[Losco]

I asked my dealer about retrofitting the new black panel on my 528i, and the answer they gave me was a simple no. I asked the SA and Tech about this issue, and they told me that 1. as long as BMW doesn't "release" the software to retrofit the new panel, they can't work on it. 2. when they replace parts, their tool will tell them the part # to replace, and it would throw error if part number was wrong, therefore simple part swap would not work. I think they're just not feeling the challenge. wouldn't it be about same as retrofitting anything at the dealer? all they'd have to do would be adding new 6WA VO code to the car, check for the correct part number for new black panel, and install+code and voila. the price tag of $1k is about only thing that's blocking me from just ordering part on my own and trying to swap it.(rather be safe and not waste $1k) I'm sure many folks here are interested in doing this, can you guys ask your dealer about this?

[ibimmer954]

My opinion: not worth the expense and risk you get weird computer glitches after the install. If there are any electronics problems, the dealer will insist the car goes back to stock before they try and fix it because the car will have been modified. None of the changes will be covered by warranty.

There will continue to be small improvements to the car over time. Are you really going to spend thousands of dollars keeping up with every little improvement?

[Needsdecaf]

Originally Posted by ibimmer346

My opinion: not worth the expense and risk you get weird computer glitches after the install. If there are any electronics problems, the dealer will insist the car goes back to stock before they try and fix it because the car will have been modified. None of the changes will be covered by warranty.

There will continue to be small improvements to the car over time. Are you really going to spend thousands of dollars keeping up with every little improvement?

IMO, this is not a "little" improvement. It dramatically changes the way you view the car.

Having said that, I would be surprised if you could retrofit it. Knowing how complicated the computers are in these cars....eh.

[Losco]

Originally Posted by Needsdecaf

IMO, this is not a "little" improvement. It dramatically changes the way you view the car.

Having said that, I would be surprised if you could retrofit it. Knowing how complicated the computers are in these cars....eh.

BMW have recently unified their speedo, so 7, 5GT, 5 series share same full black panel display, and new X3 has same half black panel display that's in F10. as long as cables go, I think it's just straight plug and play. It's just the coding part that might be difficult without dealer.

[grimlock]

is it worth 1k? i really dont think im missing that much
to test, borrow one and plug it in, if it works then u dont need to change the code
if your dealer doesnt have it yet, why would ours?

[Needsdecaf]

i would easily pay $1k for this. Spending $1k on a tune that i use, say, 2% of the time in the car (I've done this before) vs. something i see every day? no brainer.

[Losco]

Originally Posted by grimlock

is it worth 1k? i really dont think im missing that much
to test, borrow one and plug it in, if it works then u dont need to change the code
if your dealer doesnt have it yet, why would ours?

first of all, speedo gets coded to your car, so borrowing one from the already installed car won't work. Unless dealer already have the part at the shop, they won't order one just to check. 2nd, this isn't "official" retrofit, of course dealers won't have any info on this. I think anyone who think this is just a waste of money needs to sit down and drive with full black panel display. I test drove 5GT before I bought my F10 and they are just amazing.

[Alex170177]

Not worth IMO. Get a Prozac for 5 bucks and forget about the black panel.... Have fun!! The car is Great!!!! I'm lovin it

[grimlock]

Originally Posted by Losco

first of all, speedo gets coded to your car, so borrowing one from the already installed car won't work. Unless dealer already have the part at the shop, they won't order one just to check. 2nd, this isn't "official" retrofit, of course dealers won't have any info on this. I think anyone who think this is just a waste of money needs to sit down and drive with full black panel display. I test drove 5GT before I bought my F10 and they are just amazing.

If it doesnt work, it means the code is different, the speedo is not individually coded to the car is it?
I think there are some programming forums, but it might not be a simple activate thing, it might not be already on the system
I havent seen it in person, i might consider it if the part was cheaper..all cost/benefit

[Needsdecaf]

Originally Posted by grimlock

If it doesnt work, it means the code is different, the speedo is not individually coded to the car is it?
I think there are some programming forums, but it might not be a simple activate thing, it might not be already on the system
I havent seen it in person, i might consider it if the part was cheaper..all cost/benefit

I had a long, long chat this afternoon with the shop foreman of my local dealer. My car is in for a couple of things including the park assist refusing to activate. I asked him if the Sport Auto Transmission shifter could be retrofit into a car with the standard Steptronic transmission. He said it probably could, but we got to talking about the parts in the car and the way they are keyed into the system. He said there was a chance that the car might not recognize the circuit board in the shifter and he wasn't sure if that was the case if it could be re-programmed.

If this is the case for something as easy as a shifter, I wonder if the dash could be programmed to be read? For sure, the computer is going to throw a fit when it's simply plugged in.

[joafog]

Hi

Still nobody out there that has retrofitted their tacho to a black panel (6WA) in a F10/F11?

Joacim

[clarence]

Don't think it's possible cos I think BMW AG will only release the part to the dealer after obtaining the VIN number. If the VIN doesn't have 6WA then no part will be supplied.

