Immobilizer vs. Instrument Cluster swap
 

OK guys, here is the question.
Is the instrument cluster a straight swap.
Reason: I am changing my small lcd dis to a wide dis one.

What is my main concern?? Conversation I've had today with my good mate who could not start up his older A6 years ago after swapping clocks.

Quick story. Few years ago, on his A6, the old shape one, but not the very first one, he decided to change/upgrade his clocks.
After swap car would not start at all, it was cranking but thats it.
So the reason for that was that either a immobilizer chip was within the instrument cluster, or somehow wired/paired with the original cluster.

Sooo, is it possible that I will experience exactly same problem??
Will I have to re-code the immobilizer or it is actually just a straight swap and mileage correction??
Or mileage isn't even stored in the cluster??

THANK YOU !!! +++

IIRC in previous models you needed the login code for the donor part's car and yours. It also needed to be the correct immobiliser version denoted by the letter on the end of the part number. I hope ours are simpler as I would also like this.

You will quite possibly get component protection on the car when the Dash is swapped but I don't think you'll get immobiliser issues. It should just need a trip to the local Audi Stealer to get the component protection removed after swapping which is normally about £30-35 +++

I found that none of the Audi Stealers round my neck of the woods would entertain doing the component protection code :(

On the D3 the immobiliser is not part of the cluster, you can swap the cluster straight over and the car will still run.

BUT

Nothing will work correctly until the car has made a trip to an Audi dealer to have component protection removed.

As above, it will run, but clocks wont work until you have trip to Audi to sort CP.

Note, I dont know how easy mileage correction is. D2 PF was ok, but D2 FL was only do-able with a soldering iron on a bench job.

Never looked into the D3, but I wouldn't assume straight forward unless you've come across examples of it being done, and I've not seen any....

Thanks guys +++
It looks like it wont be a straight swap :-(

CP, is that done with VAS?? My guys got the VAS so they could do it for me as Bexley Audi is horrible with things like that.

Mileage correction. Ian, what exactly that involves, is there a chip on a pcb which needs to be transfer??
I thought it all easy done via VCDS in the main window where the mileage correction function is :Confused:

Thank you once again +++

CP removal is done with VAS but it needs an online connection to Audi HQ, I assume that only main dealers have that. For most things VAS does not need an online connection, but for CP removal it does.

I swapped mine when the DIS went faulty, my local dealer removed the component protection and corrected the milage so its doable, but not with VCDS. They charged me 1.5hours as they said they needed to put the old clocks in to pull off the coding -if I remember correctly,the only thing that worked in CP was the speedo

Guys, THANK YOU VERY MUCH +++
( I actually forgot about this thread for a day, sorry)

Well, on the beginning I thought ''that's it, no wide dis'', half way I was ''OK'' and at the end ''get it!!!''

I will talk to my Audi guys tomorrow about CP and mileage.
So it is doable either way and that's all I'm care about, if its doable that means it will be done +++

I'd like to say once again Thank You !!!
I appreciate you help very much +++
:cheers: