Dead instrument cluster

[AndreB320i]

I can't find anything on this in this forum, hence a new topic......

My e46 320i instrument cluster died, automatic dooe locks didn't work etc, only airbag and ABS lights come on. Car started and drove OK until I ran into a starting issue, when went away after a few attempts (cranks, doesn't fire). Drove some more and suddenly doors lock and cluster comes alive with almost every light on. After a restart and few minutes driving everything reset and I thought I was OK, suspecting a bad connection on the cluster connectors or something along those lines.

Got home, opened door while car is idling and cluster dies accompanied by smoke and an acrid smell. Upon removal it is clear one of the components has self destructed and a track around the switch mode power supply has been burnt off.

I design electronics and am quite prepared to have a go at fixing the thing if I can identify the dead device. Anyone have any experience with the dreaded dead instrument cluster ? I believe exchanging is not a simple matter due to vin no plus a few other things being stored in EEPROM ?

Also, driving sans cluster while I wort something out.....car starts OK, can use GPS for speed and distance to keep track of fuel usage. I believe tamper light only illuminates if vin don't match with some other modules.

Any ideas welcome.

 

[AndreB320i]

I can't find anything on this in this forum, hence a new topic......

My e46 320i instrument cluster died, automatic dooe locks didn't work etc, only airbag and ABS lights come on. Car started and drove OK until I ran into a starting issue, when went away after a few attempts (cranks, doesn't fire). Drove some more and suddenly doors lock and cluster comes alive with almost every light on. After a restart and few minutes driving everything reset and I thought I was OK, suspecting a bad connection on the cluster connectors or something along those lines.

Got home, opened door while car is idling and cluster dies accompanied by smoke and an acrid smell. Upon removal it is clear one of the components has self destructed and a track around the switch mode power supply has been burnt off.

I design electronics and am quite prepared to have a go at fixing the thing if I can identify the dead device. Anyone have any experience with the dreaded dead instrument cluster ? I believe exchanging is not a simple matter due to vin no plus a few other things being stored in EEPROM ?

Also, driving sans cluster while I wort something out.....car starts OK, can use GPS for speed and distance to keep track of fuel usage. I believe tamper light only illuminates if vin don't match with some other modules.

Any ideas welcome.

OK, I can get a used cluster from Bemow for R 1500, but now there is the matter of matching VIN number to cluster. Bemow say they know nothing about this, but there is plenty written about it.

Does anyone here know the facts ? What happens if VIN numbers don't match ? 1. Will the cluster work properly ? 2. Is there a tamper light that might come on, to be honest I am not too concerned at this stage of the cars life. 3. Does anyone know someone who can do the coding if necessary ?

Lastly of course, what caused the failure ? I need to figure this out since it's pointless installing a cluster only for it to fail again.

Anyone ?

 

[evnmopwr]

Never experienced the cluster Cooking itself Before on Any of my E46's

Tamper Dot will definitely rear its head.

I successfully "Coded" the Light control module to CLuster/ECU mileage using PA Soft V 1.4.0 But not the other way around..

If you in CPT, Combined Electronics should be able to assist you but they are NOT cheap

 

[evnmopwr]

OH, the cluster should still work fine.

Only issue is Tamper dot.

I Drove an E46 320d WITHOUT a cluster for about 1 week without issues.. LOL

 

[LawrenceZA]

Came here to post about the same issue. My 2003 E46 330D's cluster magically died a week ago. Drove around on Thursday and when I started the car on Friday the cluster was dead. Only ABS and Seatbelt light comes on. Doors don't auto lock and my AC's blower fan comes on without turning on the AC. So frustrating. Tried just about every solution I could find short of getting a new cluster and nothing worked to get it running. Looks like I need a new cluster.

 

[AndreB320i]

Never experienced the cluster Cooking itself Before on Any of my E46's

Tamper Dot will definitely rear its head.

I successfully "Coded" the Light control module to CLuster/ECU mileage using PA Soft V 1.4.0 But not the other way around..

If you in CPT, Combined Electronics should be able to assist you but they are NOT cheap

Thanks EVNMOPWR, I'm not in CT and to be honest, I'm inclined to drive the thing tamper dot or not. The car is old and will probably take care of it and drive it till it doesn't make sense to continue, so selling a car at that stage tamper dots etc have little meaning.

I think more importantly, the car is an auto and I believe its important to get the right cluster, I guess gear lever position display is part of the issue, something perhaps with cruise control which I doubt will currently be working. Will look at the BMW label.

The symptoms seem to differ. Common problems are lights and gauges that don't work, the rest seems to vary. My fan, A/C etc all work. Locking works from key, but not from interior button or auto when moving. So anything that is sensed or controlled by the cluster CPU will probably not work.

I am in contact with a guy in the USA who repairs these things, want to see if we can work out how to fix mine (he has never seen one smoked like this) so he learns in the process and hopefully I get a working cluster, but I think it's a 50/50 thing.

 

[rodga]

OH, the cluster should still work fine.

Only issue is Tamper dot.

