Swapping a monochrome DIS for a color one

[darko2301]

Hey guys,

New Audi owner here and I already have a few mods in mind and I can't wait to have them done

The first and most noticeable thing I'd like to do is swap the instrument cluster with the monochrome DIS for the one which has a bit bigger and colourful screen.

I have been researching for quite some time now but still can't find any definitive answer whether it's possible without any extra complications.

As much as I found out, it should work plug and play, i.e. no hardware changes are required to MMI or wiring (only Virtual cockpit requires the bigger MMI I think).

Of course, I am looking at used units from eBay so now it has all come to 3 questions so I hope someone can assist me

1) About the component protection, do I have to pay attention and get some codes from the original car so that the dealer can unlock it, or they can do it without any issues?
2) Am I correct to think that no modifications to the wiring/hardware are needed?
3) about the KM stand, my car has 57000 km, I read somewhere on the forums that the display shows the higher value between car and the cluster, does that mean if I get one with for example 10000km it will correctly display 57000km from my car?

Hopefully someone can assist as I have used up all my search button knowledge

 

[cuke2u]

Ask AS's resident retrofit and coding expert @DJAlix as I am sure he'll be able to help you...

 

[DJAlix]

1) About the component protection, do I have to pay attention and get some codes from the original car so that the dealer can unlock it, or they can do it without any issues?

A dealer is not gonna touch this retrofit as there is more than component protection involved, part of your vehicles immobiliser resides in the clocks so keys will need recoding also.

With used components you run the risk of a control unit being flagged as stolen, and if so it’s useless as component protection will not be able to be removed. Need to make sure you source your unit from a reputable seller.

As long as you can prove ownership of the vehicle and your parts are good then an authorised 3rd party should have no trouble completing this for you, I do them all the time.

2) Am I correct to think that no modifications to the wiring/hardware are needed?

Correct.

3) about the KM stand, my car has 57000 km, I read somewhere on the forums that the display shows the higher value between car and the cluster, does that mean if I get one with for example 10000km it will correctly display 57000km from my car?

Incorrect. The clocks will show whatever Milage they have recorded while in the previous vehicle, and count from that number onwards, example:

Used clocks came from a car with 5000miles, your car has 1000miles, once installed your car will display 5000miles and start counting 5001, 2, 3 etc etc.

This is known as indicated Milage. Your real Milage will be recorded as normal within your ECU and if an auto your gearbox. If you purchase a new unit then the Milage can be changed to match your vehicles true Milage.

 

[darko2301]

Ask AS's resident retrofit and coding expert @DJAlix as I am sure he'll be able to help you...

Haha thanks, I've seen that name pop around in quite a few of these threads, luckily he noticed this thread too

A dealer is not gonna touch this retrofit as there is more than component protection involved, part of your vehicles immobiliser resides in the clocks so keys will need recoding also.

With used components you run the risk of a control unit being flagged as stolen, and if so it’s useless as component protection will not be able to be removed. Need to make sure you source your unit from a reputable seller.

As long as you can prove ownership of the vehicle and your parts are good then an authorised 3rd party should have no trouble completing this for you, I do them all the time.

First of all thanks for giving your 2 cents

Okay, I understand.

But, let's assume the unit is clean, i.e. not flagged as stolen, is it 'relatively easy' (of course for someone who knows what he's doing, for instance you) to do the required actions then, i.e. remove the protection and recode the keys? That second part sounds tricky to me, I know keys from my last car couldn't be recoded, I had to buy new keys once my ECU died and a new one was installed.

I ask this because I am in luck to have a cousin who operates a car workshop and although he isn't too familiar with all the possibilities for all the cars so he couldn't help me with details about this, the good thing is that we have access to the same equipment like the dealer (they have original VAG diagnostics, probably something similar to what you work with) so I was planning to try and do the install with him

Incorrect. The clocks will show whatever Milage they have recorded while in the previous vehicle, and count from that number onwards, example:

Used clocks came from a car with 5000miles, your car has 1000miles, once installed your car will display 5000miles and start counting 5001, 2, 3 etc etc.

This is known as indicated Milage. Your real Milage will be recorded as normal within your ECU and if an auto your gearbox. If you purchase a new unit then the Milage can be changed to match your vehicles true Milage.

Okay, so whichever the case is, the mileage from the new unit will be shown? For example:

1) Unit has 10k, car has 50k -> 10k is shown and it keeps on counting
2) Unit has 50k, car has 10k -> 50k is shown and it keeps on counting

I could swear I saw someone mention that in case of the scenario no. 1, the unit would display higher value so it would indeed display the car's mileage (so 50k), but I guess that isn't the case then after all.
I will admit it also made some sense to me because otherwise you would just swap the cluster and have it display lower mileage, which isn't all that useful but still, it's easy manipulation

 

[DJAlix]

Haha thanks, I've seen that name pop around in quite a few of these threads, luckily he noticed this thread too



First of all thanks for giving your 2 cents

Okay, I understand.

But, let's assume the unit is clean, i.e. not flagged as stolen, is it 'relatively easy' (of course for someone who knows what he's doing, for instance you) to do the required actions then, i.e. remove the protection and recode the keys? That second part sounds tricky to me, I know keys from my last car couldn't be recoded, I had to buy new keys once my ECU died and a new one was installed.

