Black Panel Display?

DJOzma_FTW · 07-01-2010, 05:30 PM

According to the brochure, the F10 has "Black panel display," which, according to this, shows only the "chrome rings of the circular instruments" when the ignition is off. Yet, when I test drove the F10 and look at photos, the instrument panel isn't all blacked out. Can anyone elaborate on this?

ddd269 · 07-04-2010, 11:48 PM

It's basically an LED screen that blends in to the dashboard. Not as blacked out as I was hoping as you can see the grayness of the screen at night no matter how much you dim the dash backlight. The color of the orange numbers/letters are a close match to the fixed gauge numbers though. It does looks much better during the day overall.

The screen completes the bottom portion of the gauge and shows the fuel consumption/battery charge while cruising down and other info like music selection, etc.

DJOzma_FTW · 07-05-2010, 09:44 PM

Thanks! Is it on the F10s now? The ones I've observed had fixed gauges where it should have the LCD backdrop. That's what's confusing me.

ibimmer954 · 07-05-2010, 10:48 PM

The gauges are fixed. The only part that is an LCD backdrop is the lower right part of the gauge panel. It goes from the middle of the gauge panel, under the tach, to the temperature gauge. It includes the current time and temperature, the trip computer, the car's mileage, and various other status information including current gas mileage and alert messages. It is a full-color panel.

The gauges do not look like pictures which you might have seen of pre-production models in car magazines where they were completely black when the car was off. The speedometer and tach are fixed, not LCD, and look like other recent BMW models.

Rudegar · 07-07-2010, 12:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ibimmer346

The gauges are fixed. The only part that is an LCD backdrop is the lower right part of the gauge panel. It goes from the middle of the gauge panel, under the tach, to the temperature gauge. It includes the current time and temperature, the trip computer, the car's mileage, and various other status information including current gas mileage and alert messages. It is a full-color panel.

The gauges do not look like pictures which you might have seen of pre-production models in car magazines where they were completely black when the car was off. The speedometer and tach are fixed, not LCD, and look like other recent BMW models.

Not sure I am right but I know the 7 series has the black out rings. I think the 5 will have the same but the early cars came in without it. It seems like some things have been delayed.

Kurt_16VM · 08-12-2010, 01:41 PM

Here's a pic showing how much the black level of the LCD screen within the F10 dashboard differs from the rest of the instrument cluster. I found this to be one of the major interior design issues with the F10 (aside from the legendary cupholders / key fob storage compartment problem of course) :

Feco · 08-12-2010, 01:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kurt_16VM

Here's a pic showing how much the black level of the LCD screen within the F10 dashboard differs from the rest of the instrument cluster. I found this to be one of the major interior design issues with the F10 (aside from the legendary cupholders / key fob storage compartment problem of course) :

I agree with you..this are the only things I don´t like at F10´s.

kaishang · 08-12-2010, 02:01 PM

Are the instruments real analogue instruments with a needle and dial or are they computer generated reproductions on a LED screen?

Part B of the question: if they are LED screen images does this mean you can switch the speedometer between km/h and mph and the fuel consumption between L/100km and mpg?

Feco · 08-12-2010, 02:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kaishang

Are the instruments real analogue instruments with a needle and dial or are they computer generated reproductions on a LED screen?

Part B of the question: if they are LED screen images does this mean you can switch the speedometer between km/h and mph and the fuel consumption between L/100km and mpg?

The instrumentes are real, with needle and dial.

B: you can change the "instantaneous consumption" display to whatever you want, not the speedometer.

tallshorty · 11-18-2010, 08:35 PM

I swear the 5 series I test drove had the black panel on the tachometer and speedometer but my 535ix that i picked up today doesn't have that. Is this an extra option? I really like the black panel look.

ibimmer954 · 11-18-2010, 08:52 PM

I haven't seen any production 5 series with black panel displays on the speedo and tach. The 5 series GT has a larger LCD on the dash.

nosnoop · 11-18-2010, 09:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tallshorty

I swear the 5 series I test drove had the black panel on the tachometer and speedometer but my 535ix that i picked up today doesn't have that. Is this an extra option? I really like the black panel look.

Are you sure you weren't test driving a GT?
The GT has true black panel display, just like the 7 series, where you see 4 partial rings with no numbers visible when the ignition is off. The numbers and the rest of the ring only lights up when you open the door.

This is what GT and 7 series has (but not F10), and it really does look pretty cool:

LACSTER · 11-18-2010, 10:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nosnoop

Are you sure you weren't test driving a GT?
The GT has true black panel display, just like the 7 series, where you see 4 partial rings with no numbers visible when the ignition is off. The numbers and the rest of the ring only lights up when you open the door.

