Really good write up,brother!:thumbsup:

Thank you again for also doing my cluster!

 

Excellent!

 

Nice work, looks fiddly!

From working on this, any idea why I have missing pixels unless it's been raining, then they're 99% perfect?!

 

No idea. I have at summertime more pixels than winter.

 

Never would have thought this was a DIY job. Good job!

 

Thanks for posting more pics! I will by doing this shortly when my ribbon comes in the mail. Hope you don't mind if I seek your expertise if I get stuck...hope you didn't have to go through multiple attempts like some people's experiences I've read about.

 

Only issue what i had once was that i didnt push the lcd panel holder clamps propetly in. So it was loose and was missing few pixels. But it was fixed in 2minutes

 

so the issue stems from corrosion of the contacts? How does it corrode in the first place?

 

I dont know what it was, but it wasnt corrosion. At least i think so. My theory is that silicone wont push cable anymore so tight to the cluster and there is a problem. Maybe old ribbon cracked a littlebit with time and temperature.

 

Just what I needed....Thanks a lot

 

Glad if you find it useful

 

Nice write-up, especially considering that English is not your first language.

It's things like this that make this board so valuable.

Also, its write-ups like this that helped me to justify the $250 that I spent to have this done for me! I'm much too likely to bugger it up!

 

Thanks for the kind words

 

Excellent DIY.

I've been contemplating to do it myself of sent it to vdorepair.

In all the cluster I missing 1 vertical line out of the temperature indicator (really annoying).


But its nice to know that this is a DIY. I wonder if there is a permanent fix like soldering the ribbon wire socket on the cluster PCBoard.

I cannot believe that the ribbon cable only glued from the factory h:.


Regardz,

J Irwan

 

No soldering!!!!
Pressure is a key.

 

Awesome post.

Just gotta now see if I can "man up" and do this myself.

 

Just take it slowly and be careful with drilling. If you can get extra hand it will help alot!

 

thanks man
i did it last weekend with your DIY in front of me- took me 14 hours all up-

i made a mod to get it to work properly-

problem was one of the 4 screws holding the lcd carrrier wouldnt bite because corner of the white carrier thing was broken off.

many attempts and couldnt get all the pixcels, so.....

i got an M3 bolt and nut (yes i know, vey funny-should be M5) and put it right thru the board, theres a spare hole just near the screw, and voila!! jit worked

see pic

 

Just did this myself

Just DIY'd my dead pixels as well as wanted to chime in.

The key to 100% pixels is alignment of the new ribbon cable and the pressure the silicone inserts push it against the LCD. The whole thing is pretty daunting but patience and care is the key. You definitely want to be careful when the cluster is flipped over not to damage the speedo/fuel/tach/temp motors as they are very delicate. The trick to good pressure is to use thick photo paper (I doubled up the strips for each so now I have super bright LCD pixel display lol).

I bought a kit from ebay for $30 and saved myself at least $300 by doing it myself instead of sending to VDO for repair.

If you want to do it yourself--go to this guy on ebay: csiboreszkudo

BRAND NEW LCD RIBBON CABLE BMW E38 E39 X5, 5 7 SERIES | eBay

This guy has THE best video instructions...might be the only video instructions around...very very detailed and useful in noting tricks/caveats.

Be brave and learn to do this yourself!!! Very fulfilling feeling after fixing this. Good luck.

 

hey guys

i'm looking to fix my cluster now. (killer write up Burnout 187) i just wanted to know how your clusters are holding up after the repairs? joeywx has there been any issues with the ribbon cable you got from ebay?

thanks

 

Nope. Perfect pixels.

 

I wish I was brave enough & had the skills to fix mine...

 

Great instructions. Just subscribing to thread as this is on my list.

CHECK BRAI E L N GS - I am missing a few pixels myself.

 

lcd

done mine not easy last job put the lcd screen back on CRACKED LSD when clipping it back in so sod it sent to the guy who sent me the ribbin real helpful guy now sending him the whole cluster waiting now for it to come back and he is going to make sure all works perfect before sending it back to me just have to pay p p both ways and pay for the lcd and that is 45euro.

 

hey joeywx did you solder the ribbon cable to the lcd and board? or did you just put something under the connection?

 

Oh hell no don't do that! It should have a sticker side that connects. Then the silicone/rubber strips apply pressure once installed. You should not have to solder anything!

The key is adding thick laminate paper under the silicone inserts to apply more pressure to the ribbon resulting in bright and even pixels on display.

What instructions do you have that tells you to solder? You'll ruin your cluster if you do that.

 

you dont actually solder the pieces you heat them with a t-tip that has a rubber end more like ironing the ribbon on to the lcd and board. but if you can do it without then it seems safer for the ribbon and components. thanks for the info.

 

Yeah no heating needed either. Where are you getting this rationale? :confused3 Whatever. Unsubscribed. Don't want to argue with stupid posts.

 

wow whos arguing. just trying to get all the info before i open up my cluster. as some of the sites for cluster pixel fixes say you need to buy this tool. http://bimmer.netne.net/ribbonrepair/ in the last set of pictures.

 

Mate, that tool is a teflon tip for a soldering iron. They aren't super easy to buy and unless you actually solder the ribbon to the board you don't need it.

If you do solder the ribbon, I would advise getting one and practising first!

FYI I didn't solder it, I just cleaned the contacts carefully with Electrical Contact Cleaner and reassembled, with the extra padding under the silicon pads to help exert more pressure on the ribbon.

 

Nice

OP followed the exact same procedure I used when I did my pixels last year. Great pic's.

The hardest parts are:

- drilling the holes to access the screws (man was I sweating)
- installing the new ribbon (this took me about 8 attempts, I had noone else to help me so I ended up using duct tape and many minor adjustments)
- my screws on the plastic LCD surround stripped and I needed to buy some tiny nuts and bolts to replace them.

It took me about 5 or 6 hours to do (most of the last 2 or 3 hours were trying to fit the new ribbon cable properly), it's painstaking work - especially if you do it with only two hands!

Edit: I didn't use any special tools. I constructed my own plastic 'tabs' out of some hard plastic packaging and a handy pair of scissors. Then I just slotted them in each of the slots and pulled it outer case off in one go.

 

thanks ChrisM just waiting for my new cable to arrive and then give it a go.

 

Nice write up thanks, just ordered my ribbon of eBay.