[dub mon]

I moved from the US to Canada and purchased a used Canadian gauge cluster. I went to the local BMW here in Vancouver, Brian Jessell BMW, and they said they could swap the clusters for me no problem and program the corresponding kilometers on the Canadian cluster to correspond to the amount of miles I had on the car.

Anyways, they tried programming the new kilometer value on the used Canadian cluster but it wouldn't take. They said it can't be done because it's a used Cluster. They said the new kilometer value could only be programmed on a new cluster. Additionally, the tamper dot (a.k.a. tamper light) is also lit up now. Based on my research, the dealership can reset the mileage and also get rid of the tamper dot. I told them this but they don't believe me.

In this thread: http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=22437&highlight=tamper
it says "Your dealer can easily reprogram your instrument cluster to your current mileage to correct this problem"

PS Now my DSC warning light is permanently on also and I can't turn it off.

somebody please help. much thanks!

 

[Dcfett]

I moved from the US to Canada and purchased a used Canadian gauge cluster. I went to the local BMW here in Vancouver, Brian Jessell BMW, and they said they could swap the clusters for me no problem and program the corresponding kilometers on the Canadian cluster to correspond to the amount of miles I had on the car.

Anyways, they tried programming the new kilometer value on the used Canadian cluster but it wouldn't take. They said it can't be done because it's a used Cluster. They said the new kilometer value could only be programmed on a new cluster. Additionally, the tamper dot (a.k.a. tamper light) is also lit up now. Based on my research, the dealership can reset the mileage and also get rid of the tamper dot. I told them this but they don't believe me.

In this thread: http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=22437&highlight=tamper
it says "Your dealer can easily reprogram your instrument cluster to your current mileage to correct this problem"

PS Now my DSC warning light is permanently on also and I can't turn it off.

somebody please help. much thanks!

Dude, we have the same car, but I bought mine in Toronto and imported it to the Detroit. First off, I think the dealer is blowing a little smoke b/c I know for a fact that my Canadian dealer kept my cluster when they swapped it out for the US one, so I know they were going to use it again. But, I do think you might want to just get a brand new one just in case or take it to another dealer cause it seems like someone ther mucked something up. A lot of the dealers dont deal in importing/exporting so thier techs really dont know how to get the car to respond to the conversion. I know Toronto aint so close to Vancouver, but perhaps you could buy one from Downtown BMW and have them ship it to Vancouver or at least have them talk to the techs in Vancouver. Those guys import/export to US dealers all the time and I know the dealers will do anything to save a buck, so Im sure they have incorporated used clusters before. Hope this helps.

 

[dub mon]

Dude, we have the same car, but I bought mine in Toronto and imported it to the Detroit. First off, I think the dealer is blowing a little smoke b/c I know for a fact that my Canadian dealer kept my cluster when they swapped it out for the US one, so I know they were going to use it again. But, I do think you might want to just get a brand new one just in case or take it to another dealer cause it seems like someone ther mucked something up. A lot of the dealers dont deal in importing/exporting so thier techs really dont know how to get the car to respond to the conversion. I know Toronto aint so close to Vancouver, but perhaps you could buy one from Downtown BMW and have them ship it to Vancouver or at least have them talk to the techs in Vancouver. Those guys import/export to US dealers all the time and I know the dealers will do anything to save a buck, so Im sure they have incorporated used clusters before. Hope this helps.

thx for the response. I will give Downtown BMW a call tomorrow. I don't want to buy a new cluster because that would set me back $800 instead of the $100 I paid for this used cluster. I'm okay with driving with a US cluster in Canada but it might hurt re-sale value when I sell the car in a few months. One option I heard was to get my original US cluster programmed by BMW to display km's for the odometer instead of miles and then swap out the circular speedometer cutouts to read km's. The shop manager from BMW of Victoria told me this info but said only US BMW dealers could do this; dunno why though. the search for a solution continues...

 

[Eric Davis]

First off there right. The used cluster you have you can not use in our car it is a use only once product. When you get a clusterit puts the vin and milage in it. You can not erase this info. The cluster Belongs to that car. Sorry

Ok with that said all you want to due is change the the units of measurement
that can be done with your old cluster.

 

[VENDETTABMW]

thx for the response. I will give Downtown BMW a call tomorrow. I don't want to buy a new cluster because that would set me back $800 instead of the $100 I paid for this used cluster. I'm okay with driving with a US cluster in Canada but it might hurt re-sale value when I sell the car in a few months. One option I heard was to get my original US cluster programmed by BMW to display km's for the odometer instead of miles and then swap out the circular speedometer cutouts to read km's. The shop manager from BMW of Victoria told me this info but said only US BMW dealers could do this; dunno why though. the search for a solution continues...

victoria bmw are fckn clueless, dont follow any of their advice.I tell them things that are available for these cars........where is the tamper light??.i changed my cluster, i didnt change milage.....i've switched back and forth many times and only lights are the ones for seat belt as it was from coupe and i had sedan...where this tamper light ..pics!.....lookin for some rims!!

 

[dub mon]

victoria bmw are fckn clueless, dont follow any of their advice.I tell them things that are available for these cars........where is the tamper light??.i changed my cluster, i didnt change milage.....i've switched back and forth many times and only lights are the ones for seat belt as it was from coupe and i had sedan...where this tamper light ..pics!.....lookin for some rims!!

Here's a couple pics of the tamper dot light:

 

[Lexie330ci]

thats wierd...what the should have done is reset the damn cluster cause the cluster actually saves vin number and milage...so who changed out ur cluster? u or bmw? make them pay for the little dot if they did it.
-ALex

 

[VENDETTABMW]

thx for pics, i will check my car!!.i dont remember seeing it.

 

[dub mon]

thats wierd...what the should have done is reset the damn cluster cause the cluster actually saves vin number and milage...so who changed out ur cluster? u or bmw? make them pay for the little dot if they did it.
-ALex

bmw changed the cluster and caused the tamper dot to appear. according to them, you can only program the cluster once and because this is a used cluster they cannot re-write the mileage and vin to the cluster.

is this correct?

 

[Soundwave]

Have you tried contacting the other dealers like AutoWest and ParkShore just for information on whether or not it is doable? Try and ask to speak to one of their technicians to see if they know.

I question whether or not Canadian dealers can even make all the programming changes that the US dealers can. Some of the key/vehicle memory options and OEM alarm options that is mentioned by US owners to customize settings aren't even available for Canadians. Maybe the systems the Canadian dealers have aren't entirely compatible with US cars? (Just throwing out ideas...)

 

[schosports]

bmw changed the cluster and caused the tamper dot to appear. according to them, you can only program the cluster once and because this is a used cluster they cannot re-write the mileage and vin to the cluster.

is this correct?

YES. They can only be "coded" once. Any second attempt will trigger the dot.

 

[dub mon]

YES. They can only be "coded" once. Any second attempt will trigger the dot.

Yes, that is what I have discovered. So I'm probably going to go a different route. I called BMW of Bellevue in Washington state and they can program my original US cluster to read KMs instead of Miles so now I only need to replace my speedometer gauge faces in my US cluster with the gauge faces in my Canadian cluster. Does anybody know where I can get just Canadian gauge faces (or overlays) by themselves so I don't have to salvage my complete Canadain cluster just for the gauges faces.

 

[dub mon]

bump...