Some less scientific methods I found worked considerably better than the double-sided tape.
1. A piece of string- a bit stretchy, but overall a bit thicker than the area. Just put it into the slot where you removed the existing 'pad' and voila- it's perfect in my case.
2. I used a cut piece of those Livestrong bracelets (or breast cancer ones) that area hard thick rubber- like a firm elastic only 3x as thick. Cut that to disconnect the circle, then cut a strip to fit in there. If it bows out a lot (mine didn't)- use a knife and just thin out the ends a bit.
Overall I found the tape never got quite right in any case- these methods- by using materials that will conform a bit more, seemed to do the better trick.
-M
good job, nice writeup!
Ok I'm just going to go ahead and disagree with you here..., uhm...
Since it walks and talks like an OBC, I'd say it is one.
Sure it has multi function clock elements to it, but it also contains the logic for the extra calculations thats 18 button OBCs have - dist, range, code, etc.
I really can not see how you can say this is NOT an OBC. It's puzzling, to say the least.
This could be looked at as a simple semantic difference, but since you brought it up...
I would be happy to stipulate that it IS an OBC with multi clock functionality, however.
More on topic: I have the same problem with the OBC on my '97 328i, and I tried this once, but it didn't work for me. I didn't use 3m tape though, so I think I will re-visit this and focus more on the actual tape/space/thickness issues of the fix.
Love all the pics. Makes it so easy, a caveman can do it.
nice DIY i know it's and old post but i just found it toady and did it to my OBC it didn't fix it 100% but it sure is a heck of alot better then what is was, before over 20 pixels where out now there's only two
So far, using some nylon cord has worked like a charm...
Thanks for the DIY
I did the repair -- and THANKS! for the write-up.
Did not get all the pixels back. <frown>
Did some reading and searching. The connnection is know as a Zebra Stripe
Connector, and the one good repair article I found is below.
Looks like the repair might work more reliably if you CLEAN the connecting film with pure alcohol (NOT Rubbing alcohol -70% or so - your local drugstore probably has 93% alcohol for around $2) before re-assembling -- and don't touch the surfaces after cleaning.
Here's the LINK http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/F_au...#AUDIOFAQC_012
14.42) About elastomer ('zebra stripe') connectors
Remember that first (or last) digital watch you took apart?
Remember how a little piece of rubber fell on the shag carpet and you thought:
"What the heck, that can't be anything important".
Remember how the watch's display never worked again?
Well, you lost the connector that linked the LCD panel to the logic board.
Elastomer or 'zebra stripe' connectors are used to attach LCD panels to the
logic board and interconnect multiple boards on digital watches, calculators,
pocket computers, and many other modern gizmos. It seems as if every cheap
and many not so cheap gadgets now uses this connector technology.
They can shift position, become dirty, and lose pressure due to warpage or
damage to the plastic retainers. Very often, a weak display or missing
segments can be traced to a problem with these 'zebra stripe' connectors.
Equally often, disassembling, cleaning all parts with alcohol, drying, and
reassembling will return the device to (better than) new condition.
When installing, make sure the striped edges are against the circuit traces if
there is any ambiguity.
Of course, it isn't that the zebra stripe shifts position a small amount
- by its nature this should not matter. However, if the display shifts with
respect to the circuit board contacts or the zebra stripe material becomes
twisted or angled, poor and/or erratic connections will result.
(From: Spehro Pefhany (speff@gold.interlog.com)).
These are conductive elastomer connectors made from alternating layers of
conductive (carbon filled) and insulating silicone rubber.
There are also lower resistance versions with embedded wires, but they
are not used for LCD displays because the series resistance doesn't matter for LCD's.
Alignment to the PCB is critical as is even pressure, so they tend to be
used only in high volume applications where a metal stamping or plastic
molding is used to hold all the parts in place.
ALSO:
> Clean both sets of pads and the zebra connector with pure alcohol. > Dont touch any of the surfaces while reassembling or it will get
> contaminated again. With any luck , you'll be back in business.
Right.
Just tried this fix on my -96 328iT OBC, and it worked! Thank you !
Can't believe I actually made this work, hehe
I tried it once and it didn't work...I'm going to tinker around with it again and add more tape and see if that works.
