and a lot more clear.

I then went back to the driver's seat and decided to turn down the brightness and all that did was make it darker and still hazy.

I am 100% certain I need to make screen adjustments. I'll use your method tonight Mottati. Thanks for the tip.

I have a ton of install pics by the way for anyone who is going to upgrade their screen from a 4:3 to 16:9.

From the sounds of it, you do have an X5 screen. You can call the dealer and give them your part number, that's one way to verify (you can try realoem.com, but there are a zillion 16:9 widescreen part numbers, inexplicably why)... If you are seeing it somewhat hazy from the driver's position, then I'd say go for the adjustment.

Frits · 28th March 2006, 22:10

@mottati: glad my instructions were good enough to get you going!

The weather is getting better and better here (finally! summer wheels are back on!). I've been driving more with the sunroof open, and with the bright sun shining right on the monitor. The image is still clear.

1mpowerme · 30th March 2006, 01:34

Well I blew it. How you can screw something up as simple as this is amazing to me. Everything went real well with the whole removal process and getting to the back of the screen to make the adjustments. I adjusted both the bottom and 2nd from the bottom pods and got the screen looking really good!

Then as I was reaching to disconnect the white and blue cables I must have touched the back of the screen in just the right way to where I got a good electrical shock and it made me jump causing the screen to come flying off with the two copper ribbon cables.

Getting my thoughts together I connected the copper cables again and the blue and white power connections and the screen illuminates fine but now I cannot press any of the buttons on the screen and access the main menu or anything. The only thing I can do is turn the right knob to adjust the scale of the map that is shown on my screen.

I tried shutting the car off for awhile then turning the key back to position 2 and the screen lights up "BMW" and goes to the accept screen, then automatically without me pushing a button is goes right to the map again showing my current position. None of the buttons work.

Then I disconnected my battery after the nav computer powered down and waited 10 minutes or so (I checked fuses in the trunk to pass some time) and reconnected the screen and still the same thing.

I wonder if I've somehow cooked something on my screen to where I won't be able to use the menu or any of my buttons? I checked the circuit board and I don't see any burn marks at all.

I'm stuck at this point. My 4:3 screen has been reinstalled for now and I'm wondering if I have a 16:9 unit now that is ready for the trash.

Anyone know what's up here?

cosioboy · 30th March 2006, 02:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1mpowerme

Well I blew it. How you can screw something up as simple as this is amazing to me. Everything went real well with the whole removal process and getting to the back of the screen to make the adjustments. I adjusted both the bottom and 2nd from the bottom pods and got the screen looking really good!

Then as I was reaching to disconnect the white and blue cables I must have touched the back of the screen in just the right way to where I got a good electrical shock and it made me jump causing the screen to come flying off with the two copper ribbon cables.

Getting my thoughts together I connected the copper cables again and the blue and white power connections and the screen illuminates fine but now I cannot press any of the buttons on the screen and access the main menu or anything. The only thing I can do is turn the right knob to adjust the scale of the map that is shown on my screen.

I tried shutting the car off for awhile then turning the key back to position 2 and the screen lights up "BMW" and goes to the accept screen, then automatically without me pushing a button is goes right to the map again showing my current position. None of the buttons work.

Then I disconnected my battery after the nav computer powered down and waited 10 minutes or so (I checked fuses in the trunk to pass some time) and reconnected the screen and still the same thing.

I wonder if I've somehow cooked something on my screen to where I won't be able to use the menu or any of my buttons? I checked the circuit board and I don't see any burn marks at all.

I'm stuck at this point. My 4:3 screen has been reinstalled for now and I'm wondering if I have a 16:9 unit now that is ready for the trash.

Anyone know what's up here?

Terribly sorry to hear of your experience, 1mpowerme! Not sure I can offer you any technical advice, it is tough to say from the description alone whether the screen is completely toast, or maybe some element needs to be replaced. Hopefully just the latter as you still have some functionality.

Wasn't quite sure of the electricity shock/charge you experienced - was it static electricity, or was it more lke touching a power wire directly?

1mpowerme · 30th March 2006, 02:30

The shock I received was not a snap sound like static electricity. This was direct current which seems to have given me a zap when I touched across two points in just the right way. In essence I became ground for a source that was hot. I did smell a slight burn smell after the incident but just figured it was my finger from the shock.

I just got this screen off eBay this past weekend for right around $575.00.

I thought at first I might have sent a surge to my nav computer and that was the problem area but once I installed my original 4:3 screen everything works fine again.

I wonder if I perhaps blew a small fuse of some sort on the screen itself but I don't see any fuses. I'm not a circuit board bench tester so I have no idea what to do to test and isolate the problem.

I would buy another screen and connect it to my tape unit but what if the problem is on the circuit board that the copper ribbon cables connect to.

I'm going to do some more searching on the M5 Board and see if anyone has had the same problem where they loose all functionality with the buttons but still get power to the screen and images.

Frits · 30th March 2006, 09:30

Ow, terrible to hear 1mpowerme! I guess you already tried reconnecting the copper ribbon cables, just to make sure they are properly fit in the connectors?