To anyone thinking of doing a DIY Pixel repair on their MID

n1k85 · Post by **n1k85** » Fri Jan 06, 2012 7:25 pm

DON'T!!

gchristofi · Post by **gchristofi** » Fri Jan 06, 2012 8:02 pm

Do tell?

kstandsteve · Post by **kstandsteve** » Fri Jan 06, 2012 8:49 pm

You cant just leave it at that!

Have mine to do so yes please tell!

phiggystardust · Post by **phiggystardust** » Fri Jan 06, 2012 9:37 pm

send it to rudi in southampton to get it done 100%

www.bmwpixelfix.co.uk

fixes botch jobs too !!!!!!!

n1k85 · Post by **n1k85** » Fri Jan 06, 2012 11:55 pm

Haha,

Well to begin with, before you actually buy the ribbon cable, you have no idea what is involved in the repair job. All is says is 'good DIY skills needed for repair'

Now bare in mind I repair Computers, Laptops, Motherboards, iPhones, Playstations for a Living and work in IT. I'm always up for a bit of DIY and rarely pay someone to do something if I can do it myself. Today I've had my X5 fuel tank to bits on my driveway and successfully fitted a replacement fuel sender with ease.

I received the replacement Ribbon and assumed it would be a 10-20 minute Job, which it might be if it were just a case of screws, clips and connectors. When you receive the item you get a password to access the fitting guide (which is very difficult to follow). It's a load of photobucket pictures (5 or so images fixed into into one image) and its really hard to see what's actually going on, not to mention its almost impossible to zoom in on the individual pics to see it in detail. There is very little useful 'text' guidance.

There's 27 pages of pictures to follow, and once you've dismantled it and get into the actual ribbon repair part, its all about putting the tools down and using selotape, a stanley blade, and a credit card to fit the new ribbon, and you have to perfectly line up a long line of connections on both sides. Its so awkward and fragile that's it's just a nightmare.

In with the 'pack' you receive is a card that says "if you have trouble fitting this ribbon, we offer a fitting service".

I emailed the seller and they want Â£75 + postage to fix my unit (on top of the Â£20 I spent on the ribbon)

I must admit, it's a pretty good business model. Sell the ribbon for Â£20 and provide the most frustrating fitting instruction guide ever. knowing that 95% of the buyers will disassemble their units, attempt to fit it, and then have no choice but to pay a further Â£75 to complete the repair.

Yesterday I had a perfectly working stereo with a single line of pixels missing. Today I have a box of bits and a cable sticking out of my dash...

The eBay sellers feedback is mainly good (from people who have used their fitting service) although there are a few who state that the repair lasted a matter of days before it came back worse than before.

I'm sure there are plenty of people who have successfully fitted the ribbon themselves, all I know is that I rarely admit defeat when it comes to a repair job, but after 4 hours and lot of cursing. I've given up.

IMO either use their fitting service from the start, or just don't bother and live with your dead pixels.

n1k85 · Post by **n1k85** » Sat Jan 07, 2012 12:02 am

[quote=""phiggystardust""]send it to rudi in southampton to get it done 100%

http://www.bmwpixelfix.co.uk

fixes botch jobs too !!!!!!![/quote]

Thanks, i'll take a look!

kstandsteve · Post by **kstandsteve** » Sat Jan 07, 2012 12:46 pm

Interesting!

I must admit I did think there might be more to it than they say.

Dont think I will tackle it with my sausage fingers.

I would have thought postage costs (including adequate insurance) would be high - anyone posted one?

Plus anyone know of anywhere in cheshire/manchester that repairs them?

strummer · Post by **strummer** » Sun Jan 08, 2012 2:10 pm

I did mine and worked very well, although I must admit the instructions aren't very good,it took me 5 hours to do and at one stage I thought it had beaten me,I'm pretty handy but I must say this is one of the trickiest things I have done,if you are going to do it take loads of pictures and make notes as you go.If I knew how difficult it was going to be I would have sent it for repair.

phiggystardust · Post by **phiggystardust** » Sun Jan 08, 2012 7:02 pm

i had a go at mine got more pixels working great! but wanting all of them working stripped it again ! outcome even less pixels than before

so thought ill try rudi at pixelfix
sent it off to him
3 days later was back in post fully working

but to be honest pixels failed again after about 2 weeks told him about it and 3 days later it was refitted having been repaired again
and has worked 100% since. 2 yrs now

he said the botch job someone had done had made the repair a little difficult to put right 100%

the previous owner was a bit of a fiddler

at least thats what i told him

n1k85 · Post by **n1k85** » Sun Jan 08, 2012 8:24 pm

[quote=""phiggystardust""]
the previous owner was a bit of a fiddler

at least thats what i told him

[/quote]

ozzyhufc · Post by **ozzyhufc** » Mon Jan 16, 2012 7:30 pm

I HAVE A BRAND NEW ONE FOR SALE IF YOU WOULD LIKE IT IT COST AROUND Â£400 FROM BMW IT IS A BRAND NEW BMW PART NEVER USED I AM LOOKING FOR AROUND Â£200 TEXT ME IF YOU ARE INTERESTED AS MY MATE HAD HIS REPAIRED THEN 12MTHS DONE THE LINE IT WENT AGAIN HES 1ST ON THAT WAS IN THE CAR WHEN HE HAD IT TOOK 10YEARS TO GO WRONG AND THE ALL DO GO , YOU CAN GET IT DONE FOR AROUND Â£80 BUT IF IT GOES AGAIN 10-12MTS LATER ITS MORE COST UPTO YOU.

dirtymonkey29 · Post by **dirtymonkey29** » Mon Jan 16, 2012 7:33 pm

gchristofi · Post by **gchristofi** » Mon Jan 16, 2012 8:03 pm

Shouted Spanglish?

ITBarbie · Post by **ITBarbie** » Mon Jan 16, 2012 8:54 pm

Are you from Meerkovo flogging BMW parts? Simples

pvr · Post by **pvr** » Mon Jan 16, 2012 9:58 pm

What is the matter tonight? I spent more time in the admin section than on the forum

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