Cluster Conundrum

[whiskychaser]

Posting this for a friend. They dont live near me so I am reporting this as he tells it. Car is an 03/89 525i with the grey cluster and brown chip plug. He has not had the car long and the cluster is a replacement as the original was erratic. The problem is that although the cluster will show different languages, it is determined to stick on French. While I dont think this should be relevant, the OBC is showing English. However, he says he cant change the languages in that even though it is unlocked. I was thinking the problem could be the chip plug connections but he confirms they are OK. The only thing I can think of is that the is a problem with the chip itself. I am sure there are wiser men out there who know better though? :-)

[shogun]

the language is always in the chip, no matter if the chip like in grey back version is located in the wire loom to the cluster, or inside the back of the cluster like in the white or blue back.
Language shown as default is the one based on the country version. So if the car was ordered let's say for the U.K., the chip default language is U.K. English.
To change the language is shown on Johan's site here
BMW E32 - Tips & Tricks

Changing the OBC language:
The OBC language of the car will sometimes reset itself to German. To change it to whatever you like try this:
1. Turn the ignition to position 1.
2. Hold the CC button down for 10 seconds. Then the next language will appear.
3. Repeat this procedure untill you have the desired language.
The available languages are: Engish UK, English US, French, German, Italian, Spanish
http://bmwe32.masscom.net/johan/tips.../cc_button.jpg

If for example he disconnects the battery for some reason, the language might "jump" back to the default language, because it keeps the set stuff only as long as the internal "batteries" =
capacitors have "juice". And here we come to the next problem. The old grey clusters like in your friend's car and also my 11/88 750 have now very weak capacitors, best is to replace them against new ones.


broken capacitors in the instrument cluster can be the cause of the instrument cluster acting like its haunted
BMW E32 - Dash capacitor replacement
or
he can change to another cluster, blue or white one. Both fit in the car as long as they have the same fuel tank size indication etc.
But then he will have all the data of the donor car chip.
Like miles, VIN etc.


The chip in the brown wire loom to the cluster for the grey cluster version remains there (without function, you just need the wire loom with the plug), but if a white or blue cluster is installed, the chips/EPROMs in the backside of these take over the "reign".
If for example he would have had originally a white cluster, he could have bought another white cluster and just change the EPROM between these 2 white back clusters. It is NOT possible to change EPROM inserts between blue and white backplare clusters, they are of different size.

[whiskychaser]

Thanks Shogun :-)

He is using the correct procedure to change the cluster language. The problem is, the cluster shows English but goes back to French immediately. Its an MPH cluster so you would think it should revert to English or German when unplugged. That said, you cannot take anything for granted :-) It seems that whichever capacitor powers the language in the cluster chip may be totally totally shot.
A shame as this was supposed to be a working cluster and was very hard to find

[genphreak]

Can't you just change the capacitors? I've never had to do it on an e34- only e28 and e30 seem to suffer issues (in my experience...)