I had nothing to lose so I went ahead and tried the repair. I used the instructions in the link http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/504260 for my basis and moved forward. Although the casing of my E39 MID was a bit different than in the pics, the fundamental pixel problem is the same and is very well explained and photographed in the link. The solution was so simple that I never thought it would work but IT DID!
Couple of differences on the E39 from what is shown:
After you remove the MID from the car:
1. Open the top of the metal case.
2. Remove the screws that hold the facing (9) Look inside and remove the screws that hold the crystal display (3).
3. I did not disassemble the crystal display from the bulb housing. Just did the contact cleaning operation as explained from that point on. You need steady hands, do it gently and with patience and trust that the repair method described works!
4. After cleaning, I used a small piece of tape to tack the ribbon cable to the board and checked with a magnifying glass to ensure that the contacts between the board and ribbon lined up. I then taped the ribbon cable from one end to the other.
Note: The board does not come off since it is soldered to the back metal case.
I had a white plastic retainer clip that fell off while disassembling – did not know where it came from so after looking for a while, I decided to leave it off. – hopefully it is not critical. Might be something that holds the retention metal strip in place. If something goes wrong, I will take it apart and look again.
Acetone works great! Alcohol does not. Test the display in the car before assembling all back together to make sure the ribbon cable is lined up.
Spent 3-4 hrs – definitely worth the $850!
good luck!

'03-530i - 5spd - Sport/Premium/Winter packages

• pixels!! - psiwak1 2008-08-21 22:35:30 (278 views)
  • Re: pixels!! - psiwak1 2008-08-22 18:10:13 (197 views)
    • Re: pixels!! - rick540 2008-08-23 04:33:49 (207 views)
      • Yes. - bolkow105 2008-08-24 17:50:28 (177 views)
        • MID pixels fixed! - psiwak1 2008-08-25 09:45:08 (373 views)
          • That's what I've been waiting to hear! - ZeroDfx 2008-08-26 10:35:37 (154 views)
            • Re: That's what I've been waiting to hear! - psiwak1 2008-08-27 00:54:58 (141 views)
              • A couple clarifications please - ZeroDfx 2008-08-27 09:24:02 (107 views)
                • Re: A couple clarifications please - psiwak1 2008-08-28 00:01:15 (98 views)
                  • Thank you for that; I'm good to go (nt) - ZeroDfx 2008-08-28 13:09:51 (94 views)
                    • pixels - pablo 2008-10-28 17:48:46 (16 views)
            • Take a look at..... - bolkow105 2008-08-26 15:28:31 (128 views)
              • Re: Take a look at..... - psiwak1 2008-08-27 01:01:05 (100 views)