As always, perform at YOUR own rick. You can easily damage your cluster and have to replace it. About a $1k mistake.

Tools needed:

T-10 torx
T-9 torx
Small flat head screwdriver
tweezers or small pliers
soldering iron
card - to...

I finally did this mod, great tips
i also deleted the seat belt chime LOL,
Anyone needs help with it i can be PM as well

All in All cool mod

Joe

too much work...and also I dont know how to solder. If you can solder it for me, i'll ship one of you guys my gauge because the car starts whitout the gauge plugged in. :-) dont ask how I found that out...haha

Too much work? It only takes about an hour. PM me and we can work something out if you want it done.

Hey i just have one question about the gauge "needles", I haven't taken mine off. but how are these plugged/inserted into the cluster? say i take it off, when i put it back on, is there more than way to insert it back? or does it just go on one way. The reason i ask was that i did this in my 2001 celica back in high school and when i put the needle back on it was about 1.5-2 mph off... it was kind of annoying, (and pretty much impossible to get it on again "exact"). although no one that drove my car ever noticed it, only i did. but it sill bothered me.

thanks

The needles end in 'hollow tubes' which slide (very snugly) onto metal pins which are the shafts of the motors. When installing back, you'll need to line them up perfectly, then push down, sometimes it takes a few tries to get them perfectly lined up. Also, you don't want to push too far/hard as if they're down further than they're supposed to be, there'll be friction between them and the backing faces and they'll catch on and skip as opposed to move freely like they're supposed to.

Taking them off the first time is the hard part, try to do it with something soft to avoid any damage. After that, you'll see exactly what I'm on about when you go to install them.

alright cool, I will try it when i have more time in a few weeks and post some results.

ALSO: The reason the needles dont look "smooth/clean" is because you didnt do the sharpie technique right (yeah theres a technique behind it)

What you want to do is:
1. Only go 1 way (inside to outside) then wait a few minutes so it dries completly.
2. Do it again, and repeat until the needle is evenly coated. Probably 3 coats.

If you dont let it dry and use multiple directions you will get a blotchy uneven coat with some spots darker than others, and small crevaces that didnt get any (a lot of them are also only noticed when the light is on and everything probably already hooked up). patience is key
Takes some practice but it looks real good in the end.

Again I learned this at the newcelica forums back in high school (process looks to be about 95% the same). I had to use an alcohol solution to remove the sharpie till I finally got it right, but on these "needles" it appears that may NOT work as the reflective strip may fade away if it is exposed. However dont qoute me just yet, I havent tried it yet. I will as soon as I get a chance though
Back then some guys were also using reflective paint to get some fun colors going on. For those of you intersted in learning more about this, search at newcelica forums (my buddy tells me e46 m3 boards too), I think these mods are way more popular there.

Yeah, my problem was that any additional coat after the first would mix with the first, it wouldn't simply go on top. Regardless, I'm pretty picky with things like this and I would have just left them white had I not gotten the M3 needles. My other idea was to dip them into red paint and carefully let them dry. I think that could give a near-perfect result if done right.

Wow, that is genious. I was searching for them on google but found nowhere to buy.
where did you get the m3 needles? those are red right? that is the color i was going to go with. I rather buy some and save these incase i wanna go stockers.

I got them off a forum member (had one set) but you can get them here. Pretty expensive.

http://onlineshop.wunschtacho.de/pro...1-E92-E93.html

I've got a set of needles from a 335is cluster which are sharpied red. Yours for $20 if you want to keep yours stock for the future:

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=517393

yeah i saw them, hahah i'll buy your m3 ones off you instead =P
man if there was a domestic option, i would probably jump on it. dollar is too worthless right now hahaha


edit: also sent you a pm

that looks absolutely awsome. does someone sell this instrument cluster already whited out? Im a bit tooo scared of doing it myself.

does anyone sell this predone? Im a bit too scared of doing it, I may never align the needles...

ok 2 questions;

1) can you swap an instrument cluster? or as usual do you need to code it?

2) Is the E93 custer different? Logically it should be no?

the cluster is the same for the e93 but it does need to be recoded to work with your car.

Find a cluster or send me yours and I'll do it for you. Can you live with the car down for a couple days OR drive without the cluster? I've heard it can be done but I haven't tried...lol

amazing job! sooooo much nicer than orange haha how much would you charge to do this ?

you'll never know how much gas you have tho hahaha

This is amazing, ordered my led's will put up a pic when done.

Good luck, it's definetly worth the work!!

I've got a few extra sets of LEDs left over, as well as cluster parts as available in this thread:

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...hlight=cluster

PM me or post here with any related questions and I'll do my best to answer.

Alright. thanks, Have you ever thought of replacing the amber led's in other components. I know there is a lot. For example the radio/ climite control, the interior lights when you drive at night, 2 little led's that illuminate the shifter from above.
Would you knink they all take the same type led's?

Im interested in doing that.

No they are not all the same. Hit up JHONDAS2. He's been working on getting them all done. The radio, hvac, wheel controls and window controls are all the same as the cluster.