I ask this because I am in luck to have a cousin who operates a car workshop and although he isn't too familiar with all the possibilities for all the cars so he couldn't help me with details about this, the good thing is that we have access to the same equipment like the dealer (they have original VAG diagnostics, probably something similar to what you work with) so I was planning to try and do the install with him



Okay, so whichever the case is, the mileage from the new unit will be shown? For example:

1) Unit has 10k, car has 50k -> 10k is shown and it keeps on counting
2) Unit has 50k, car has 10k -> 50k is shown and it keeps on counting

I could swear I saw someone mention that in case of the scenario no. 1, the unit would display higher value so it would indeed display the car's mileage (so 50k), but I guess that isn't the case then after all.
I will admit it also made some sense to me because otherwise you would just swap the cluster and have it display lower mileage, which isn't all that useful but still, it's easy manipulation

The person completing the works needs to be an authorised VW group services provider with the official VW group service tool and a valid online account, no other way to do this at the moment as the vehicle platform is still very new. If your cousin has access to the tools then he will know what’s needed.

Don’t matter what anyone else says as the mileage situation is as I described it, and is the same for all VW Group clusters unless new.... you buy and install a used cluster with 25k miles on the clock then that’s what’s gonna display and what the vehicle is going to start counting from.

 

[darko2301]

Of course, I believe it is like you said, there was just a tiny bit of hope in me that it wasnt

Hmm, I am pretty certian they have the official tools, although I am not sure how up to date they are, they are not an official VAG service centre but rather a ‘we do it all’ workshop so that’s why I can’t count on too much help about specifics.

But to put it in short, it seems like buying a used cluster is a risky path, I’d have to find one which is preferably a few hundred/thousand kilometers in advance, try and match it with my car and at the point when they match visit the dealer to perform the swap and coding, given that the unit is clean and definitely not stolen of course.

The other route is buying a new cluster which sounds too expensive without even looking at the prices

So, most likely an endeavor I’d better skip in whole and start looking for a new one

 

[DJAlix]

Of course, I believe it is like you said, there was just a tiny bit of hope in me that it wasnt

Hmm, I am pretty certian they have the official tools, although I am not sure how up to date they are, they are not an official VAG service centre but rather a ‘we do it all’ workshop so that’s why I can’t count on too much help about specifics.

But to put it in short, it seems like buying a used cluster is a risky path, I’d have to find one which is preferably a few hundred/thousand kilometers in advance, try and match it with my car and at the point when they match visit the dealer to perform the swap and coding, given that the unit is clean and definitely not stolen of course.

The other route is buying a new cluster which sounds too expensive without even looking at the prices

So, most likely an endeavor I’d better skip in whole and start looking for a new one

Cannot comment on your family members tools / knowledge, and I mean no offence, but something tells me that you would not be having this conversation if they had what’s needed.

Although I hate it when people “bring” used parts due to the possible issues I do totally understand the reasons why and I always give the following speech in order to try and help steer the potential customer in the right direction:

Make sure you buy from a reputable seller with good feedback using eBay and PayPal. If you are purchasing from the likes of Facebook marketplace and gumtree then do not be surprised when the official dealership tool returns a FAZ4990E error message which means the part in question has been reported as stolen. Using eBay and PayPal gives you a massive amount of protection and indeed recourse.

I myself refuse to install any parts sourced from Latvia even if they come via a “protected” source.

A genuine and authorised 3rd party will need to see proof of vehicle ownership, photo ID, Proof of address and well as a receipt / transaction for the parts before they will start any works also.

 

[darko2301]

Cannot comment on your family members tools / knowledge, and I mean no offence, but something tells me that you would not be having this conversation if they had what’s needed.

Although I hate it when people “bring” used parts due to the possible issues I do totally understand the reasons why and I always give the following speech in order to try and help steer the potential customer in the right direction:

Make sure you buy from a reputable seller with good feedback using eBay and PayPal. If you are purchasing from the likes of Facebook marketplace and gumtree then do not be surprised when the official dealership tool returns a FAZ4990E error message which means the part in question has been reported as stolen. Using eBay and PayPal gives you a massive amount of protection and indeed recourse.

I myself refuse to install any parts sourced from Latvia even if they come via a “protected” source.

A genuine and authorised 3rd party will need to see proof of vehicle ownership, photo ID, Proof of address and well as a receipt / transaction for the parts before they will start any works also.

Absolutely, no offence taken, there is no shame in not knowing something, that's why I asked for opinion from people who know what they are talking about

And about the parts, yes, definitely, I am only looking at eBay.de for parts. I wont quote direct usernames as it might be misinterpreted as advertising, but both sellers have something like 'audi' and 'parts/teile' in their usernames, with one having 4k+ and other 20k+ feedback so I guess they wouldn't mess around with stolen parts.

One that I was most eager to buy was from a seller from Germany with 100% feedback (score 2724) who also guaranteed mileage at 60040KM which is what I am approaching very soon so I could mitigate mileage mismatch problem. Was tempted to buy that item at 225€ posted, but now I don't know anymore, I think you have discouraged me

Although interesting you mentioned Latvia, I was surprised about how many other parts I was looking into on eBay are coming from there (mostly switches and such 'minor' things), now I guess I will skip those sellers thanks to your info

 

[Scuba Blue]

Given the work involved and the possible complications, would it not be easier to just sell your car and buy one with the colour display that you want fitted as standard?

 

[darko2301]

Haha well it's not such a must have feature to me that I would change my car over it, I thought it'd be nice to have it if it was a relatively simple and not too expensive job, but looks like I found out it is not so I should better think of something else to do