I Drove an E46 320d WITHOUT a cluster for about 1 week without issues.. LOL

Dont you have a cluster for the bra there?
Now you want the guy to get one from the states lol

 

[rodga]

Came here to post about the same issue. My 2003 E46 330D's cluster magically died a week ago. Drove around on Thursday and when I started the car on Friday the cluster was dead. Only ABS and Seatbelt light comes on. Doors don't auto lock and my AC's blower fan comes on without turning on the AC. So frustrating. Tried just about every solution I could find short of getting a new cluster and nothing worked to get it running. Looks like I need a new cluster.

Hey man
Is yours the 135kw or the 150kw? Manual or auto?

 

[LawrenceZA]

Hey man
Is yours the 135kw or the 150kw? Manual or auto?

Hey man

It's the automatic. Not sure on KW. Probably the 135KW. It's the one with the speedometer marked at 240KM/H.

 

[evnmopwr]

OH, the cluster should still work fine.

Only issue is Tamper dot.

I Drove an E46 320d WITHOUT a cluster for about 1 week without issues.. LOL

Dont you have a cluster for the bra there?
Now you want the guy to get one from the states lol

LOL... Wish i had, the 320i Clusters i have i sold already.

Only have 330d Auto Cluster left

 

[evnmopwr]

Came here to post about the same issue. My 2003 E46 330D's cluster magically died a week ago. Drove around on Thursday and when I started the car on Friday the cluster was dead. Only ABS and Seatbelt light comes on. Doors don't auto lock and my AC's blower fan comes on without turning on the AC. So frustrating. Tried just about every solution I could find short of getting a new cluster and nothing worked to get it running. Looks like I need a new cluster.

I could Assist with a cluster for the 330d Auto as i do have one should you be interested

 

[AndreB320i]

OK it's been a while since I paid attention to this problem, been too busy and driving with no instruments for ages - ran out of gas only once, LOL.

So I bought a cluster from Bemow on Saturday, problem is they had only 2 clusters for E46 Autos. One had the correct part number so presumably from the same car and would surely work except that the plastic surround was badly damaged and didn't look good. The other is from a ci. Besides the tamper dot being on, the ci cluster works just fine for all the following:

Speed - spot on with GPS which is OK, just no leeway on it.
RPM seems good
Fuel gauge reading seems reasonable compared to what I would expect.
Trip computer works and distance to empty seems reasonable wrt fuel level and my expectations. I'd like to check it out more before I'll trust it.
Temp gauge seems good
Cruise control works
Reverse warning system works
Aircon works - did not clutch in without cluster although LED came on
Indicator LEDs, sound etc good.
Doors lock automatically when in motion - did not work without cluster
Door open warning works for front doors, but of course ci has only 2 doors so the car graphic illuminates when a rear door is open, but it can't indicate which door - no big deal. Boot detection works fine.
Most warning lights are good except:

ABS warning in center of cluster remains amber
Handbrake light goes from red to amber when releasing
Tire pressure warning remains on, will not reset
Skid control lamp remains on, cannot switch off
Brake wear lamp is on, but the sensor fell apart when I replaced rear pads and I never shorted the wires to bypass, so is expected.

So all the other issues are related to the wheel speed sensors. Now I am wondering if the failed cluster damaged a wheel speed sensor (the thing died with smoke and drama) or is there a compatibility issue between ci and 320i regarding ABS, skid detection, tire pressure detection ?

I read somewhere that ABS does actually work even though light is on. It's raining today, perhaps I should go test on a quiet road somewhere.

Would it be possible to recode the cluster so these warnings go away ? Any ideas anyone ?

 

[AndreB320i]

Sooo, I live in a quiet cul de sac and with some construction down the road going on there is a convenient sand spill which is nice and muddy today. Drove in there and stomped on breaks at about 40 Kmph - ABS definitely works, no doubt, lots of pedal action and car under control. Next put the box in manual, select 1, floored the gas - DSC works. Just a bit of wheelspin and then straight line traction.

I read that the ABS module also has the VIN coded into it and it receives the 4 wheel speed sensor inputs. So my hope for now is that if the VIN in the cluster can be programmed to match the VIN stored in all the little hidy holes they have elected to store it, that those warning lights will go away.

I spoke to VR2 Instruments in Pretoria today and they say they can sort out the ODO issue. Presumably they will have to match VIN numbers then and this little niggle will also be history.

 

[Solo Man]

Car in question is a 1999 E46 328i auto. Friends car and has on 300 000kms, it actually turned over about four weeks ago, shortly after that all the christmas lights came on and the speedo/revcounter needles started their dance. Her auto electrician told her the cluster was burnt in three places. He sent it to a well known repair company here in Cape Town and they repaired it. Cost her R4800!!!!!!! Also, her cluster turned over to 300k kms the week before but with all the things going on on the cluster the mileage suddenly jumped to 528k kms!!. When she got the repaired cluster back it still showed 528 k kms. Car is fine now. I am worried that because they did not really found the cause that it might do it again.