I do my own servicing and recently bought a copy of CarSoft 6.5 along with an interface off eBay with the intention of replacing my trusty Draper service reset tool. Finally got a chance to use it at the weekend after performing a brake fluid change and Oil Service, it worked as it should and reset the service lights and brake fluid light as anticipated.

Out of curiousity I scanned for existing fault codes, and found a couple which didn't seem anything major, so I cleared them to see if they would return at a later date.

Now for the fun part.... I found a menu entitled Vehicle Coding E38/E39, which listed settings like KM or Miles, language settings like English (UK), (US) etc. and the bit that I was interested in - "Automatically lock doors when driving". I clicked the button for READ DATA, and it populated the list with incorrect settings - Germany, Litres, KM etc. I set them to the correct values, along with the box for auto-door locking and clicked the button to WRITE DATA....

It ran through the process, which took a couple of minutes, apparently successfully, and said that I should turn the ignition off for 10 seconds, which I did.... turning it back on.... I got a message EEPROM-KI in the OBC part of the cluster and the following symptoms...

Rev counter flicks up momentarily when engine starts (like an electrical "blip") then drops to 0 and does not move at all.

MPG counter is completely bananas - twitchy and jumps around all over the place, completely off the scale at times.

OBC button is completely inoperative, no display on OBC (although CHECK CONTROL OK appears when pressing the right hand stalk, and the cluster sweep test performs as expected), no display on OBC/radio panel either (although the radio display and buttons work there are no OBC functions available or displayed)

Speedometer reads too fast for the road speed - an indicated 39mph is a true 30mph (verified by GPS)

Driveability, engine temperature guage and fuel guage all appear normal and unaffected so far, as does the mileage counter.

Sorry to hear that Stephen.

BMW might have to reprograme the car...might hurt a bit in the wallet though.

Keep us posted.

Andrew

Sorry to hear that, I dont know how many times a have say.

"DONT PLAY" WITH" THE Programmingmenys in Carsoft. !!!

It distroys the instrumentcluster if you try to change language fore example and so far I have seen BMW could not fix this to 100% function again.

Nothing of note Andrew, rechecked the fuses and they seemed okay, I found the fuel gauge is now wildly optimistic as I ran out of petrol with a quarter tank still registering on the gauge!

I have to take the car through to the BMW/Alpina dealer in Aberdeen tonight so they can look at it tomorrow - fingers and toes crossed it's a simple reprogramming job, but I'm prepared for the worst

Keep us posted after tomorrow.

What is the battery condition like?  Low batteris can cause all sorts of weird and wonderful electrical gremlins in E39s.

Will do, I replaced the battery a couple of months ago, but thanks for the suggestion 

well my worst fears were confirmed, cluster needs replacing...

£1616.32 including fitting...  going to take a week to get the cluster from germany so i've given the go-ahead; like removing a plaster its better to rip it straight off and get it over with quickly so you don't think about it too much 

some birthday present that eh, you live and learn 

Feck that's steep!

Not wanting to upset you anymore but is BMW 100% sure that will solve the problem?

Andrew Rolland wrote: is BMW 100% sure that will solve the problem?

they assure me it will, but if it doesn't then i'm not paying until they do find and fix what's causing it, simples!

irelandoffline wrote: 1600 quid plus to get a cluster bought and fitted, holy sh*t ??

indeed, it's cos it's an alpina specific part, if it was a bmw part then it would be half that price, which is still pricey for what it is!

cluster is on back-order with alpina, can't get a specific date when it will arrive, disappointing  i hope it's done and dusted by the F&M show...

bmwcare wrote: If you haven't committed fully to the new cluster (that is, can cancel the back order) it might be worth trying to get someone to read the dump from the cluster. It's probably corrupted by the Carsoft coding attempt. It might be possible to virginise the cluster and then Code it (correctly) - this is a long shot but if it can be done you're looking at ~€300-500 One problem might be the rareness of that particular cluster.. If you had a perfect donor vehicle then it should be definitely possible... Kind Regards, Eddie.

thanks Eddie, the problem I have is finding a suitable donor and finding someone with the equipment and knowledge to do it

m3Cecotto wrote: And what do Carsoft have to say?

It was an illegitimate cracked copy bought off eBay so I wouldn't expect any help from them.

bmwcare wrote: What is the BMW Part Number of your cluster?

The Alpina part number is 62 10 713

Page 34 on here:

http://www.thealpinaregister.com/track.php?section=completecats&file=e39%20b103.x-uk.pdf - http://www.thealpinaregister.com/track.php?section=completec ats&file=e39%20b103.x-uk.pdf

Rossi wrote: Ouch! Stephen, best of luck sourcing a new/ used working cluster. remember this thread.. http://www.bavarian-board.co.uk/forum_posts.asp?TID=43654&PN=12 - Diagnostics

Thanks Rossi, yes when this whole sorry tale is over I'll link to this thread from that one

Cars finally back in full working order and I'm £1616.40 lighter after the new cluster was fitted

As the late great Tony Hancock once said... "let the shipwrecks of others be your sea marks"

Thanks for helping me out with suggestions guys

Glad it's all sorted.

Bet you won't be doing that again.

I take it that the mileage is still recorded correctly and that a new cluster doesn't give the car a mileage of 0?

Andrew Rolland wrote: I take it that the mileage is still recorded correctly and that a new cluster doesn't give the car a mileage of 0?

that would be handy come trade-in time  but no, it still shows the original mileage of 63,000

When you put a new cluster in and code in the winnumber,its starts communicate with the LCM and who send over the stored milage to cluster. if you change fore a new LCM the cluster send over the right milage to LCM. This communication is only possible if both is coded with the same winnumber otherwise the system gets in modulationmode and you get a extra red dot in the milagecounter.