This is what GT and 7 series has (but not F10), and it really does look pretty cool:

That's awesome! I want that in the F10

tallshorty · 11-19-2010, 12:08 AM

I could've been mistaken. But I really wish our F10's had this because it is indeed a really really cool feature to have.

Sharbotcom · 11-19-2010, 07:51 AM

From the Canadian 2011 5 Series Sedan brochure (tagged as standard equipment):
"Black panel technology shows the displays in the instrument cluster as a black matte surface when the ignition is switched off."

Unforetunately the accompanying picture shows the panel lit up, not shut off.

car_fan · 11-19-2010, 11:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nosnoop

Are you sure you weren't test driving a GT?
The GT has true black panel display, just like the 7 series, where you see 4 partial rings with no numbers visible when the ignition is off. The numbers and the rest of the ring only lights up when you open the door.

This is what GT and 7 series has (but not F10), and it really does look pretty cool:

All 550 GT's and only 535 GT's with Navigation have the black panel display

nosnoop · 11-19-2010, 02:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by car_fan

All 550 GT's and only 535 GT's with Navigation have the black panel display

In North America, from September onwards, all 2011 model year 535i GT will get the full black panel display whether navigation option has been ordered or not.

kaishang · 11-19-2010, 02:41 PM

If BMW had any brains, they would make the outer speed notches also LED so that you could software switch the speedo from miles to kilometres per hour. Would be very useful for UK-Europe and US-Canada driving.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nosnoop

This is what GT and 7 series has (but not F10), and it really does look pretty cool:

nosnoop · 11-19-2010, 05:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sharbotcom

From the Canadian 2011 5 Series Sedan brochure (tagged as standard equipment):
"Black panel technology shows the displays in the instrument cluster as a black matte surface when the ignition is switched off."

BMW refers to the right lower part of the dash display for this "Black Panel technology"; so it is only true for part of the dash, and not the whole dash. They do the same for the new X3, which has similar dash as F10. They also call the climate control display as black panel technology.

The new M5, however, will get the full black panel like the GT and 7 series.

barney1 · 01-17-2011, 08:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nosnoop

Are you sure you weren't test driving a GT?
The GT has true black panel display, just like the 7 series, where you see 4 partial rings with no numbers visible when the ignition is off. The numbers and the rest of the ring only lights up when you open the door.

This is what GT and 7 series has (but not F10), and it really does look pretty cool:

In the UK black panel becomes an option for F10 and F11 from week 9 build but can only be ordered with HUD. I have just visited my dealer and the 7 series had white dials but the GT had orange. The dealer claimed that he hadn't noticed this before and that all 7's must be white and all GT's orange.

Is this correct or is the display switchable?

When I looked at the 2 vehicles it was midday in a brightly lit showroom so I don't think its a "night mode" setting.

Losco · 01-17-2011, 08:30 AM

I test drove GT for a day, and they were white for sure. I also looked in RealOEM website and there was black panel part for F10 that was same as 7 series black panel part number. I suppose you could order the part alone and swap it in, but it was $2200 part...

vortexx · 01-17-2011, 08:44 AM

The f10 will be getting the full black panel display as of march 2011 production. It does turn from white to orange depending on light - white during the day and orange at night. I have a friend with the 550GT and observed this. It is a big improvement over the partial black panel currently used.

