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Old 12-13-2006, 02:13 AM   #1
icegs
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Default Chip in the back of the gauge cluster

Anyone know what that little guy is?



I'm hoping that it's the memory for the cluste mileage and all that, but I'm probably not that lucky.
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Old 12-13-2006, 02:27 AM   #2
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I don't know if it is the case on our cars but I have read elsewhere that you have to buy the cluster from BMW with the mileage programmed by them if you are changing the cluster and want to retain the mileage. If you search on bimmerforums.com you will find some threads there about changing the cluster and having the mileage display properly.
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Old 12-13-2006, 05:54 AM   #3
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The mileage is stored in the dash and in the engine computer. Whichever reads higher will the the one displayed.
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Old 12-13-2006, 10:23 AM   #4
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OK, things are starting to look a little better.


I tried to find an answer to this one in other posts, but didn't. What are the differences between a 318ti cluster and a different model 318? I can get one from a wrecked 4-door for a reasonable price, can I make it work?
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Old 12-13-2006, 06:10 PM   #5
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Sounds strange, but I would ask this over in the swap forum since they have to do a dash swap to fit the 6cyl.
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Old 12-13-2006, 10:25 PM   #6
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Us swappers change the clusters out because the 4cyl cluster doesn't register the 6cyl engine RPMs correctly. Its slightly annoying, but I've learned to live with it for now.

If your going 318i to 318ti, it should be ok since the engine is the same. J!m might know more, but I think I'm right.

J!m?
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Old 12-13-2006, 11:13 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by campaiar View Post
Us swappers change the clusters out because the 4cyl cluster doesn't register the 6cyl engine RPMs correctly. Its slightly annoying, but I've learned to live with it for now.
I am having a little trouble parsing your first sentence.

Whenever you change a car's cluster, you are supposed to "code" into it the car's central code (ZCS) with the BMW MoDiC or DIS tester. You should do this for two important reasons. First, it tells the cluster about the car, for example, how many cylinders it has, so that the cluster can correctly display things such as rpm. Second, the cluster is keeper of the central code, as well as the EWS module from somewhere between 1997-1998 onward. (I am not sure of the date because it was a BMW NA document that mixed production and model years.) The MoDiC or DIS tester transfers the cluster's copy into any other new bits of electronics you drop into the car when you "code" them. If you don't update the cluster's central code to match your car, those other bits will assume they are in the car the cluster originally came from, and perhaps also malfunction after you code them.
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Old 12-14-2006, 10:58 PM   #8
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John, I think you are taking the overly paranoid stance on this.

the 'chip' in the back of the cluster is the coding plug, and identifies the cluster to the car, as well as store mileage and number of cylinders etc. as you stated.

It does not store EWS codes.

I have had several cluster assemblies in my car, with several coding plugs installed, including a factory-new cluster with a 'clean' coding plug. In the case of the new cluster, the cluster does not display anything and the gages do not work at all either. The Odometer displays "CodE" and basically just sits there (the car still starts and runs just fine).

Now I have that new cluster with a used coding plug in it. The mileage of the cluster was retained; however the red dot appears over the odometer, indicating the true mileage is unknown for the car. Not a big deal unless you want to sell the car (99% of buyers don't know the dot even exists). I think the MODIC will be needed to make the dot disappear, but when my new cluster was to be coded (only can be done by the dealer) it was not recognized at all, and therefore could not be coded in the car.

So, long story short, if you want to replace your 318ti cluster with a 318 cluster of similar year, it should work fine. The MPG gage will not work, however. The red dot should not come on, but be aware it may. If the 'new' cluster has higher mileage than the car I think it will be OK (no dot). If the cluster has lower mileage than the car the light will probably come on.
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Old 12-15-2006, 06:45 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by J!m View Post
John, I think you are taking the overly paranoid stance on this....
My first and second reactions to this and the rest of your post was: Man, what was that all about???. And then much less seriously: Fine, but you just stay away from my car!

I think three different issues involving the instrument cluster and EWS-II are getting mixed together here, corresponding to three different functions they perform.

The first is the rolling security code the EWS-II compares against the ignition key to decide if the car may start. BMW, with the EWS, takes a somewhat paranoid stance about how it works and continues to play a cat and mouse game with European car thieves who want to "export" German cars. My post had nothing to do with this, however.

The second issue is the odometer reading kept by the instrument cluster, either internally, or after 1996, in an externally coding plug. BMW, through the manipulation checks and dot you mention, is somewhat paranoid about the stored distance. They continue to play a cat and mouse game, this time with cluster manipulators and car owners, who roll back the odometer for profit. My post also had nothing to do with this.

