Instrument Cluster Problems again - EEP 2

[Stevo7682]

Found this on Internet might help others reading this thread to understand how the tamper light works.

 

[Pingu]

Some say that it's the headlight switch, but that is pure anecdote.

It is stored in the headlight switch on the E46. It may also be stored there on Z4s, but it is not stored there on the Z3.

 

[motco]

Right-O Pingu, it was a rumour. I'll have a creful look at the document Stevo posted. Thanks Chaps!

 

[motco]

careful...

 

[mrscalex]

I think strictly speaking it’s stored in the LCM or Light Control Module on newer BMWs.

 

[motco]

Well, having read that piece it would seem inescapable that unless the VIN is correct across all memories there will be a tamper dot. I, for one. am not shelling out for a BMW new part simply to avoid a little light!

 

[mrscalex]

I've been doing some reading up. And this is where I've currently got to. It may or may not be correct but I'm inclined to think it's there or thereabouts. I'm hoping those with experience will comment and I can update accordingly after which I'll start to do some more detailed reading up.

The left hand flow is pretty much as simple as the boxes suggest. The right hand flow is omitting a lot of detail and is what I believe specialists charge £100-£150 for. Probably with more sophisticated equipment than available to us but nonetheless doing the same job.

 

[motco]

It may or may not deal with the VIN incongruity however. The flow chart has features tantamount to inventing human powered flight in a "means feasible, but as yet unknown".

 

[mrscalex]

It may or may not deal with the VIN incongruity however. The flow chart has features tantamount to inventing human powered flight in a "means feasible, but as yet unknown".

I’m not sure why the sarcasm when I’m trying to help.

I’m not guessing at stuff. This is based on detailed procedures found on other forums where people have done the repairs.

The tamper dot appears as a result of VIN or other parameter misalignment. The actions following realign the VIN. The flow on the right hand side is essentially what BMW would do when they sell you a new cluster.

My only hesitance is not having done the repairs myself I can’t put my name to it and confirm whether there are any missing elements or paths. In any case it’s meant to be a very high level overview to indicate what I believe to be involved.

 

[motco]

Mr Scalex no sarcasm was meant nor intended and I apologise for any inferred. I assume that you are referring to the comment about the right hand side of the chart which you also said was short on detail. My 'sarcasm', if that's what you read it as, is an analysis of the flowcharts similarity to a Haynes manual where 'simply release the (insert part name here)..' is a common instruction for something that turns out to be vastly more complex that 'simply' suggests.

If the flow chart is produced by you rather than lifted from a third party source then perhaps my observation was a little insensitive. Again I apologise. I always strive to communicate in a respectful and civilised manner. Failed! Sorry!

 

[mrscalex]

Mr Scalex no sarcasm was meant nor intended and I apologise for any inferred. I assume that you are referring to the comment about the right hand side of the chart which you also said was short on detail. My 'sarcasm', if that's what you read it as, is an analysis of the flowcharts similarity to a Haynes manual where 'simply release the (insert part name here)..' is a common instruction for something that turns out to be vastly more complex that 'simply' suggests.

If the flow chart is produced by you rather than lifted from a third party source then perhaps my observation was a little insensitive. Again I apologise. I always strive to communicate in a respectful and civilised manner. Failed! Sorry!

No worries. Yes I made the flowchart. And yes it was meant to be very high level to indicate an overview of the approach only. I think it's correct and I have the detailed procedures to go down both legs.

If you kept your original coding plug when you did yours and the vehicle mileage is higher than the replacement cluster then you should be able to go down the left side and just run the Test 9 to remove the tamper dot - I can PM details.

That said I will be waiting for my next breaker to try all this stuff on. So anyone wanting to attempt anything off the back of the flowchart do it at your own risk - no blaming mrscalex.

That said, if anyone is interested in receiving a virginised cluster from me and trying it out (at your own risk) then I'll happily buy the required eeprom programmer now and have a go. And as I can use DIS too I can try and advise via email on that side too. If the procedure works as documented (what I have is incredibly detailed and not based on someone's 'understanding') then it's little more difficult than programming a replacement EWS, ABS or airbag module all of which I've done previously. Famous last words and all that...

 

[mrscalex]

Btw I am not within a million miles of understanding how to adjust mileage. That is a very different thing. I don't really need to know that. And I suspect it involves very expensive pieces of kit and/or very large amounts of knowledge.

For me this is all about installing a replacement cluster and synchronising it to the back up data elsewhere on the car (EWS I think).

 

[motco]

Thanks Mr Scalex for the offer of the detailed procedure. I have still got the old coding plug but it had more or less died a death by the time I got around to replacing the cluster/plug. Currently I am using the original cluster and second hand plug. After my local 'corrector' adjusted the mileage back to what it ought to be at a cost of some £90 I am very wary of risking having some rogue memory lurking in the car somewhere deciding to over-write the 'corrected' plug back to an 80k surplus. I'll leave it as it is, thanks, but it was a kind offer anyway.

