The Vault: An E39 Touring Story

[DeathTrap]

Nice! I'm guessing you picked these up off of eBay? I need to upgrade my audio, eventually, but I have no desire for a screen in my car (I already stare at enough screens)

[az3579]

Nice! I'm guessing you picked these up off of eBay? I need to upgrade my audio, eventually, but I have no desire for a screen in my car (I already stare at enough screens)

German eBay, yes. It's way cheaper than buying from Dension's site. Their site is great for determining compatibility though, and exactly which model to get for your vehicle.

https://www.dension.com/automotive

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[Sreten]

Pixelfix is great! They are from Hungary and they ship from there. I used their silver ribbon cable to repair speedo pixels on 2 separate occasions and just now I ordered another one to repair the MID on E31. Can't say enough good things about them, they send detailed instructions via email and a hard copy along with the cable, youtube videos and always provide great support.

[az3579]

Pixelfix is great! They are from Hungary and they ship from there. I used their silver ribbon cable to repair speedo pixels on 2 separate occasions and just now I ordered another one to repair the MID on E31. Can't say enough good things about them, they send detailed instructions via email and a hard copy along with the cable, youtube videos and always provide great support.

Good to know that their parts are worth it! I plan on repairing my MID this weekend.

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[johnrando]

Nice!

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[RUS_ZHP]

Hey Botond,
I gave me an idea on which way to go on my wife's white zhp. For ~$100 I can get a Bluetooth calls and music streaming. I was not planning to buy any Android head unit, which is roughly $300.
But, first I need to find a resolution to my weird wire connectors.

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[brettbimmer]

Hungarians FTW!

It turns out both of the items I ordered as part of my "Daily Driver Acceptability" program, in this case for on board entertainment, are made in Hungary!
The Dension Gateway Pro BT unit is made by Dension, a Hungarian company. This one came from an eBay seller in Germany, since you can't get these in the US for some reason. I loved the Dension I put in my ZHP shortly after purchasing it, so this will fit the bill very nicely while retaining the stock head unit look. This unit will give me USB, Aux, and Bluetooth capability, all the while being able to control everything from the steering wheel and MID controls (unless using Aux, but I don't use Aux) and having song information text display on the MID.





Also made in Hungary and actually shipped by a seller whose name I recognize as Hungarian (sorry this is a treat for me), is my MID repair kit. It consists of a screwdriver, a silver ribbon cable, and extremely nice color-photo instructions on how to repair the MID. Mine's seen much better days with a couple of rows of dead pixels going horizontally. I also added all the bulbs necessary to repair the backlighting.

I used Pixelfix too for the E53 cluster. Ended up pulling the stepper motors off for access, but then had to replace them as I broke a few on removal. Replacements came from ebay too. Please let me know if you need any help or have questions. I have some photos, but not in my phone if needed.

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[az3579]

I used Pixelfix too for the E53 cluster. Ended up pulling the stepper motors off for access, but then had to replace them as I broke a few on removal. Replacements came from ebay too. Please let me know if you need any help or have questions. I have some photos, but not in my phone if needed.

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Well, the repair was a miserable failure. After spending hours trying to get the ribbon cable attached to the LCD panel, I finally got it on, only to have it come loose again while trying to attach the other side. While trying to re-attach it, I broke the part of the LCD that has the pins on it, as well as destroyed the stupid metal clip that holds everything together. I was so pissed...

I broke down and purchased a rebuilt MID on eBay for a whopping $150. So much money down the drain... ugh. There was no way I was gonna order an LCD and go through that nightmare again, even if I could salvage the metal clip (totally destroyed).



I'm also fighting trying to get a set of clear outer tail lights so I can eradicate these stupid red turn signals. I have a line on a pair from a UK seller, but he's trying to tell me it's going to cost me over 100 pounds to ship the pair! They weigh next to nothing, and can be put in a medium sized box; they tell me they have the shippers they have contracts with and have no option to use a cheaper service. Unbelievable... that would put it at about $179 for just the outer pail of tails shipped. Helllllll no.

I'm messaging another seller to try to get the pair he's got, hopefully for a LOT less. Everyone else is quoting about 40 EUR to ship, so I really don't understand how the hell it could cost 100 pounds to ship a pair of small tail lights.

[John in VA]

Shipping from UK is ridiculously expensive. Have you checked with https://www.schmiedmann.com/? My '03 E39 sedan is LCI, so came with the white/clear Celis tail lights - don't know if they came on the US touring.

[brettbimmer]

Well, the repair was a miserable failure. After spending hours trying to get the ribbon cable attached to the LCD panel, I finally got it on, only to have it come loose again while trying to attach the other side. While trying to re-attach it, I broke the part of the LCD that has the pins on it, as well as destroyed the stupid metal clip that holds everything together. I was so pissed...

I broke down and purchased a rebuilt MID on eBay for a whopping $150. So much money down the drain... ugh. There was no way I was gonna order an LCD and go through that nightmare again, even if I could salvage the metal clip (totally destroyed).



I'm also fighting trying to get a set of clear outer tail lights so I can eradicate these stupid red turn signals. I have a line on a pair from a UK seller, but he's trying to tell me it's going to cost me over 100 pounds to ship the pair! They weigh next to nothing, and can be put in a medium sized box; they tell me they have the shippers they have contracts with and have no option to use a cheaper service. Unbelievable... that would put it at about $179 for just the outer pail of tails shipped. Helllllll no.

I'm messaging another seller to try to get the pair he's got, hopefully for a LOT less. Everyone else is quoting about 40 EUR to ship, so I really don't understand how the hell it could cost 100 pounds to ship a pair of small tail lights.

Nooooo!!!!!!!!! Oh man that sucks. I'm sorry! It is not an easy surgery on the cluster, and like I said I opted to removing (which thus destroyed) the stepper motors for the tach, speedo, and temp gauge I believe. Hopefully the replacement will work. If you have any trouble, let me know.

Also, if you need help with a seller in Germany who will not ship to the USA, I have a friend who owes me about 10 favors for me shipping 'Merican Muscle car parts to him, so let me know.