The third issue is the information that is kept in the instrument cluster about the particulars of the car. BMW decided to call this information the "Zentrale Coderiungschluessel" (ZCS) which they then literally translated to the "central coding key" in their service documents. The "central coding key" is a little long-winded or strange sounding or both for native English speakers, so most just talk about the "central code". While the German original makes good sense, the two translations can be a bit confusing.

To a native speaker, the "central code" and "central coding key" suggest the key to a lock, and that the ZCS locks part or all of the car, and prevents it from operating. While that is one of its functions (in a few slight and particular ways), the ZCS has a much more important function and role for the customer and the dealer.

The E36 3er was produced with many different engines and options, so many in fact, that BMW used to boast that, on average, you would find two identical cars in production perhaps once a day. (Or perhaps half or twice that: I don't remember the exact statistic.) It would have been impractical and too expensive to produce different electronic components for all the different E36s rolling off the line. Instead, BMW designed and installed a much smaller set of common components in all the different cars, and then electronically configured each component to work in the car it is in. For example, BMW put the same OBC in an American 318ti and a UK 323i compact but then electronically configures the U.S. OBC to work with the 4-cylinder engine and display American MPG, and the UK one to work with the 6-cylinder engine and UK gallons.

The ZCS/central coding key/central code is a long string of bits that specifies everything about the car an electronic component might need to know for it (and the car) to function properly. These include the market the car is being built for, crucial particulars about the engine, and all the car's options a component might need to take into account.

Thus, the ZCS really has nothing to do with the car's electronic drive away protection (EWS) other than specifying the particulars the EWS might need to know to function properly. Translating ZCS as the "central coding key" or the "central code" was somewhat unfortunate. Calling it, say, the "electronics configuration string" or the "vehicle particulars" might have been more suggestive.

To recap my earlier post, the E36 instrument cluster is the original and primary keeper of the ZCS / central code. To configure an electronic component you have just installed so that it works properly in the car, you hook up the BMW MoDiC or DIS tester and have it copy the ZCS stored in the cluster to the component. If you skip this "coding" step, the component will suppose it is still in the car it came from. This won't be a problem if that car is similar enough to yours. However, if the donor car is significantly different, the part may have unhelpful notions about your car and not work properly, or not work at all.

The instrument cluster may be the first place you discover something is amiss. Like the other electronic components in the car, it tailors itself to the car according to the information in the ZCS, the information in its copy of the ZCS, since it is the keeper of the central code. If the cluster came from a car with a different engine, it may incorrectly display the fuel consumption or the engine rpm, for example. I gather, some people can and do live with that.

Having the false code in the cluster, however, may cause problems if you take the car to someone for repair. If they replace an electronic component to eliminate a fault, and then code it, they may fix the original fault but then find that replacing the part makes the car malfunction in some other way(s). If you are lucky and the cluster is also malfunctioning and the tech notices that, he might exclaim "You dingbat, this cluster is a used replacement that hasn't been re-coded!", code the cluster, and then recode the component. If he doesn't noticed, perhaps because the central code is wrong in a way that doesn't disturb the cluster, he may $pend some time in a state of confusion before he recognizes and corrects your sin of ommission.

Let us suppose I have convinced you to recode your salvaged instrument cluster. If the cluster is the keeper of the central code and you have swapped out the original, how will the new cluster get a copy of the old cluster's code? When a dealer swaps a cluster, they start with the old cluster in the car, hook up the DIS tester or MoDiC, read out the cluster's ZCS, install the new cluster and then write the old cluster's ZCS back to the new one. If the old cluster is so broken that the ZCS is unreadable, the tech either reads the code off a label under the rear seat bench and keys it in by hand -- or for later E36s, the MoDiC or DIS tester retrieves and uses a second copy of the ZCS stored in the EWS-II module.

Anyway, this story of the cluster, EWS and the central code seems more like dull book keeping to me than paranoia. It is like deciding how to write a message someone will read in 150 years time. Should I use a pencil or a ball point pen? (I believe the safer answer is a pencil because some inks fade.)

