[tliartis]

All,

Just took delivery of my CPO BMW. I noticed today a long scratch on the plasic on the odometer display. I'm waiting to hear back from the dealership about it. Has anyone replaced this? I couldn't imagine it would cost too much to replace unless they had to do all the gauges. Thanks for the help.

[casualDIYer]

Originally Posted by tliartis

All,

Just took delivery of my CPO BMW. I noticed today a long scratch on the plastic on the odometer display. I'm waiting to hear back from the dealership about it. Has anyone replaced this? I couldn't imagine it would cost too much to replace unless they had to do all the gauges. Thanks for the help.

If you're talking about the instrument cluster, I think you might be out of luck. I don't believe the plastic cover is sold as a separate part but you can check realoem.com to see. A new cluster just to fix a scratch is going to relatively expensive for the damage incurred (guessing $1000). Another suggestion would be to try Novus polish. There is a Tri-pack for heavy scratches, light scratches, and finishing. Probably run $20 with shipping or try picking it up at Walmart if they have it. It's a polish made specifically for plastic. If you want to try it, suggest practising a little on a soda bottle. While the polish does remove scratches, get a bit too carried away and the polish makes it own scratches. Slow and steady is the trick.

While it might not restore it 100% it may get it to the point where you barely notice it.

Alternatively, a used cluster is possible but it might be scratched too.

Good luck.

[dL.]

Oh I've dealt with the same thing you experienced. I swear I am going to bring a flashlight next time and spend 30 minutes on the interior next time to inspect before accepting delivery. I feel for you. Sorry to hear about that.

On the plus side, I haven't seen a instrument cluster that is free from scratch if you take a flashlight and aim at it. But I am assuming you got a deep one? Could you take a picture and show us? Does it catch your nail?

I have tried a lot of polish and scratch removers and there are 2 ultimately that has worked for me to eliminate seeing scratches under normal lighting and angle. But I am sure there are more solutions out there that works.

Remember, when something is scratched, it is forever scratched. You can't remove something that's already scratch. You can only buff it, polish it (or machine it) but that means you are creating more scratch by spreading the scratch out to make it more light. With machine polish and a big surface, you are able to "remove scratch" by eliminating the human eyes to discern it, but ultimately it's still there if you get a microscope.

I suggest trying "Polywatch". It is a compound used for polishing crystal surface on the watch.

Another compound that I have used is the Menzerna FG400. This one is stronger so if Polywatch fails then try this one. I believe this is compounds that some detailers use to do paint correction.

The trick to both is to spread it out as far as possible, so even if you only have a scratch on the left side, you need to polish the entire screen to spread it out and you need to apply pressure evenly throughout.

Lastly, buy a can of Plexus Plastic Cleaner. This is not a polisher, but it's a cleaner that provides 3 benefits:

- Cleans all residue away from the polish
- It acts as a sealant/wax to hide minor scratches
- It repels dust so it will allow the instrument panel to stay clean for a long time

I've tried these steps and under normal usage, you can't discern any scratches. But if you stick a flashlight and look at it closely on purpose, then you will still see a lot of very thin circular or line scratches (depending if you are going to buff it in circular or left-right motion).

I hope this helps. Feel free to PM me if you need anything.

dL

[DJ Rocc]

Originally Posted by dL.

Oh I've dealt with the same thing you experienced. I swear I am going to bring a flashlight next time and spend 30 minutes on the interior next time to inspect before accepting delivery. I feel for you. Sorry to hear about that.

On the plus side, I haven't seen a instrument cluster that is free from scratch if you take a flashlight and aim at it. But I am assuming you got a deep one? Could you take a picture and show us? Does it catch your nail?

I have tried a lot of polish and scratch removers and there are 2 ultimately that has worked for me to eliminate seeing scratches under normal lighting and angle. But I am sure there are more solutions out there that works.

Remember, when something is scratched, it is forever scratched. You can't remove something that's already scratch. You can only buff it, polish it (or machine it) but that means you are creating more scratch by spreading the scratch out to make it more light. With machine polish and a big surface, you are able to "remove scratch" by eliminating the human eyes to discern it, but ultimately it's still there if you get a microscope.

I suggest trying "Polywatch". It is a compound used for polishing crystal surface on the watch.

Another compound that I have used is the Menzerna FG400. This one is stronger so if Polywatch fails then try this one. I believe this is compounds that some detailers use to do paint correction.

The trick to both is to spread it out as far as possible, so even if you only have a scratch on the left side, you need to polish the entire screen to spread it out and you need to apply pressure evenly throughout.

Lastly, buy a can of Plexus Plastic Cleaner. This is not a polisher, but it's a cleaner that provides 3 benefits:

- Cleans all residue away from the polish
- It acts as a sealant/wax to hide minor scratches
- It repels dust so it will allow the instrument panel to stay clean for a long time

I've tried these steps and under normal usage, you can't discern any scratches. But if you stick a flashlight and look at it closely on purpose, then you will still see a lot of very thin circular or line scratches (depending if you are going to buff it in circular or left-right motion).

I hope this helps. Feel free to PM me if you need anything.

dL

We should lobby for scratch proof plastics, especially for our gauges! Even a gauge protector screen would be nice, or even a more durable material.

[spuntyb]

Originally Posted by tliartis

All,

Just took delivery of my CPO BMW. I noticed today a long scratch on the plasic on the odometer display. I'm waiting to hear back from the dealership about it. Has anyone replaced this? I couldn't imagine it would cost too much to replace unless they had to do all the gauges. Thanks for the help.

Had the exact same issue with my E90 CPO last year. Right across the clear plastic screen. About 1.5" long right in front of the tach. I eventually went with Novus 2, then 1, but it didn't do much. I wouldn't even touch it with the Novus 3, personally. The 1 is basically a very mild polish, 2 has just a small amount of very fine grit, and 3 has a relatively heavy grit - I think that would just make it worse, unless you take the whole mechanism out of the car, remove the plastic screen and polish it separately. In my case, 1 and 2 diminished it to the point where I almost never see it, but that one time I do every few months irks me. As mentioned above, whatever you use, cover the whole screen, otherwise you may just accentuate that one area from the rest of the screen.

[tliartis]

I'm leaning towards going at it myself and seeing what I can do. That being said I think MPE and the MPPK at cost is a solid consolation prize. Does anyone have a source for what that pricing would be to make sure I'm not getting hosed? Mine is a 2012, so I believe its the cheaper edition of the MPPK. I'm on the fence about the exhaust as I'm not sure if it will be worth the money. Thanks everyone for their info and inputs. Let me know your thoughts on taking this option as "payment".

[Steven1077]

Originally Posted by tliartis

All,

Just took delivery of my CPO BMW. I noticed today a long scratch on the plasic on the odometer display. I'm waiting to hear back from the dealership about it. Has anyone replaced this? I couldn't imagine it would cost too much to replace unless they had to do all the gauges. Thanks for the help.

Had mine replaced, it was over £1000 which is about $1500