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When will you be posting the button fix?
ok it helped a lot. theres only two lines that don't appear. What's strange is that when I first did it the first bulb to the left went out, then I redid it...and it worked again. WITHOUT REPLACING IT! I think there is a ghost that lives in my car!!!!
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good to know, what a bloody pain that is
Thanks for the writeup!To remove the OBC with almost no effort I bought a tool.It's called 1 1/2" flex putty knife. Should be available at any hardware store in the paint department.The tool allows you to apply more prying force without any damage to the console. That means a LOT less work!Wagner part number #3410320. Lowes item #234331.
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Sweet. I just got my first BMW. A 98 328i M-Tech, absolutley love it. But it had this OBC issue. The guy i bought it from sujested that I go on ebay and get a new OBC. I'm glad I joined this site and didn't buy one. This DIY fixed the issue, for the price of some 2-sided tape.
Awesome DIY
Cheers
K
hah, mine had this problem when i bought it so i had dad buy a new one off ebay for me.... he bought an 18 button... mine was 11.... crap don't wanna go through that mod.
so I bought another 11 off ebay, put it in and worked great for about a week.... freaking thing now it's doing the same screen thing as the other...
AWESOME write up man, going to be working on both my OBCs tomorrow I suppose lol!
I'll have an 11 and maybe even the 18 up for sale if anyone needs one.
I may get up the nerve to do the 18 conv. though so I may keep it
thanks again for the write up mate!
just did the first one worked great! looks like about all but two small vert. lines are fully showing up but WOW! what an improvement!!!
now to start on the other one I have!
FYI on bulbs - 3 of mine were burned out and instead of getting them from the dealer for $6.50 a pop I bought two 2-packs of the very small euro bulbs (2.4W) or whatever and replaced them with these. Basically you unscrew the existing bulbs from the OBC and remove the bulb from the plastic screw and replace. Best way to do this is carefully pull up on the two contacts one at a time and it lifts the bulb out. Take one of the new bulbs and bend the wires out so they lay where the contacts go and carefully replace the two contacts. Hurrah. New lights.
I found the mod a little hard to read and follow, however, I got through it and eventually figured it out.
My LCD was TOTALLY disconnected from the circuit board. I had to de-solder the light bulb harness and take everything apart. I was able to place the LCD back into place and hold it down with CA. THen did the tape mod. It works great. I dont have ALL the pixles, but I can actually read it now. THis morning was 72 Degrees in stead of LKDFJHSLKSDFSD>MCSDCSDCKJSDFLSKDJF<MCSD
Round 1, not so good. I had like 1 or two lines missing from the display so I thought I would give this a try. When I reinstalled the Check Control I had way more lines out plus two of the backlights have stopped working.
Why did I start this when all that was wrong was two bloody lines missing? Argh.
I was attempting this and the f***ing connecter tape strip thing that connects the circuit board to the display came off. Oh well, I guess Im in the market for a used one now.
I'm the one that did Ivan's (OP) the first time. I've never done one that was right the first time. Just do it again and pay attention to the alignment of the 'zebra stripe'. The tape, or whatever you use as the spacer, cures that problem, but it's easy to create another by misaligning the connector halves.
Thanks for the write up!
Did it in about 30 mins and looks great now.
After the third and final attempt at getting all the pixels to display, any modification I made seemed to make it way worse than before I started. Finally I removed all my foreign objects and reassembled it as stock. So I have two, maybe three lines not showing depending on the ambient temperature. I figure that anything the Check Control reports as malfunctioning I'm going to fix immediately anyway, so the display will rarely be lit for extended periods of time.
In this case, close enough is good enough. Was *kinda* fun to remove and replace the unit four times though. Not really.
so now that we have gone through the process of fixing our OBC's, does anyone know the way to change the read out from german to english???? I thought it was cool at first right when i got my car but now its getting a little old and i would like to at least know how to switch it back. Have searched many times and have gone to the OBC tricks and tips pages and nothing seems to work. As soon as i hold the 1000 and 10 button nothing shows up after that???? am i doing something wrong here or is my OBC toast?
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If anybody needs to fix a simple 7-button MID, here's a procedure for that repair.
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