[Stonehauler]

As cars get more and more computerized, it will be much harder for the average person to mod their car. In addition BMW stores what equipment is on the car when they sold it, and when they install updates, etc, for the computer (say, a transmission control logic update), it will see your vin, flag the update as needed, and the tech will just upload the data. Now, you have a sport tranny instead of the normal steptronic it had when new, so you just had your custom coding wiped out. You might not even be able to drive the car afterwards until it's fixed.

Making internal modification to your car these days without great vendor (tuning vendor) support is asking for a lot of trouble. If Dinan or another tuner came out with a new transmission and offered support for it, go for it. If you get a panel changed out by Fred the bricklayer who also works on cars....you are asking for trouble. If you do decide to do it yourself or have Fred do it, I would suggest that you have the skills to reprogram the relevant changes yourself in case of a reflash of your car.

[Touring]

Put a tint on it and you are almost there

[Tuesday]

Speedo swaps are easy. The hard part is adjusting the odometer to reflect the actual mileage. In the E series chassis you could use a BMW M35080 Programmer and a soldering iron - this may still be applicable for the eprom for the F10 stuff. I believe VDO is still the manufacturer so it shouldn't have evolved much.

[joafog]

Originally Posted by Touring

Put a tint on it and you are almost there

Is that what you do in Norway??

[Touring]

Originally Posted by joafog

Is that what you do in Norway??

[BMWrules7]

Originally Posted by Losco

I asked my dealer about retrofitting the new black panel on my 528i, and the answer they gave me was a simple no. I asked the SA and Tech about this issue, and they told me that 1. as long as BMW doesn't "release" the software to retrofit the new panel, they can't work on it. 2. when they replace parts, their tool will tell them the part # to replace, and it would throw error if part number was wrong, therefore simple part swap would not work. I think they're just not feeling the challenge. wouldn't it be about same as retrofitting anything at the dealer? all they'd have to do would be adding new 6WA VO code to the car, check for the correct part number for new black panel, and install+code and voila. the price tag of $1k is about only thing that's blocking me from just ordering part on my own and trying to swap it.(rather be safe and not waste $1k) I'm sure many folks here are interested in doing this, can you guys ask your dealer about this?

As you know, right now, BMW is transitioning to a non mechanized speedo cluster. In the end, this will reduce costs and improve customization.


In typical BMW style, BMW transitions these things very slowly. First, it's a black panel with some mechanized instrumentation. Now, it will soon be all passive display with no moving parts.

Thus, you are probably driving one of last generation of mechanized clusters. That makes it special and a tad quaint.

Five or ten years from now, car collectors will flock to your non black panel display because it was the last of the mechanical clusters.

So, enjoy the last remnants of the mechanical cluster you have. Yes, it is not the new fangled black panel yada yada yada.


But, your old fashioned display represents the near last of the mechanicals and there is a huge history in that. Your cluster represents the zenith of the mechanical technology.

Turn the car on and watch all of the needles dance to reset themselves to zero. Enjoy what you have because it won't be long before you trade her in for the latest and greatest. And by then, not only will there be no mechanical clusters, there will be no more mechanical hard drives in your car either.

[Losco]

Originally Posted by BMWrules7

As you know, right now, BMW is transitioning to a non mechanized speedo cluster. In the end, this will reduce costs and improve customization.


In typical BMW style, BMW transitions these things very slowly. First, it's a black panel with some mechanized instrumentation. Now, it will soon be all passive display with no moving parts.

Thus, you are probably driving one of last generation of mechanized clusters. That makes it special and a tad quaint.

Five or ten years from now, car collectors will flock to your non black panel display because it was the last of the mechanical clusters.

So, enjoy the last remnants of the mechanical cluster you have. Yes, it is not the new fangled black panel yada yada yada.


But, your old fashioned display represents the near last of the mechanicals and there is a huge history in that. Your cluster represents the zenith of the mechanical technology.

Turn the car on and watch all of the needles dance to reset themselves to zero. Enjoy what you have because it won't be long before you trade her in for the latest and greatest. And by then, not only will there be no mechanical clusters, there will be no more mechanical hard drives in your car either.

well someone dug this year-old thread I made, but I'm not talking about new all-digital speedo, but the speedo that comes with HUD. I gave up on this since new speedo costs about $1k.

[cipher5]

Has this not be accomplished? Seems people have been able to swap for the 6WB cluster, is 6WA cluster swap possible? Is it easier than the 6WB swap or the same?

[mlai]

Originally Posted by cipher5

Has this not be accomplished? Seems people have been able to swap for the 6WB cluster, is 6WA cluster swap possible? Is it easier than the 6WB swap or the same?

Same. QED with programming. But BMW dealer will refuse to fix anything on your car requiring programming unless you revert to original equipment.....

[cipher5]

Originally Posted by mlai

Same. QED with programming. But BMW dealer will refuse to fix anything on your car requiring programming unless you revert to original equipment.....

Do you need to program to revert back too? That could pose a hassle.