*Coloured Gauge Face Replacements

[patroklai]

Originally Posted by colorado.e9x

My fuel gauge is always slightly above the max line when I fill it up. I swore I fixed it when I did everything last time. Suppose I should get to it and add a few steps eh?

This is exactly what happened to me.

My motor steps were at 1886 (default) at "full" but the gauge was way too bar beyond the max line. Only noticed it when I refilled.

So I changed the highest (far right) motor step to 1800. That solved it. It's dead even now. Correspondingly, I adjusted all the steps to:

0 // 450 // 900 / 1350 and 1800. Haven't driven yet. Need a new battery too. This coding stuff drained my battery fast and I think it's toast (I don't daily drive this car).

I may go back and adjust the starting offset. It's basically at zero with maybe a hair too far. My starting step is 42 so I think I'll try 32, then adjust the final motor step and the rest accordingly.

[patroklai]

Originally Posted by 6ixSpd

You had to add steps, not remove. So if the current start position offset is 70, and your needle is reading below zero, you need to increase the steps to 80. It's trial and error. I find moving them 10-15 steps for 1-2mm usually works well.



Not from what I've done multiple times. The start position offset is all that needs to be adjusted if the zero position is not accurate. The rest of the steps are counted off the start position, not from absolute zero steps.

Thanks. Based on this I need to reduce motor steps as mine is a hair passed 0. Still at zero but not exactly centered. As it stands now, it's entirely normal to most people but my OCD always wins lol.

[strokemycocktus]

Originally Posted by CTMike

Hello Mr. Stroke,

I really like this particular style:
https://venoxy.com/en/1m-style-rings...andard_mphkm_h

Can the black area be done in the carbon fiber style?

Thanks,
Mike

Yes sir, we can do that as well.

[wyatth]

Just ordered a boring spec. Black, MPH only, illuminated M, 8500 redline. Not really looking forward to the install.

[patroklai]

Just got my fuel gauge perfectly even at 0% 50% and 100% thanks to perfekt toolkit. Thanks for the feedback all.

[patroklai]

Also replaced the battery and registered it using ista. Didn't need to code it using ncs expert since IBS was already set to 90ah AGM.

Any one having issues coding make sure your battery is good and plugged to a charger.

[nyc_dude]

Originally Posted by wyatth

Just ordered a boring spec. Black, MPH only, illuminated M, 8500 redline. Not really looking forward to the install.

Protect the back of the leather steering wheel with a towel. Adjust the wheel down and toward you.

It is very easy to scratch the plastic when removing the two T10 screws. Need lots of light to find the screws. Protect the plastic with your fingers and BOTH hands. I have a tiny ratchet with bits from Wiha.

Don't use metal tools anywhere on the instrument cluster. Try your fingers to take it apart, after removing the T20 screws.

Protect the clear plastic window when handling it. Don't bother cleaning it...you will scratch it anyway. You should be able to separate the clear plastic window from the black frame. It is lightly glued in place. Never touch the inside of the black surround with your fingers. Soft black plastic matte finish mars and scratches easily. Separating the clear window isn't necessary, but an option when working inside the car, if the gauges needles are off.

Use gloves when handling the old and new gauges, to avoid stains from your fingers messing up the new gauges. Use a tissue to press the new gauges down with no bubbles (vinyl is thick and flat).

Use two plastic spoons to remove the needles. No sharp metal tools ever!!
Get 2 extra spoons and cut the handles off to work inside the car.

You can mark 12 o'ciock and 6 o'clock with tape and a marker to help align the new gauges. But because there are two holes in the gauges it is easy to center to 12 o'clock. I cut out a slit between these two holes in the back peel off to align the sticker and allow some readjusting, if necessary. Then take off the entire peel off backing.

Old gauges come off easily with a blow dryer. Clean the clear plastic with alcohol to remove any glue.

You could bend a paper clip to see if you can use it as a hook to remove the needles while inside the car.
Paperclip has to be thin and plastic coated (or wrapped in tape).

You have to plug in the open cluster to check the needle zero positions.
If they are off, you have to pull off the needle, turn the start/stop on/off, reinsert the needle, and retest.

It might help filling the gas tank to full...as a way to make sure the fuel gauge needle is at zero to max when the car is off and on.

After you are done, perform the dancing needles KI Test to make sure the needles are zeroed correctly.

It is a very easy mod, takes a lot of patience, and might require a second try to zero the needles. Great results are guaranteed. Such a classy mod that you can enjoy every time you look down.

You need the grey gauge faces...too. CSL like. Breaks up all the black in the interior. Sell them if you don't like them.


Cheers

[beto3934]

I got the orange color gauges, is there a problem if I just put the new gauge faces over the existing BMW gauge? I forgot to check is the BMW ones are translucent or the lights lit up around the cluster

[Skhan109]

Originally Posted by beto3934

I got the orange color gauges, is there a problem if I just put the new gauge faces over the existing BMW gauge? I forgot to check is the BMW ones are translucent or the lights lit up around the cluster

You will have to remove the OEM ones and stick on the orange face gauges. Apply some heat and it should remove

[beto3934]

Great, thank you. Got it done. Before and after.