 

[motco]

By the way, the correction was carried out with a piece of kit that he said was c.£1k and hard to find to boot. He might have been taliking it up, but non-mass produced equipment is always horrifically expensive compared with consumer electronics.

 

[mrscalex]

Thanks Mr Scalex for the offer of the detailed procedure. I have still got the old coding plug but it had more or less died a death by the time I got around to replacing the cluster/plug. Currently I am using the original cluster and second hand plug. After my local 'corrector' adjusted the mileage back to what it ought to be at a cost of some £90 I am very wary of risking having some rogue memory lurking in the car somewhere deciding to over-write the 'corrected' plug back to an 80k surplus. I'll leave it as it is, thanks, but it was a kind offer anyway.

I'm not sure I'd want to touch it either.

The right-hand flow doesn't require the old coding plug at all. The logic is (1) read the coding plug data from the replacement cluster (2) zero out the VIN and mileage (3) write it to a new eeprom. In fact once you have a virginised coding plug image I'm not sure you'd ever need to read a donor coding plug if you did it again. All you want is a 'blank' image and you'll have that. Then it gets copied to a new eeprom.

The second part using DIS is to download the VIN and mileage from an existing module (EWS on a Z3 I think, it would seem LCM on later cars). DIS will allow this as it thinks it sees a new cluster (the only way BMW specify this can be done) when in reality all it does is see a couple of zeroed out areas you've hacked - which is enough. The rest of the coding plug image I haven't seen documented and you don't want to mess with it - hence why only the aboslutely necessary parts are touched.

The DIS procedure is little different to coding an ABS module. The clever bit is the coding plug eeprom hacking.

 

[ktnez99]

Thanks Mr Scalex for the offer of the detailed procedure. I have still got the old coding plug but it had more or less died a death by the time I got around to replacing the cluster/plug. Currently I am using the original cluster and second hand plug. After my local 'corrector' adjusted the mileage back to what it ought to be at a cost of some £90 I am very wary of risking having some rogue memory lurking in the car somewhere deciding to over-write the 'corrected' plug back to an 80k surplus. I'll leave it as it is, thanks, but it was a kind offer anyway.

And is the tamper light on or off after this reset?

 

[motco]

Still on and likely to remain so.

 

[Bumpa]

I said I would let you all know the outcome of my failed instrument cluster. If you remember I had three issues:

1. Only the speedo worked on first start up with code EEP 2 showing. Sometimes the other gauges came back on after a restart but not always.
2. The speedo was wildly optimistic reading 80 mph at a true 70 mph.
3. The tamper dot was illuminated.

After much research and some amount of trepidation I sent the instrument cluster to Autotronics of Leicester who have a very good web site (https://www.autotronics.co.uk/) and say they can fix all sorts of electronic modules from cars, including instruments, ABS pumps, ECUs, remote keys, etc. etc. I may have been a bit foolish but I paid them £175.20 up front, their standard charge for the instrument repair. They arranged the pick up from my home by DHL. They have a web chat facility which was always promptly answered and they assured me that if they couldn't make a repair, the money less the carrier charge would be refunded.

After a couple of weeks I phoned them and was able to speak to the technician who was working on my instruments. He said that the unit was continually failing their tests which included putting the thing in the fridge to see how it responded to cold. He had been through the circuit boards looking for dry solder joints and that hadn't fixed it, and he was wondering if it was beyond repair. I had told them when I sent it down that the coding plug was the wrong part no. for my car, and he said he was trying to source a new plug of the correct type.

It came back on Tuesday and it is fixed! Well items 1 and 2 are fixed. The gauges now work properly and the speedo now reads within 1 or 2 mph of the true speed as measured by the GPS on my phone and TomTom. The tamper dot is still illuminated, which doesn't surprise me as they had no way of testing the unit on the car. I can live with that as the MOT history going back to 2006 proves that the displayed mileage of about 81,500 is correct. They have fitted a brand new EEPROM coding plug and it has an anti-tamper label stuck over it, because the repair is warrantied for 2 years.

Overall I'm really pleased and consider the money well spent as I have zero electronic know-how. It would be nice to find out what mileages are stored in the car's other modules, because if 81,500 is the highest figure I could do the synchronising procedure to turn the dot off. Any ideas mrscalex? I have the INPA software.

Mike
Autotronics

 

[Stevo7682]

Excellent news Mike .
At the end of the day if no one can provide a solution and then someone comes along who says can fix for whatever price of course your going to do it
Glad apart from the tamper dot your issues are sorted
Stephen.

 

[mrscalex]

I've lost track/can't figure out what side of the flow-chart you would go down. So I can't predict the outcome.

But I think it would take a brave man to do either side as you are changing (parts not all) of the contents of the cluster plug and may invalidate the warranty.

I would imagine if they can programme eeproms they could perform the cluster test and/or DIS coding. If it was me I'd plan a day out to their neck of the woods and have them do it for me. Or leave it until the warranty is up.

And don't forget, the flow-chart is assembled wisdom form other forums, I believe it to be correct but have never tried any of this myself.