[akkando]

Originally Posted by Dabozo

Ya ok buddy. If it wasn't such an issue, why did bmw feel the need to add proper lighting for day time driving in the lci m2? Not to mention the countless members on here that have complained about this issue. :

It's kind of somewhere in-between. It's an issue, but if there are some moments you don't know your exact speed or RPM it's not that big of a deal. You know how fast you're going relative to traffic and you can hear what the engine is doing if you want to know how hard it's working. Chances are you don't need perfect information when the lighting also happens to be bad.

[Dabozo]

Originally Posted by akkando

It's kind of somewhere in-between. It's an issue, but if there are some moments you don't know your exact speed or RPM it's not that big of a deal. You know how fast you're going relative to traffic and you can hear what the engine is doing if you want to know how hard it's working. Chances are you don't need perfect information when the lighting also happens to be bad.

For sure. Don't get me wrong..I'm not trying to say it's a hazard on wheels because of this issue...tbh I probably look at the gauges 10% of the time because of the points you made. It's in those speed trap zones or school zones for example that I tend to use the gauges more.
Bottom line is it just seems like a total fail on bmw part with this cluster. Like I've said before...I've owned so many cars in my life and none have had this issue. Not sure what a cluster costs bmw but personally I think they should have replaced them. The fix should not be having to leave my headlights on 24/7 or solder jumpers to the cluster lol.

[ScottAndrew]

Originally Posted by pruettfan

I never look at the analog speedometer, just use the digital display. Personally I don't understand why any manufacture still uses an dial type display at all. Nothing is clearer than a digital display of the speed. Wish BMW had a larger display for digital information.

It's funny, when I use the digital speedometer I have to retrofit its read-out to a dial in my head (when not looking at the actual speedometer!) in order to make sense of it. Difficult to absorb the rate of acceleration too (including the eventual speed you want to end up at, or get nicked at...). It is useful when displaying km/h for when I'm abroad though.

Maybe you just have to get used to it, like people have got used to analogue gauges in the last 120 or so years, but digital just make me think I'm looking at a 90's hi-fi tuner

[Artemis]

Originally Posted by ScottAndrew

It's funny, when I use the digital speedometer I have to retrofit its read-out to a dial in my head (when not looking at the actual speedometer!) in order to make sense of it. Difficult to absorb the rate of acceleration too (including the eventual speed you want to end up at, or get nicked at...). It is useful when displaying km/h for when I'm abroad though.
Maybe you just have to get used to it, like people have got used to analogue gauges in the last 120 or so years, but digital just make me think I'm looking at a 90's hi-fi tuner

Let me guess: alike me, you prefer wearing an analog wrist watch.

As we know, decades ago digital watches got popular, but didn't manage to push analog watches out of the watches market. Even in the current digital age of smartphones and 'wearables', the fate of analog watches is not sealed. Oh well, if only the same could be said about manual transmissions...

[F87source]

I wonder if you can pull the gauge cluster out and code it directly, if not myabe custom coding can be done for the car, like rewriting a few lines of code to add this feature. It'd probably be hard, but likely possible, I mean they did add flexfuel to BMWs so this should be doable too.

Hopefully eventually as these cars get old someone with software knowledge will have a go at this issue.

[dtmurf]

Originally Posted by garrito_burrito_

This is so NOT a real issue, and I’m VERY thankful my car has the pre lci set up. I hate the fake screen ones. If you can’t see well enough to see them, please dont drive on public roads.

lol

[SuperMarioM2]

That's an awesome solution. Probably cost a lot less than replacing the gauge cluster like I did. Although, the LCI gauge cluster is super clean!

[SuperMarioM2]

Originally Posted by garrito_burrito_

This is so NOT a real issue, and I’m VERY thankful my car has the pre lci set up. I hate the fake screen ones. If you can’t see well enough to see them, please dont drive on public roads.

These are not "fake screen" ones. They are analog needles with backlit numbers. It's the best of both worlds.

And if you've never driven an M2 with the pre-LCI gauges, you have no idea how bad it can be in broad daylight. I live in Florida, and at times in the mid-day sun the gauges literally blacked out. Never an issue at night, but bright light with gray on gray gauges just was a total fail by BMW.

[Artemis]

Originally Posted by garrito_burrito_

This is so NOT a real issue, and I’m VERY thankful my car has the pre lci set up. I hate the fake screen ones. If you can’t see well enough to see them, please dont drive on public roads.

The original M2 hit the streets in Spring 2016. By mid 2017 the instrument cluster got replaced with a black panel tech version. The original cluster got shelved: what do you reckon garrito_burrito_, only for 2-Series 'Life Cycle Impulse' reasons ?

Original M2 instrument cluster in overcast lighting conditions (see the dedicated thread here):







M2 LCI instrument cluster (black panel tech):



M2 LCI instrument cluster (black panel tech) - engine standby/stopped (credits to forum fellow Tag):

[garrito_burrito_]

Had the car for almost 2 years. Not once have I had this problem. Modding the cluster to fit your personal taste is fine but turning into “an issue thats BMWs fault” is another thing entirely. Relax and enjoy your car

[F87source]

Originally Posted by garrito_burrito_

Had the car for almost 2 years. Not once have I had this problem. Modding the cluster to fit your personal taste is fine but turning into “an issue thats BMWs fault” is another thing entirely. Relax and enjoy your car

Yeah 2+ year ownership here, only ran into the issue once when it was a bright sunny day and I drove under a underpass and the car didn't switch on back lighting and I couldn't make out the gauge. It wasn't really an issue imo because the underpass was short ~15-20m (a bit longer and maybe the car would've kicked into night mode or my eyes would have adapted), and I can judge rpm based on engine sound and speed based on other cars or initial speed.