I have got to stop writing such long posts. I hope I have not been belaboring the obvious, and that you guys did not find this treatise uninteresting!
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Old 12-16-2006, 02:57 AM   #10
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I have heard something to that effect before from one of the top dogs in BMW independent repair. Happily, there is little on the ti that needs the ZCS due to the simplicity of the car's design and equipment. Most of the parts are readily swappable without the car knowing the difference (electronically speaking.) The problems will probably lie with OBC (not critical) and Tach operation. A shop with AutoLogic or DIS/Modic can clear all of this up for you if you do have problems. With an E46, however, you'd be screwed as many, many things are electronically controlled that the car absolutely needs.
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Old 12-16-2006, 06:32 AM   #11
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The cruise control, automatic transmission and ZKE (central module) also might not work properly if coded with a false central code.
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Old 12-16-2006, 05:14 PM   #12
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The cruise shouldn't care as it only looks to maintain a certain pulse rate from the speed sensor. The tranny, no idea there. Should not be a huge problem if you go from 4 banger cluster to 4 banger cluster but 4 to 6? You should have a manual when you do that anyway. ZKE? May not matter if your car has the same or fewer options than the donor, but??? Basically, give it a try but be prepared to hit the shop if it doesn't work right, and like John said, make sure you tell them that you swapped clusters!
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Old 12-17-2006, 10:55 AM   #13
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Depending on its sophistication, the cruise control could take other, possibly model-dependent factors into account. I could well believe the cruise control in my father's Jeep doesn't care what it is installed in. It lets the vehicle speed wander around so much, I have trouble setting it and usually give up when I am within a few mph of what I want. By comparison, BMW's cruise control is so precise you forget about the challenges its developers must have faced to get it that way. Who knows, it could be a PID controller that factors in the system mass and forcing function.

As to the ZKE, I wonder how it might react if it was coded in a 328i and then transplanted to a 318ti. Oh, no, what happened to my rear locks and doors?
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Old 12-26-2006, 06:47 PM   #14
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I see that you have a big knowledge of gauges and coding plugs...
I have a question for you...

I have a "brand new from dealer" without code BMW Z3///M S54 cluster. I want to hook up it in my 318is. I've tried a bit of things on it:
- Z3///M cluster fitted with Z3///M coding plug (not coded). It shows "CODE-" when I turn the key and gauges not work...
- Z3///M cluster fitted with 318is coding plug. It shows "Code 2". Gauges aren't working.
- Now I have the front part (faces, chrome rings, needles, glass) of Z3///M cluster fitted to rear 318is electronics. Readings are wrong (scales are differents), but I know how much are off.

I've tested to enter to the secret menu and it is structurated as E46 (link), there is the structure, but there aren't infos like VIN and other...

What can do without take it to the dealer?
If I find an used coding plug from a Z3///M with lower miles, it should work except of rpms, right?
thank you and great infos
bye
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Old 12-27-2006, 09:34 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nuvolarossa View Post
I have a "brand new from dealer" without code BMW Z3///M S54 cluster. I want to hook up it in my 318is. I've tried a bit of things on it:
- Z3///M cluster fitted with Z3///M coding plug (not coded). It shows "CODE-" when I turn the key and gauges not work...

I had the same problem, as stated above... Un-coded clusters do not work at all until coded. Also, is S54 correct? Don't you need an S52 engine cluster? The S54 control system and engine complexity is radically different in several ways from the S52. I think this may be the root cause of the problem...

- Z3///M cluster fitted with 318is coding plug. It shows "Code 2". Gauges aren't working.

M cluster is looking for six cylinder coding plug, you installed a four cylinder coding plug. Hopefully, there was no damage done to the cluster, but I would not expect an major damage from this...

- Now I have the front part (faces, chrome rings, needles, glass) of Z3///M cluster fitted to rear 318is electronics. Readings are wrong (scales are differents), but I know how much are off.

This is because the top speed is higher on the M cluster, as is the top RPM. They do not read the same value when the needles are straight up. It is correct at zero, and then the reading gets further off as it increases up the scale. The fuel and temp gage should work OK...

I've tested to enter to the secret menu and it is structurated as E46 (link), there is the structure, but there aren't infos like VIN and other...

I have this information in my swap manual as well, but was never able to make it work to 're-code' a cluster in the car.

What can do without take it to the dealer?

I'm not sure now, you have a four cylinder cluster with a six cylinder overlay. Very weird...

If I find an used coding plug from a Z3///M with lower miles, it should work except of rpms, right?

I think it will work (provided it is from an S52 engine [earlier] M Roadster), but yes, your RPMs will be off. Mileage has nothing to do with it (expect the red dot, if you don't have it already), number of cylinders and engine type of the car play a greater role. Personally I would (and did) use a cluster from an M3 rather than an M roadster. There are several wiring differences between the roadster and the ti. The ti is more like the standard coupe or sedan than the roadster.

thank you and great infos

Good luck!
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