Hi all,

Just thought I'd post a hassle-free, damage-free procedure to open the cluster. The plastic is very soft and when I opened my first cluster using a procedure from X5 forums, it (a) took hours of frustration with the cluster to get all hooks released at once (b) ultimately took 2 people to help release everything simultaneously, and (c) really busted up the plastic, and weakened it to the point that my cluster made constant creaking noises once installed in my car.

Once I got a brand new cluster courtesy of BMW NA, I intended to keep it in pristine condition this time.

The tools needed to do it the elegant way are very home-brew:

1) 4x Plastic Savings cards, the small kind, (free from your local Ralphs/Albertsons/etc)
2) Piece of Lego, the flat thin 1-segment wide one
3) 5/8" diamter wooden dowel ($0.79 at Walmart)
4) Dremel tool or saw to cut dowel
5) Hair dryer


Steps

1) With Blow Dryer, heat the "tamper sticker" till glue is soft and peel it off. Stick it on a piece of wax paper.

2) One at a time, insert the plastic savings car into each of the 4 exterior tabs. Jamming the Lego piece into the slot together with the card will push the clip down and alow the card to slide in. Once the cards are in place, the tension is actually pushing the back of the cluster outwards. This is the key to easy opening.



3) With dremel tool, cut a cross into the end of the dowel. This tool is to twist the plastic crosses in the back of the cluster to unlock them. Twist each cross one by one, starting from one side to the other. Once the cross lines up with the hole, the cluster back should automatically pop out a bit, and the cross then stays unlocked.




End result: cluster is opened in one shot, without any scratches / pry marks / evidence of tampering. I'd recommend wearing latex gloves at this point to avoid leaving finger prints inside the cluster. I snapped in the chrome rings, and for the heck of it, stuck a ///M wheel decal inside.



Anyways, perhaps someone out there might find this useful or at least amusing.

Cheers
Derek

• Easy Instrument Cluster-Opening Procedure - Chrome Rings (pic) - rainmaker888 2008-05-16 19:14:57 (1363 views)
  • Great idea, I might try installing the rings now (nt) - davay1 2008-05-17 21:41:20 (46 views)
  • Very good Idea - BJames38 2008-05-17 21:15:31 (38 views)
  • the rings look good..going to be one of my next mods (nt) - stevekc 2008-05-17 20:14:39 (39 views)
  • Great idea ... now I have to go to Martins and get a club card!!! - aaron00740il 2008-05-16 20:18:12 (42 views)
  • Very impressive!! e38.org worthy! - IBHenry 2008-05-16 20:00:49 (41 views)
    • +1. (nt) - inconsistent 2008-05-17 17:52:59 (27 views)
  • the dowel is ingenius! wish I would have made one. My crosses all look beat to - ian 2008-05-16 19:53:55 (41 views)
    • yeah, mine do too. (nt) - 04sshd 2008-05-16 19:55:02 (36 views)
      • +1! here also, great info! (nt) - Edwin 2008-05-17 18:39:09 (30 views)
  • that is awesome ingenuity .Lego and a dowel...Good stuff (nt) - snitch740i 2008-05-16 19:40:12 (43 views)
  • That's clever, nice work! (nt) - 04sshd 2008-05-16 19:25:33 (37 views)
  • great tips, thanks for sharing! (nt) - kromdom 2008-05-16 19:24:01 (37 views)
  • Very good tips! I had a tough time the first time I tried to open - sealbeach740 2008-05-16 19:21:20 (56 views)