It would be nice however to have that white backlight glow on at all times as it makes the gauges really pop and look good.

[Dabozo]

Originally Posted by garrito_burrito_

Had the car for almost 2 years. Not once have I had this problem. Modding the cluster to fit your personal taste is fine but turning into "an issue thats BMWs fault" is another thing entirely. Relax and enjoy your car

Lol of course it's bmw fault. Or did someone else build this car? Clearly a fail on their part-hence the new clusters.
And I do enjoy this car...best car I've ever had hands down!

[ScottAndrew]

Originally Posted by Dabozo

Lol of course it's bmw fault. Or did someone else build this car? Clearly a fail on their part-hence the new clusters.

Are they all being replaced under recall or something?

[Dabozo]

Originally Posted by ScottAndrew

Are they all being replaced under recall or something?

I wish lol. But no.
Definitely not in same league as the whole air bag fiasco that we see in the car industry but I can see some over-zealous lawyer making a case that this is a potential safety concern. Not for me personally but could see that argument being made.
This is more in line with the griping going on over the crooked seats or the lack of proper M mirrors. Totally something we can all live with but an annoyance nonetheless.

[McPurrs]

This is all just that company advertising. Just like they spam facebook and other forums with the full screen carplay shit. Real enthusiasts share details, not sell them.

[MagnusT]

Originally Posted by McPurrs

This is all just that company advertising. Just like they spam facebook and other forums with the full screen carplay shit. Real enthusiasts share details, not sell them.

Nope. I have no affiliation to that company or economic gain in this. I bought some remote coding from the place that I linked to and the guy there, Craig, was great to deal with. He helped out with parts numbers and tips so I could get the right parts on ebay and just because I thought he was nice I returned the favor with some ideas. For example how to reconnect the door panel when adding foldable mirrors.

If you have good knowledge in soldering surface mount components by hand and know your way around a PCB and bog standard PWM control of LEDs this is a super simple fix. There is NO rocket science inside when it comes to force the backlight LEDs on, it's obvious standard stuff. If you can look at the board and easily figure out where to hook up a resistor to override the PWM to force the backlight on, this is a job for you, a simple one. If you can't figure it out by just looking at the board (it is obvious) you really really REALLY should NOT attempt this. It might cost you a new cluster if you aren't careful.

Since I now probably face persecution here I'll put on my flamesuit and hide behind the sofa....

[McPurrs]

Originally Posted by MagnusT

Nope. I have no affiliation to that company or economic gain in this. I bought some remote coding from the place that I linked to and the guy there, Craig, was great to deal with. He helped out with parts numbers and tips so I could get the right parts on ebay and just because I thought he was nice I returned the favor with some ideas. For example how to reconnect the door panel when adding foldable mirrors.

If you have good knowledge in soldering surface mount components by hand and know your way around a PCB and bog standard PWM control of LEDs this is a super simple fix. There is NO rocket science inside when it comes to force the backlight LEDs on, it's obvious standard stuff. If you can look at the board and easily figure out where to hook up a resistor to override the PWM to force the backlight on, this is a job for you, a simple one. If you can't figure it out by just looking at the board (it is obvious) you really really REALLY should NOT attempt this. It might cost you a new cluster if you aren't careful.

Since I now probably face persecution here I'll put on my flamesuit and hide behind the sofa....

So it is easy, but you wont mention where and what to solder in to do this? all while just saying, I had it done 'here'.... yeah you better get another flamesuit

[MagnusT]

Originally Posted by McPurrs

So it is easy, but you wont mention where and what to solder in to do this? all while just saying, I had it done 'here'.... yeah you better get another flamesuit

You said "easy". But if you don't understand how to do it with the info I've given it will not be that easy.

Yeah, it's a simple test.

The important info I've given is that there are no surprises, no odd circuitry by BMW, just bog standard PWM LED drivers. Spelling out the very obvious: current limiter resistor, LED and driver circuit running PWM. Just look where the LEDs are mounted, look at the PCB copper tracks. Solder.


If you aren't completely comfortable and don't think this is 100% enough of info to do this you really really shouldn't attempt this.

If you go "aha!", then do it!

[CosmosMpower]

I just traded in and bought a 19 M2C instead

[Dabozo]

Originally Posted by CosmosMpower

I just traded in and bought a 19 M2C instead

Lol that's a lot easier than what I just read!
I appreciate the info on this mod but unless it's laid out for me nice and easy ie pics/diy I won't be attempting this.

[McPurrs]

Originally Posted by Dabozo

Lol that's a lot easier than what I just read!
I appreciate the info on this mod but unless it's laid out for me nice and easy ie pics/diy I won't be attempting this.

Exactly. I know what he is talking about and can tackle this. Maybe I will make a write up after the car is out of winter storage. Until/Unless OP does, this is a marketing ploy and not much else.

[MagnusT]

Nope. I'm not geting a single cent from anywhere.

I wan't people who know their way around stuff like this to know that it's a safe mod to do if you know what you're doing, there are no oddities in there.

And I want people who needs step by step pictures NOT to attempt this. There are too many pitfalls. Get good help for it instead.