OBC-Display Pixels

[kingivan]

Hey,

I have a 95 325i and the display for the OBC, check control doesn’t have all the pixels displayed. If I tap on it or push on it, some of the pixels will light up again and then some will turn off. I talked to the parts guy at the local BMW dealership and he says the problem is so common they stock the check control units in house. He mentioned that this problem was common in northern climates.

Do you guys know if this problem is fixable or do you have to replace the whole unit?

I noticed there was thread about changing the bulbs but I don’t think that’s the problem here.

Cheers,
Nick

[007ben]

roumor has it BMW will do something about it.... check around here the info is someplace.

[camnipotent]

Uh yeah, the only way that is fixable is if you completely replace the screen/OBC. Each individual LCD pixel would have to be fixed otherwise and that is nearly impossible. I can't imagine why that northern climate area would effect the LCD display...maybe humidity?

[BMWJNKY]

The OBC/Check Control needs to be replaced. At my work we do 2-3 a month so it is a very common problem. As far as BMW fixing it that only applies to newer cars, 98 or newer I think. BMW is very picky about which ones they fix too, they sent someone to our shop to make sure it had the specific defect that they would cover. When the OBC/Check Control gets replaced it may need to be recoded which is more $$$ so keep that in mind.

[kingivan]

Thank you for the replies, I guess I will need to invest in a new Check Control unit, I will ask about the recoding part before purchse. Its strange that with all the BMW dealers in North America or the world even and all of them likly replacing 3 or 4 of these a month each that there is no refurbished market for these things.

Cheers!

[BMWJNKY]

Referb. eletronic parts are hit and miss. At my work we try and stay away from referb. stuff as much as possible. They just don't have the reliability of a new part.

[bitcore]

If your feeling adventurous, you could take a dead OBC from say, a junkyard or ebay and hope it's screen works, and frankenstein it into your OBC.... I'd do that myself if I cared enough about it (maybe 25% of my pixles are dead, really hard to read)