07-01-2010, 05:30 PM	#1
DJOzma_FTW New Member 2 Rep 12 Posts Drives: 2011 BMW 535i Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Illinois iTrader: (0)	Black Panel Display? According to the brochure, the F10 has "Black panel display," which, according to this, shows only the "chrome rings of the circular instruments" when the ignition is off. Yet, when I test drove the F10 and look at photos, the instrument panel isn't all blacked out. Can anyone elaborate on this?
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07-04-2010, 11:48 PM	#2
ddd269 Private 3 Rep 73 Posts Drives: F10 528iA Silver Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Santiago, Chile iTrader: (0)	It's basically an LED screen that blends in to the dashboard. Not as blacked out as I was hoping as you can see the grayness of the screen at night no matter how much you dim the dash backlight. The color of the orange numbers/letters are a close match to the fixed gauge numbers though. It does looks much better during the day overall. The screen completes the bottom portion of the gauge and shows the fuel consumption/battery charge while cruising down and other info like music selection, etc.
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07-05-2010, 09:44 PM	#3
DJOzma_FTW New Member 2 Rep 12 Posts Drives: 2011 BMW 535i Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Illinois iTrader: (0)	Thanks! Is it on the F10s now? The ones I've observed had fixed gauges where it should have the LCD backdrop. That's what's confusing me.
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07-05-2010, 10:48 PM	#4
ibimmer954 Major 138 Rep 1,424 Posts Drives: '23 i4 M50, '15 M3, '18 911 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: San Diego, California, USA iTrader: (0) Garage List 2015 BMW M3 [9.75] 2023 BMW i4 M50 [0.00] 2018 Porsche 911 C4S [0.00] 2019 BMW X4 M40i [0.00]	The gauges are fixed. The only part that is an LCD backdrop is the lower right part of the gauge panel. It goes from the middle of the gauge panel, under the tach, to the temperature gauge. It includes the current time and temperature, the trip computer, the car's mileage, and various other status information including current gas mileage and alert messages. It is a full-color panel. The gauges do not look like pictures which you might have seen of pre-production models in car magazines where they were completely black when the car was off. The speedometer and tach are fixed, not LCD, and look like other recent BMW models.
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08-12-2010, 01:41 PM	#6
Kurt_16VM New Member 2 Rep 10 Posts Drives: BMW F10 520d Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Belgium iTrader: (0)	Here's a pic showing how much the black level of the LCD screen within the F10 dashboard differs from the rest of the instrument cluster. I found this to be one of the major interior design issues with the F10 (aside from the legendary cupholders / key fob storage compartment problem of course) :
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08-12-2010, 02:01 PM	#8
kaishang Colonel 54 Rep 2,197 Posts Drives: 2010 E90 330d Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: London iTrader: (0)	Are the instruments real analogue instruments with a needle and dial or are they computer generated reproductions on a LED screen? Part B of the question: if they are LED screen images does this mean you can switch the speedometer between km/h and mph and the fuel consumption between L/100km and mpg?
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11-18-2010, 08:35 PM	#10
tallshorty Private 18 Rep 82 Posts Drives: 2011 535xi Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Canada iTrader: (0)	I swear the 5 series I test drove had the black panel on the tachometer and speedometer but my 535ix that i picked up today doesn't have that. Is this an extra option? I really like the black panel look.
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11-18-2010, 08:52 PM	#11
ibimmer954 Major 138 Rep 1,424 Posts Drives: '23 i4 M50, '15 M3, '18 911 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: San Diego, California, USA iTrader: (0) Garage List 2015 BMW M3 [9.75] 2023 BMW i4 M50 [0.00] 2018 Porsche 911 C4S [0.00] 2019 BMW X4 M40i [0.00]	I haven't seen any production 5 series with black panel displays on the speedo and tach. The 5 series GT has a larger LCD on the dash.
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11-19-2010, 12:08 AM	#14
tallshorty Private 18 Rep 82 Posts Drives: 2011 535xi Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Canada iTrader: (0)	I could've been mistaken. But I really wish our F10's had this because it is indeed a really really cool feature to have.
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11-19-2010, 07:51 AM	#15
Sharbotcom First Lieutenant 28 Rep 396 Posts Drives: 2011 535xi M Sport Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Sharbot Lake, Ontario iTrader: (0)	From the Canadian 2011 5 Series Sedan brochure (tagged as standard equipment): "Black panel technology shows the displays in the instrument cluster as a black matte surface when the ignition is switched off." Unforetunately the accompanying picture shows the panel lit up, not shut off. Attached Images __________________ 2011 535i xDrive, Dark Graphite Metallic, Veneto Beige Dakota Leather, Technology Package, M Sport Package, Executive Package delivered Christmas Eve '10, Mods - quad tips, 20% tint, JB4. Last edited by Sharbotcom; 11-19-2010 at 08:02 AM.. Reason: Added picture
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01-17-2011, 08:30 AM	#21
Losco Second Lieutenant 14 Rep 231 Posts Drives: F10 528i M-sport Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Japan iTrader: (0)	I test drove GT for a day, and they were white for sure. I also looked in RealOEM website and there was black panel part for F10 that was same as 7 series black panel part number. I suppose you could order the part alone and swap it in, but it was $2200 part...
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01-17-2011, 08:44 AM	#22
vortexx New Member 0 Rep 22 Posts Drives: 550i M-Sport ED ordered Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: So Cal iTrader: (0)	The f10 will be getting the full black panel display as of march 2011 production. It does turn from white to orange depending on light - white during the day and orange at night. I have a friend with the 550GT and observed this. It is a big improvement over the partial black panel currently used.
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