E46 BMW M3 Cluster LED Conversion

[@grgo01]

Just a small tip for someone planning on doing this. I have cluster that is 1999 and I do not have pin above "car" to light up whole cluster's background. So you just need to connect power(12V) to pin 7 on black connector and obviously ground😁

[@faizaanalap4]

amazing attention to detail every step in procedure. keep it up.

[@imo254]

I'm amazed at the detail..I'm trying to change cluster colours on a daihatsu copen..dont like the orange...I've learnt so much from your video...shouldn't be too different I guess..thanks again. Great work

[@CroVlado0510]

Most of this should apply as long as they use surface mount LEDs. Match the type of LED and take note of polarity and you should should be good to go.

[@stevengonzalez-me7uy]

Where could I buy the white LEDs to do this?

[@CroVlado0510]

@stevengonzalez-me7uy Ali express, eBay, lots of places

[@garrettgiuffre7298]

Man you seem like a cool dude, you want to work on any projects let me know I'm always doing something or another on the e46. Glad I found your channel

[@CroVlado0510]

Appreciate it. My focus seems to be all over the price. Got some home projects to do, still have some more buttons and other car things to do, on top of just work and family balance. I need to finish up on the car soon.

[@henrique8921]

What if you use white leds instead of orange ones on the display? Will the numbers become white ? I would love to have white leters with black background, looks much more modern

[@eazy__m3]

Wow great job

[@oldiesfm98.5stereolive8]

Long live BMW E46 M3 !!!♥♥♥ OO=[][]=OO OO=[][]=OO Wow great job

[@schtupinatormoi1]

Looks awesome!! But i kinda still prefer the stock fore some reason. But Still! Looks great!

[@conmartin754]

Hey man they look great! What kind of LEDs do you need? Ive been looking all night trying to see what i need to order

[@CroVlado0510]

PLCC-2 will cover the instrument cluster

[@kwstasfitness]

​@@CroVlado0510hello with 2 pins or 4;

[@CroVlado0510]

@kwstas 2 wide pins. They cover almost the whole side off the LED. Type in PLCC-2, the 4 pin version is multi color and is PLCC-4

[@conmartin754]

@@CroVlado0510 goofy ahh i ain even got a beamer no mo

[@CroVlado0510]

@Con Martin, what are you even going on about? Who’s talking to you?

[@Fatal_Inertia]

The only thing about this that I don't like is that you lose the classic orange BMW glow, but the LEDs make the numbers so much more crisp and clean. Might do this but with amber leds instead to retain the color

[@CroVlado0510]

Well then you wouldn't do anything because OEM is amber LEDs. The whole car is amber LEDs for the most part.

[@elbaron51]

Hi my e46 m3 I remove the cluster and put it back on and now my garages don’t work everything else does any idea appreciate your help also my LCD screen where can I get it

[@joebenson658]

My cluster on my e46 m3. All electrical work but no analog works. The guy I bought the car from. Said everything worked fine before he replaced the battery in car. I checked fuses and they are good. What do you think it could be ?

[@rossellcastillo9838]

Need help how did you add the red diffuser sheet onto your needles ? You said you cut them into holes ? Can you elaborate further as I am going to do this retrofit soon and just needed some clarification. Can converse through email if wanted.

[@CroVlado0510]

Turn the needles over and cut red diffusion sheets in the shape under the needle so it fits over the center hole where it attaches to the cluster. Slide it in there and put a tiny dab of hot glue in there to hold it in place. If you cut it tight enough it can use surface tension against the hole to keep it inside but it’s though to cut that small hole perfectly. Hope that makes sense.

[@ИгорьИгровой-й6к]

Good job!

[@pavleilic1390]

Great video, it will help me a lot when i do this, just got my e46.. Can you send me some link from aliexpress because i can’t find what smds to use ?

[@MrGoodcat1]

Have you tried polarizer film on LCD screen to get it white color?

[@CroVlado0510]

I haven’t

[@angelivajlov8513]

Did you replace the two small lights on the top panel for the interior lighting?

