E46Fanatics - Instrument Cluster LED Conversion (pics)

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Instrument Cluster LED Conversion (pics)

Ok first up, thanks to wooboodoo for his thread here on how to make this possible. This is my first DIY so i'm going to try do it right!

This is how my Instrument Cluster (IKE) looked before I started:
http://scottsfilestorage.webs.com/BM...%20(Small).JPG

I wanted it to have white dials/clocks, a blue LCD, red needles and the silver gauge surrounds. The red needles were done with the usual Sharpie DIY, i got a set of silver gauge rings off ebay for £18 delivered and bought all my LED + soldering equipment from led-depot.co.uk.

OK first up removing the cluster, there are 2 x T20 screws above the clusters front 'window'. Remove those and the unit will slide forward. Depending on your driving style you may need to drop the steering wheel and pull it back. Use the lever underneath. The IKE will come a way out before the cables snag. There are 2, if you look they are similar in style, push the catch down and the lever arm will slide over and release the clips. You will be left with a nice hole:
http://scottsfilestorage.webs.com/BM...%20(Small).JPG

To dismantle the cluster first remove the 'brow' from the top of the unit on the front. This is simply 2 little clips you press and it will slide out:
http://scottsfilestorage.webs.com/BM...%20(Small).JPG

Next flip it over and remove the screws. Not all of the holes on any cluster i have seen seem to be populated so remove any Torx screw. Screws removed:
http://scottsfilestorage.webs.com/BM...%20(Small).JPG

There are then a set of plastic clips around the two halves holding it together. Gently release them:
http://scottsfilestorage.webs.com/BM...%20(Small).JPG

Now with the cluster sat on its back hold the front face down and pull off the trip reset and clock adjust knobs. They are just rubber covers and will pull off, do it slowly. Once these are off simply lift the cover up and it will come away from the unit:
http://scottsfilestorage.webs.com/BM...%20(Small).JPG

You can lift the gauges out of the back cover but i found it makes a perfect holder so i didn't damage components on the back and left it there. The two plastic overlays at the bottom (one on the left and right) that cover your warning light areas just lift off, remove them. Now the tricky part, the needles. Starting with a less important one (I did fuel and temp first) pinch the centre cap of the needle between thumb and finger and rotate it anti-clockwise whilst lifting. Ignore any slight resistance you feel this is fine and lift the needles off. Remove the MPG before RPM or you will get stuck!
http://scottsfilestorage.webs.com/BM...%20(Small).JPG

Once the needles are off the plastic overlay with the markings on simply lifts off. If you lift the PCB out of the back half of the housing there are 4 metal clips where the LCD is that need to be unclipped before the front white plastic cover will come off:
http://scottsfilestorage.webs.com/BM...%20(Small).JPG

Now i have not soldered anything for well over 10 years (the last time i did it was in school for some lame project) so you do not need to be a whizz at it. All you need is patience, you don't want to lift any traces or break anything. The little cluster of LED's around each pin is what illuminates that dial. Wooboodoo has a great image in his thread. There are 4 LEDs on the RPM and Speed, 2 on fuel and temp and 1 on the MPG. Please remember LEDs have a polarity, indicated by a notch on the corner of the LED. When fitting a new LED please make sure you put them back the right way! Here is my first LED removed from the Speed gauge, you can see it just behind the pin sticking up.
http://scottsfilestorage.webs.com/BM...%20(Small).JPG

They are easy to remove. Gently heat the solder joint on one side of the LED and using a pair of tweezers or very small pliers gently lift that side once the solder has melted. Repeat on the other side and the LED will come off the board. PLEASE DO NOT RUSH THIS. You could lift a trace off the board which would be a PITA to fix. I did this whole thing with no muck ups in around 2 hours. Here is my first 'aftermarket' LED installed. You can see it has a yellow top compared to the BMW ones which have a white top.
http://scottsfilestorage.webs.com/BM...%20(Small).JPG

Now after i had done the speed and rpm LEDs i plugged it in with the car lights on to test if they worked. If you can imagine the centre of each dial you can see the new white LEDs. Excuse the bad photo it was broad daylight outside...
http://scottsfilestorage.webs.com/BM...%20(Small).JPG

Now i know it was working i carried on with the rest of the LEDs. Once these are done it is on with the LCD. IMPORTANT - As soon as you lift the LCD out mark which of the two 'foam bits' is top and bottom, this will save you big headaches. The LCD is fragile glass so be careful with it.
http://scottsfilestorage.webs.com/BM...%20(Small).JPG

In the above image i have already removed the orange backing on the LCD to get rid of the orange glow it has. This simply peels off the back of the screen. IMPORTANT - There is a very fine blue film under this orange film, make sure you do not lift this as it is a part of the LCD and will break it. With this film removed you can pop it back in place as that is now ready. After putting it all back together i didnt like how the LCD looked, the orange film made it glow rather than be a bright illumination. I cut around the orange film on a piece of normal white paper and put this in its place. Perfect. The paper 'glows' blue from the LEDs behind and the LCD looks good. Camera was crap so you can't see the LCD well and the blue looks a different colour...
http://scottsfilestorage.webs.com/BM...%20(Small).JPG

At this point you can swap any LED in the cluster you want. Simply hold the plastic overlays on the board to see which LEDs do what and away you go. I swapped the ones that do the picture of the car which shows when doors are open. Thats now white also.

