I just bought a 1994 325is and the screen on the multi information display is scrabled. The clock on it still works, but i cant set it. The only other function that works is the check feature. I took it to a dealer today and they say that its shorted out and i need a new one. I'm wondering if anyone has experienced this problem, and was are some solutions beside getting a new one. If I do need to buy a new on is there a place i could find them used or cheap?
multi information display problem
- Thread starter f1racer77
- Start date
On my newly purchased '97 328i, the OBC display is tempermental. Some of the 'pixels' appear to be dead, but if I press my finger against the front of the OBC they work temporarily. I have not had an opportunity to try to fix this in a more premanent fashion.
Also, I have a question about the clock, as the clock is also not working. To my eye, it appears that every line is lit, making it look something like 88:88. andreyiv, is this what you were referring to as a symptom of a bad bulb?
Also, I have a question about the clock, as the clock is also not working. To my eye, it appears that every line is lit, making it look something like 88:88. andreyiv, is this what you were referring to as a symptom of a bad bulb?
Not really, with a bad bulb the display shows all the info you just can't see it because the bulb is not lit. To make it easier to understand, you know how people use they're hands to cast a shadow on the wall and make believe its animals or something? Well, imagine thats the thing here, the hands are the display and the light source is the light bulb. Basically the display is not really displaying anything it is only blocking off light if there is no light to block off, it is useless. In your case it might be the display or the whole unit, try taking it out, disconecting the two rear connectors and connecting them again, with the key out of ignition of course. When I was working on the car I had to take the OBC out and when I put it in, it sometimes did some wierd things.
maybe someone can explain this display oddity:
while driving in an intense electrical storm, i hit a very deep puddle and lost my low beam passenger side headlight.
so my computer lights up with "low beam failure".
only difference is the display was as clear as a bell for some reaon...it was always garbled before this.
after the car dried out and i replaced the bulb and things got back to normal, the display was garbled again.
is this indicative of a short somewhere? aliens?
while driving in an intense electrical storm, i hit a very deep puddle and lost my low beam passenger side headlight.
so my computer lights up with "low beam failure".
only difference is the display was as clear as a bell for some reaon...it was always garbled before this.
after the car dried out and i replaced the bulb and things got back to normal, the display was garbled again.
is this indicative of a short somewhere? aliens?
Maybe the thing has a short in it somewhere in the memory of all the things and there is special memory for warning lights so its not garbled. Or maybe there is a separate output line for things like temp and warning messages. But wait, the displayed cleared up with that one message and it showed everything perfectly clear until you replaced the bulb and the car dried out? Hmmmm, that is some weird stuff, right now I have no clue but I will think about it. What if you do what somebody else said, what if you press on the display with your finger, do the crystals light up at all or do they even work for a little. There could be two different things wrong with the whole thing here, the circuitry and the display. The circuitry, well, if you are very inclined in the stuff and it is not that hard, might be fixable but the display is usually a throw away thing. Try to get as many things cleared up about the whole thing.
Hmmm, thats interesting. I figured its a long shot that they would actually have different circuits for the different commands. Something tells me it is actually the display because that is the only way I can explain the whole thing, well if you oversee that the display would work right for a little while after pushing on it with a finger then it could be the memory chip. I mean the chip that stores all the different things it displays. I doubt there is a place that sells those displays (if they do, they are probably no more than 20 bucks) and it would be a pain in the behind to put a replacement in. I don't even know what to reccomend then, I mean getting one from ebay doesn't guarantee anything, it could be going too. Well, good luck on finding a good deal and update us with any new info.
its the pixels in your OBC...everything works but comes up all distorted...i have the same problem... i bought an OBC on ebay but didn't realize that the OBC i bought was an 18button OBC, most 328i have 11button OBC...you can still configure the 18button to work but I don't have any skillz in that department ![[duh]](/images/smilies/icon_smile_duh.gif "I'm With Stupid [duh]")
but my clock works 95%, sometimes the first # comes of halfway but other than that its fine ![[cheers]](/images/smilies/icon_smile_cheers.gif "Cheers [cheers]")
good luck
but my clock works 95%, sometimes the first # comes of halfway but other than that its fine good luck