Successful swap from US to Euro instrument cluster?

hanmaas · 12-14-2008, 04:02 AM

Has anyone done a successful swap from a US to a Euro instrument cluster? My US spec car is now in Europe and I would like to switch to the Euro cluster.

doobie · 12-14-2008, 04:44 AM

im curious...why exactly? i have a US spec 07 e90 335i in germany. it has both Kph and mph also you can change the other things like the 24 hour clock and the degrees to celcius.

hanmaas · 12-14-2008, 05:29 AM

i don't need the mph anymore as the car will never go back to NA and its annoying having to guess how many kmh exactly you're going from the small kmh indications that are only shown in increments of 20. just the kmh looks nicer imo and i would like to use cruise control in kmh as well. those are the reasons i want to switch

. oh and 24 hour clock and celsius have been my settings even when the car was still in NA.

hanmaas · 12-14-2008, 05:30 AM

and resale value later on is another factor. germans don't want a cluster with mph.

lkn · 12-14-2008, 05:41 AM

Germans also prefer temperature to be shown in Celsius; wait, I take that back, the rest of the world is on the metric system except for the North Americans.

SoQuick · 12-14-2008, 06:57 AM

so.... has it been done?...

hanmaas · 12-14-2008, 03:57 PM

even if it hasn't, i would just like to know if it CAN be done, maybe a bmw tech or someone else that would know can help out?

gripenM · 12-14-2008, 04:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lkn

Germans also prefer temperature to be shown in Celsius; wait, I take that back, the rest of the world is on the metric system except for the Americans.

corrected.

hanmaas · 12-15-2008, 10:39 AM

no techs around?

JSpira · 12-15-2008, 10:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hanmaas

i don't need the mph anymore as the car will never go back to NA and its annoying having to guess how many kmh exactly you're going from the small kmh indications that are only shown in increments of 20. just the kmh looks nicer imo and i would like to use cruise control in kmh as well. those are the reasons i want to switch

. oh and 24 hour clock and celsius have been my settings even when the car was still in NA.

Quasi related, my 550i shows km/h both as current speed and cruise control via the HUD. This is controlled by setting the units to km/h. Unfortunately, on the 3er, setting the units to km/h does not change cruise control.

mroach · 12-15-2008, 11:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSpira

Quasi related, my 550i shows km/h both as current speed and cruise control via the HUD. This is controlled by setting the units to km/h. Unfortunately, on the 3er, setting the units to km/h does not change cruise control.

Yeah, that's really irritating. Everything in my car is in metric but cruise control still shows MPH.

I'm going to Canada in January for a short weekend trip and I'm going to call ahead to a dealer to see if they can fix my dash up for me.

hanmaas · 12-30-2008, 06:15 AM

bump..

fwmcb · 12-30-2008, 09:44 AM

It can be done. I know a few people that imported US spec BMWs into Canada over the summer to take advantage of a strong dollar. One of the changes that they had to make was to get a metric gauge cluster.

Majikthese42 · 12-30-2008, 10:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lkn

Germans also prefer temperature to be shown in Celsius; wait, I take that back, the rest of the world is on the metric system except for the North Americans.

English system of measurement is still frequently used in the UK...

The population of the US + the population of the UK is roughly half of the total population of the G7.

dmirish · 01-05-2009, 05:23 PM

I have this issue with a UK spec car imported into Ireland where all speed limits are in Kms now. I could just about live with instrument cluster in mph and kms, but cruise control staying in mph when everything else has been set to kms is stupid. Is this a cluster setting or can the car be coded to force it to kms?

Anyone have any luck with the cluster change over?

Bimmer007 · 01-05-2009, 07:36 PM

ask the dealer

chaz58 · 01-06-2009, 04:26 PM

Sure, its been done. Try doing a search here for people importing a car to Europe. There is info here if you look for it.

This might help get you started:
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=129943

blue2fire · 01-06-2009, 08:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSpira

Quasi related, my 550i shows km/h both as current speed and cruise control via the HUD. This is controlled by setting the units to km/h. Unfortunately, on the 3er, setting the units to km/h does not change cruise control.

This is even more frustrating when you see that they go to the trouble of even changing the odometer to read in KM

hanmaas · 01-21-2009, 03:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chaz58

Sure, its been done. Try doing a search here for people importing a car to Europe. There is info here if you look for it.

This might help get you started:
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=129943

Thanks for the link, but that still doesn't tell me whether it can actually be done.

hanmaas · 01-21-2009, 03:43 PM

Isn't there a single tech around here that could tell me whether the cluster can simply be replaced without causing any problems?

Spoolin335 · 01-21-2009, 04:11 PM

YES IT CAN BE DONE FLAWLESSLY!

in Canada we have Km as our main speed designation.

i know guys that have imported US cars into Canada and have had to change the clusters.

hanmaas · 01-21-2009, 05:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spoolin335

YES IT CAN BE DONE FLAWLESSLY!

in Canada we have Km as our main speed designation.

i know guys that have imported US cars into Canada and have had to change the clusters.

