TLDR; you can swap a facelift cluster into a pre-facelift car, just by adding/marrying in Tech 2.
Hi all, I have 2005 1.8t 9-3 vert, and for the last few months I have had issues with the instrument cluster, often the dials not resting correctly or not responding at all.
I tried the first step which was removing the leads from the battery, this did often reset the dials, but only temporarily, after night or by the end of the next drive this would need to be done again.
The next thing I tried was pulling the fuse from the passenger side fuse box. This was a lot quicker than disconnecting the battery and worked with the same amount of success, but was only temporary.
My next attempt was taking the dash out of the car and taking apart the instrument cluster, cleaned up the circuit board and checked all the motors and couldn't see anything out of place but this didn't fix anything once it was installed.
Purchased a 2008 cluster, so it was a facelift with the built in SID screen and a turbo gauge.
plugged in the tech 2 and added the MIU.
For anyone planning to do this yourself, my new cluster was purchased off eBay, have no idea if it was divorced or not from previous vehicle. Second thing is when we added the cluster it went through all the steps on the tech 2 screen and error'd at the end making us think it had failed, but after turning the car off and turning the key it started no problem.
I also swapped my steering wheel controls out for the facelift controls with the info button and set button on the left. It partially works, the left up and down buttons control both the original radio and instrument cluster SID, all other buttons work as normal. The panel containing your nightpanel, TCS, and convertible controls is a mixed bag. SID dial works, clear and customize work as normal on the top screen (centre dash Sid) and don't affect the one in the cluster (means you can have 2 different screen). Convertible roof controls work as normal. Nightpanel only works for all the centre dash lights, the new cluster seems to ignore this as well as the brightness controls. Traction control works as normal.
Hopefully this helps anyone experiencing cluster issues or is thinking of swapping, I'll try to answer as many questions as I can. Don't panic, it works.
my question to the forums is what other things can be done after this? Can you change the older ACC unit to the new one with the 3 circle knobs? Also since the car warning sounds and indicators are built into the cluster, would this remedy anyone with fibre optic issues? Or could you just make a fibre optic loop and use an aftermarket headset?
Hi all, I have 2005 1.8t 9-3 vert, and for the last few months I have had issues with the instrument cluster, often the dials not resting correctly or not responding at all.
I tried the first step which was removing the leads from the battery, this did often reset the dials, but only temporarily, after night or by the end of the next drive this would need to be done again.
The next thing I tried was pulling the fuse from the passenger side fuse box. This was a lot quicker than disconnecting the battery and worked with the same amount of success, but was only temporary.
My next attempt was taking the dash out of the car and taking apart the instrument cluster, cleaned up the circuit board and checked all the motors and couldn't see anything out of place but this didn't fix anything once it was installed.
Purchased a 2008 cluster, so it was a facelift with the built in SID screen and a turbo gauge.
plugged in the tech 2 and added the MIU.
For anyone planning to do this yourself, my new cluster was purchased off eBay, have no idea if it was divorced or not from previous vehicle. Second thing is when we added the cluster it went through all the steps on the tech 2 screen and error'd at the end making us think it had failed, but after turning the car off and turning the key it started no problem.
I also swapped my steering wheel controls out for the facelift controls with the info button and set button on the left. It partially works, the left up and down buttons control both the original radio and instrument cluster SID, all other buttons work as normal. The panel containing your nightpanel, TCS, and convertible controls is a mixed bag. SID dial works, clear and customize work as normal on the top screen (centre dash Sid) and don't affect the one in the cluster (means you can have 2 different screen). Convertible roof controls work as normal. Nightpanel only works for all the centre dash lights, the new cluster seems to ignore this as well as the brightness controls. Traction control works as normal.
Hopefully this helps anyone experiencing cluster issues or is thinking of swapping, I'll try to answer as many questions as I can. Don't panic, it works.
my question to the forums is what other things can be done after this? Can you change the older ACC unit to the new one with the 3 circle knobs? Also since the car warning sounds and indicators are built into the cluster, would this remedy anyone with fibre optic issues? Or could you just make a fibre optic loop and use an aftermarket headset?