This is the finished product, i will get some night shots in a few hours when it goes dark. The neighbours think i'm a moron for taking pictures of my dash with a towel over my head...
http://scottsfilestorage.webs.com/BM...%20(Small).JPG

As the saying goes, re-assembly is a reversal of removal or something like that.

**When you come to put the needles back on start with the needle at the top end of the dial. As you SLOWLY and GENTLY push it down and turn it anti-clockwise you will have to push it down enough to be on firmly but not to touch the dial face. As you turn it you will feel a point where it kind of stops. Keep pushing this anti-clockwise until it reaches where the needle should stop normally. It should now turn clockwise freely to the top of the gauge and then freely back until it hits the stop point.***

This is my first DIY and constructive criticism is welcome. I did break my clusters the first time i did this and had to buy a new set and get them coded to my car. Cost me just over £100 to do this so i hope this DIY means other people can do it without that expense. If you want larger images emailing to you PM me and i will fire them over. There are also a lot more than shown here.

Thanks!

Great job !!! :thumbsup:

did you paint the needles red?

Regards,
mark

Nah i gave them 3 'coats' with a red Sharpie!!! Seems to look better if you let it dry and give it another layer :)

nice job. that's exactly what i did with my spare cluster. the only problem i have is the LCD part and the orange film. I'm trying to make that white as well, but can't find anything good to use as a filter. it seems to glow peach lol

btw, for your LCD, might want to try using one of those clear plastic folder (cheap ones that are kind of flimsy), and a piece of paper behind that. that's what i did and it turned out well. even for red too. they just don't sell those damn folders in white lol

Try a piece of paper and one of those A4 pockets you can put them in. I liked the look of white dials and white needles, tempted to swap them out, it was very clean. Might try tinkering with a white LCD setup on my spare cluster and see what happens.

Thanks for the feedback.

I have made a RAR file of all the pictures i took whilst doing this mod.

You can get the file HERE.

If you don't have WinRar you can get it HERE.

the while looks not very bright at all?

did you have it turned down? can you post a few better pics plz?

Yes it is turned down as the blue is way too bright. This weekend I'm adding another filter to the blue LCD or maybe changing to White so I can have it on full power and not have a mega bright blue screen. Will post up pics when it's sorted.

may attempt this on an old cluster first

Quote:

Originally Posted by 330ciandr6 (Post 11617222)

may attempt this on an old cluster first

lol. i am trying to decide if i want to get another cluster and do this or just go ahead and do this on my cluster.

probably just do it on mine. please turn it up and post a few pics. i want to see what the white looks like turned up bright. also i cant decide if i want blue. i wonder if there is anyway to change the radio screen to another color.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scott87 (Post 11582980)

i've done the piece of paper by itself, or with multiple layers but it's not uniform enough

could you link me to the a4 pocket you're referring to? i'm not coming up with anything lol. yea i'm doing the same thing, figuring out all the kinks on my spare cluster before doing it on my car.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mvrk10256 (Post 11617747)

this is how it would look with the LEDs turned up. but in my pictures you can see i didn't really paint the needles perfectly, and the trouble i had with the LCD.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...7142009158.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...7142009159.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...7142009160.jpg

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scott87 (Post 11616173)

Small Blob of hot glue on top of the LEDs to act as a diffuser and also change the current limiting resistor to a higher value to bring the brightness in line with the rest of the cluster.

Easy Peasy

I would try the blob of glue but then it may be a PITA to remove the LEDs in the future i can simply add a slightly thicker piece of paper in front of them to filter out more light. also changing resistors again makes it harder to change in the future. thanks for the thought though :)

Top thread..............

I've got an issue with the 'oil can' not illuminating on my dash?are these bulbs/leds in the dash,can they be replaced are they plug and play.

Quote:

Originally Posted by undetterred (Post 11684335)

Top thread..............

I've got an issue with the 'oil can' not illuminating on my dash?are these bulbs/leds in the dash,can they be replaced are they plug and play.

The only thing that is a bulb is the headlight 'main beam' blue icon at the top. I have no idea why all the others are LEDs and this is a filament bulb... You would need to remove the old LED, simply de-solder, and solder a new LED in its place. That should fix it if it's the LED that is broken.

Hey everyone
I'm new to this site and new to BMW ownership!
Just wanted to say what a fantastic guide this is, and what a great place this is to talk to other owners!

Following this guide I got stuck in and swapped out some LED's in my dash. I ordered 10 LEDs to get started from ebay for a couple of quid.
Now I have ordered more and am going to finish the job and get started on other elements in the car such as the aircon controls etc. Will do my bit by posting guides as I go!

Anyway, here is the picture of my dash! I'm so pleased! I will go back in and swap out the LED's behind the LCD later in the week when more LEDs arrive!

http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/1198/dashq.jpg