Has their cruise control changed to kmh as well by doing the swap?

12-14-2008, 04:02 AM	#1
hanmaas Lieutenant 17 Rep 577 Posts Drives: 335i Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Europe iTrader: (0)	Successful swap from US to Euro instrument cluster? Has anyone done a successful swap from a US to a Euro instrument cluster? My US spec car is now in Europe and I would like to switch to the Euro cluster. __________________
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12-14-2008, 04:44 AM	#2
doobie Private First Class 3 Rep 105 Posts Drives: 07 e90/335i Join Date: May 2007 Location: germany iTrader: (0)	im curious...why exactly? i have a US spec 07 e90 335i in germany. it has both Kph and mph also you can change the other things like the 24 hour clock and the degrees to celcius.
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12-14-2008, 05:29 AM	#3
hanmaas Lieutenant 17 Rep 577 Posts Drives: 335i Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Europe iTrader: (0)	i don't need the mph anymore as the car will never go back to NA and its annoying having to guess how many kmh exactly you're going from the small kmh indications that are only shown in increments of 20. just the kmh looks nicer imo and i would like to use cruise control in kmh as well. those are the reasons i want to switch . oh and 24 hour clock and celsius have been my settings even when the car was still in NA. __________________
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12-14-2008, 05:30 AM	#4
hanmaas Lieutenant 17 Rep 577 Posts Drives: 335i Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Europe iTrader: (0)	and resale value later on is another factor. germans don't want a cluster with mph. __________________
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12-14-2008, 05:41 AM	#5
lkn Lieutenant Colonel 23 Rep 1,549 Posts Drives: 335i Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Orange County iTrader: (4)	Germans also prefer temperature to be shown in Celsius; wait, I take that back, the rest of the world is on the metric system except for the North Americans.
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12-14-2008, 06:57 AM	#6
SoQuick Stock 10 Rep 243 Posts Drives: Nothing now Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Southern NH iTrader: (0) Garage List 2009 135i [0.00] 2001 S8 [0.00]	so.... has it been done?...
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12-14-2008, 03:57 PM	#7
hanmaas Lieutenant 17 Rep 577 Posts Drives: 335i Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Europe iTrader: (0)	even if it hasn't, i would just like to know if it CAN be done, maybe a bmw tech or someone else that would know can help out? __________________
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12-15-2008, 10:39 AM	#9
hanmaas Lieutenant 17 Rep 577 Posts Drives: 335i Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Europe iTrader: (0)	no techs around? __________________
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12-30-2008, 06:15 AM	#12
hanmaas Lieutenant 17 Rep 577 Posts Drives: 335i Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Europe iTrader: (0)	bump.. __________________
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12-30-2008, 09:44 AM	#13
fwmcb Major 31 Rep 1,107 Posts Drives: 2015 F30 328i X-drive Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: NB iTrader: (0) Garage List 2010 128i [0.00]	It can be done. I know a few people that imported US spec BMWs into Canada over the summer to take advantage of a strong dollar. One of the changes that they had to make was to get a metric gauge cluster.
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01-05-2009, 05:23 PM	#15
dmirish Long Term Member 2 Rep 36 Posts Drives: G31 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: DUblin iTrader: (0)	I have this issue with a UK spec car imported into Ireland where all speed limits are in Kms now. I could just about live with instrument cluster in mph and kms, but cruise control staying in mph when everything else has been set to kms is stupid. Is this a cluster setting or can the car be coded to force it to kms? Anyone have any luck with the cluster change over?
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01-05-2009, 07:36 PM	#16
Bimmer007 Lieutenant 41 Rep 537 Posts Drives: Cars Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Long Island, NY iTrader: (0)	ask the dealer
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01-06-2009, 04:26 PM	#17
chaz58 Captain 15 Rep 701 Posts Drives: 328iT Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Detroit Burbs iTrader: (0)	Sure, its been done. Try doing a search here for people importing a car to Europe. There is info here if you look for it. This might help get you started: http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=129943 __________________ _________________________________________________
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01-21-2009, 03:43 PM	#20
hanmaas Lieutenant 17 Rep 577 Posts Drives: 335i Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Europe iTrader: (0)	Isn't there a single tech around here that could tell me whether the cluster can simply be replaced without causing any problems? __________________
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01-21-2009, 04:11 PM	#21
Spoolin335 Justin Herass 333 Rep 1,205 Posts Drives: X6M / M3 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Canada iTrader: (7) Garage List 2015 BMW M3 [0.00] 2012 Audi TTRS [10.00] 2012 BMW X6M [9.00] 2007 BMW 335i [9.00]	YES IT CAN BE DONE FLAWLESSLY! in Canada we have Km as our main speed designation. i know guys that have imported US cars into Canada and have had to change the clusters.
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