[patroklai]

Looks great

[wildwestm3]

Resurrecting an old post! My car is Mineral White over extended Fox Red. The only color that would look good would be the white faces. The website says they don’t suggest white gauges with the OEM stock cluster lights. Why is this? Anyone do white? What was your experience? Any pics?

[S65 SCHNAUZER]

Originally Posted by wildwestm3

Resurrecting an old post! My car is Mineral White over extended Fox Red. The only color that would look good would be the white faces. The website says they don’t suggest white gauges with the OEM stock cluster lights. Why is this? Anyone do white? What was your experience? Any pics?

I have white and honestly I would not recommend it. The backlight on the dash doesn't work with the black numbering and what not and you can only really see it at night. Planning on switching to grey soon

[wildwestm3]

Originally Posted by S65 SCHNAUZER

I have white and honestly I would not recommend it. The backlight on the dash doesn't work with the black numbering and what not and you can only really see it at night. Planning on switching to grey soon

Thanks for the feedback. I think I’ll just go with the grey as well…

[S65 SCHNAUZER]

Originally Posted by wildwestm3

Thanks for the feedback. I think I’ll just go with the grey as well…

yeah im just mad i didnt go with grey to begin with lol spend another $80+ on a second set

[Bubbles]

Fitment and illumination was spot on.

[Edwardsc1]

About to order mine today! FYI they are on sale for $60 right now, I'd say that's a pretty great deal.

Edit: Didn't realize shipping was $18 which brought my total to just under $80. So never mind on the sale haha still a great deal for the mod though.

[Accel Junky]

I did grey out of nostalgia for my E46 M3. I kind of screwed up the Speedo alignment ever so slightly so I have some edge bleed at night (it’s almost impossible to show in pictures) and it bothers the hell out of me. My fault I guess but the tolerance for alignment error is so slim and that adhesive is solid. I might try to order another speedo dial and re-do it.

I did have to do some recalibration despite zero’ing the motors before putting the needles back on.

[BSM n54iS]

If you guys don't know LMB335IS (@clustersandcoding IG) does clusters for us and some other chassis. Can get any design gauges and installs and codes them, install after is like 2m. What I did since I couldn't deal with the headache or OCD of screwing something up.

Got me OE m3 cluster (which yall don't have to worry about) with adjustable redline and can put LED's however you want.

[Edwardsc1]

Just finished my install. I went with the gray and opted for the ///M3 logo as well. Overall super easy install, just a pain to clean the old adhesive off, but obviously that's not difficult at all, just time consuming. Only issue is that my needles are off a bit (last picture) and I didn't realize that the BMW Standard Tools only runs on Windows. And I have a MacBook. So they'll be off for a bit until I can borrow a friend's computer Besides that, couldn't be more pleased. Huge thank you to strokemycocktus and everyone at Venoxy, these are phenomenal. Before, during, and after pictures attached.

[Accel Junky]

Just wanted to give Venoxy a nice shout out. They stood behind their product no second guessing: re-shipped me the right tach face and they also replaced my speedo face which I had a little trouble with light bleed on one edge (maybe my fault). My gauges are now perfectly illuminated and correct per my order. Really diggin' the old school E46 grey.

Also 3 pro-tips I learned:

1. Use the LED on your phone behind the clear illumination disc that the face goes onto to simulate the backlight and position the face properly without light bleed.
2. Some light bleed at the bottom is OK as the silver bezel on the cluster cover hides that, the most important thing is you want the face shifted a little upwards to cover the whole top arc from light bleed.
3. Before reinstalling the needles, plug the cluster in and turn the car to on and let the needle stems calibrate. Then remove the cluster and finish assembly. I was able to put the needles back on the 2nd time and not have to adjust anything with my laptop.

[qskid28]

Despite the great write-up towards the first few pages of this thread, I managed to miss quite the important step of keeping your finger on the back of the motor (where it appears a needle would come out) as you re-insert the gauges' needles. Since I forgot this step and hulk'd the needles in (I lack steady hands), the worm gears for all 4 motors came out. Thankfully I found this other thread that walked me through the intricate details of dealing with this. Essentially forgetting this step led this 30-minute job (I literally had it re-assembled the first time in 32 mins) into a 3.5-hour job. Towards the end I definitely had to pull off the needles a few times, re-start the car, turn it off, thereby allowing it to "0" out the gauges, and apply back the needles carefully.

Another annoying thing that kept happening to me was that the main plug behind the instrument cluster (that transfers data/power) kept coming loose so the entire cluster was acting as if it was short-circuited. Ultimately blew air into it like a old-school Nintendo cartridge and had it going again. Made me really think I had toasted my gauges.

Don't mind the check engine light - it disappeared after some driving since the car, too, also realized the gauge cluster wasn't toast.