Instrument Cluster Failure

Hi all, just returned from Sytner mini after picking up wife’s mini countryman. This had the failed display above the steering wheel. £120 diagnostics and £750 to replace the display. Her car was one of the first to be supplied with the new display, she actually wanted the old analogue type. Surely they should not fail after 4 yesrs.
 
Patrick O’Brien said:
Hi, My Mini SE EV has just developed this fault and I would be interested to know if you got to the bottom of it @Geoff Goostrey? My Mini is also a 2021 car (4 years and 4 months old) and well out of warranty. My local main dealer is charging £150 to investigate!

I suspect the fall out from the recent recall. In the case of my car, the software update crashed and burnt out the EME. Fortunately BMW/Mini accepted liability and covered the cost of replacement and repair (£4,500). Up to that point we had never had any issues with the Mini. Completely faultless.
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Hi Patrick,
Did yours turn out to be a defective display?
I have the problem with my 2020 SE.
Thanks!
Mike
 
Carsten Haase said:
Do you have a picture of the instrument cluster being off that also shows the center display on? That should be enough proof for the dealer because the instrument cluster should never be off when the car is on.

If they still refuse, give them a bit of a hard time about it. Not having a working speedometer is a safety issue and I'm pretty sure it's illegal at least in some states. It should absolutely be covered under warranty.

The "-" for the car's efficiency data is actually a pretty big clue. According to that video I linked in my last post, the instrument cluster is fed data from the same head unit controlling the central display. The only time I've seen the dashes is when it's been reset and I haven't driven anywhere (meaning there is no data). If the central display isn't getting that data, the instrument cluster wouldn't be either so it could be an issue with the communication between the head unit and the main computer?

I also know that low 12v battery voltage can cause weird computer glitches with things randomly rebooting and resetting themselves... Shouldn't be an issue with such a new car but maybe you got a bad 12v battery?

Next time it happens, try looking through the menu on the central display and see if anything else doesn't show up. Tire pressure could be something to check.

You could also try rebooting just the central screen. I believe holding the power button (volume knob) for a couple of seconds should bring up a menu to reboot but I haven't tried it myself.
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I like your jokes !specially a tire pressure and a monster AMG 50 Ah 12 volt battery shouldn’t fail so fast too as I never see on that forum as this happens your car is lemon as I will dump in Hudson River in New York if mine act like that ! Good luck with dealer no replicate no service is a lounging mater .
 
Cburg said:
Hi Patrick,
Did yours turn out to be a defective display?
I have the problem with my 2020 SE.
Thanks!
Mike
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Hi Mike,

Yes, unfortunately. It cost just under £850 all in, including labour and £150 investigation charge that really got my goat. They wouldn’t accept that it had anything to do with the recall firmware update crashing (and burning out the EME - £4,500 worth, covered by BMW/Mini).☹️ Not a happy camper at the moment, especially as I am about £2K in negative equity on the PCP. I doubt I will ever buy another Mini (having owned a couple).

P.S. I hope your issue turns out to be less expensive to fix! Good luck!

Best, Patrick
 
Hello Geoff Goostrey
reading your post on in may 2025 you suggested that had removed the instrument pod to look behind it. Was that easy to do?
I was wondering if it is just a loose connection on the connector that is, I assume, on the rear of the unit. Our Local main dealer
want £264 just to look at it !! plus and labour /parts that result from the examination

a look to see if its just a loose connector would be helpful

thanks in advance for any help

bob
 
Hi Bob,
I did that on mine.
There are two torx head screws on either side of the base of the display.
It pulls foreword when these are out, and you can turn it over to see the connectors.
I was able to remove the one with multiple wires on it, but not the fiber optic and ground connector.
I went ahead and removed all of the other screws, and the circuit board was free inside.
I checked for voltage, and didn't find any on the main connector pins.
Everything seemed to be quite warm inside.
I put it back together, and it no longer resets. It seems to be permanently dead now.
I figured I didn't have anything to loose.
Good luck!
Mike
 
Cburg said:
Hi Bob,
I did that on mine.
There are two torx head screws on either side of the base of the display.
It pulls foreword when these are out, and you can turn it over to see the connectors.
I was able to remove the one with multiple wires on it, but not the fiber optic and ground connector.
I went ahead and removed all of the other screws, and the circuit board was free inside.
I checked for voltage, and didn't find any on the main connector pins.
Everything seemed to be quite warm inside.
I put it back together, and it no longer resets. It seems to be permanently dead now.
I figured I didn't have anything to loose.
Good luck!
Mike
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Are you guys don’t have warranty anymore that’s why you taking SE apart as mine 2022 still have 5 month in USA and no issues behind charging in a beginning as now is good but I never try to play with Bimmercode driving hard and is perfect car so far as I thing I abuse a car driving like race car driver .Charging with solar in garage for free a range is no issue in my case
 
P7300731a.webp Hi Cburg and Rexsio and others
My E-Mini is 4 years and 13,540 miles old and so out of the normal parts warranty. ( battery still covered though)
I took the advise from Cburg and removed the Instrument Pod (IP) and checked the connections and all made sure they were all fully home.
With the ignition switch on IP did come up even though it was hanging out on its lead. All looked ok except for a small area that appeared to
have what my experience as an electronics engineer suggested something was warmer that it should be inside and perhaps it had distorted the plastic. Anyone else had a look behind their IP.

did not strip it down further but the number on the label might mean something to someone

regards Bob
 
My digital cockpit on a 71 plate JCW Clubman has also started displaying the same problem. Blank screen after approx 10 minutes but works again if I brake, so pretty much stays on in town driving but not much use on a motorway. An independent recommended a new unit and with fitting not much change from £1k. I’ve complained to Mini that this is an in built fault and they’ve now said that they’ll look at it. Has anyone had any luck with Mini contributing to the cost of the repair once the car is out of warranty? Thanks.
 
Pn66 said:
My digital cockpit on a 71 plate JCW Clubman has also started displaying the same problem. Blank screen after approx 10 minutes but works again if I brake, so pretty much stays on in town driving but not much use on a motorway. An independent recommended a new unit and with fitting not much change from £1k. I’ve complained to Mini that this is an in built fault and they’ve now said that they’ll look at it. Has anyone had any luck with Mini contributing to the cost of the repair once the car is out of warranty? Thanks.
Click to expand...
I bought a new display from "OutMotoring" for nearly $800. It is non returnable.
Things don't work right, and I get a number of errors. OM contacted Mini, and found that it requires programming to get things right. My dealers are quite a distance away, and I am in poor health; not to mention that it only goes <100 miles on a charge. Does anyone know of a computer type I could send it to for programming?
Many thanks!
 
I saw this on my cluster yesterday. No speed display for the entire trip, but it resolved itself on the next start. Is this this the same thing you folks have been seeing?

IMG_8537.webp
 
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