[@CroVlado0510]

I haven’t done the overhead light yet. It looked pretty easy but I’ve had a lot of home projects that I’ve undertaken and haven’t messed with the car in a while. I wouldn’t recommend white on that light tho unless you plan on dimming it down with resistors. I’ll get to it one of these days. Too many projects and hobbies and not enough time in a day.

[@angelivajlov8513]

@CroVlado0510 Can I have your email for a few questions and photo material

[@CroVlado0510]

@angelivajlov8513 find me on discord crovlado

[@angelivajlov8513]

@@CroVlado0510 find me Angele46touring

[@dylanroecker4737]

I cant get the bulbs on either screen cluster and hvac screens to light up anyone have any suggestions. Thank You

[@SpanglyBreak]

Does anyone know where to get the colored sheet of plastic for LCD screen? Please I need help 🙏

[@CroVlado0510]

You can order them on Amazon or other shopping services

[@ChiefLolo47]

Subscribed .

[@marianenciu9861]

Great videos, amaizing details. But i have one question. How do i know where is possitive and where is negative on the board? Also i have some 3528 white SMDS. Will those work? Thank you for your time.

[@CroVlado0510]

The LEDs are marked with a cut corner. They may but I don’t know if they’ll be the same brightness. Considering they’re a couple dollars on aliexpress there’s no reason not to use what you take out.

[@enciumarian2112]

Thanks for your reply, i figured that out afterall. I managed to replicate your work fallowing your steps. Thank you for my ‘’new’’ cluster.

[@CroVlado0510]

@@enciumarian2112 that’s great! Hope you enjoy.

[@fullmetalk1d]

Nice... Have you done this on the Climate control module?

[@CroVlado0510]

Yes

[@rickverhoeven1064]

why removing the orange backing from the lcd screen when it will still be orange in the end?

[@CroVlado0510]

It’s red in the end. Not sure what display you’re watching on but it’s color accuracy may be off.

[@elbaron51]

Hi can you send me the link for the LEDS my 2015 x5 the right signal light went out.i also have 2002 m3 and i want to try this kind of tuff.great job please let me know

[@CroVlado0510]

There is no particular link. Search on eBay or AliExpress and buy the LEDs you need for your project. If you need help identifying LEDs, a search engine will be your friend. Good luck with your project.

[@elbaron51]

Thanks for your reply I will subscribe to you can you tell me the LDE You use on the M3

[@joebenson658]

Doing mine on my m3 all the needles came off easy but on the speedometer and the rpm’s the shaft came off with the needles. Is this supposed to be to happen ?

[@CroVlado0510]

No, shaft is not supposed to come out.

[@joebenson658]

How do I keep it from coming out and if they do come out. Will gauges still work ?

[@joebenson658]

My cluster on my m3 all the analog gauges stopped working. I bought a used cluster and I was going to just swap my original m35080 chip to the replacement cluster. That way I have correct mileage and no tamper dot. The shafts came off with the speed and ramp needles when removing. Which it’s the cluster that analog does not work. So it’s not that big of deal. But I definitely don’t want them to come off on the replacement cluster that I’m putting in. So any advice would be greatly appreciated. This cluster you made on the video is amazing best one I’ve ever seen in e46 m3

[@CroVlado0510]

I did just as I described in the video. Squeeze and twist while pulling up. None of the shafts came up. Honestly I’ve done 3 clusters and they all came up the same.

[@joebenson658]

Ok thank you. Do you do this as a service for money ? How much to make my m3 cluster like yours in this video ?

[@Gskeee]

How much would you charge to do this ?

[@CroVlado0510]

What are you looking to get done? This is just the first video posted. I’ll be putting up the hvac, and rest of the car soon enough, waiting on some LEDs to arrive from overseas

[@Gskeee]

Led upgrades and painted needle

[@CroVlado0510]

@@Gskeee sorry lost traction on this. $100 for LEDs another $100 for needles, plus cost of LEDs if other than white and shipping here and back. Unfortunately not cheap but it takes a couple hours to do it all.

[@eastsideofthetracks8311]

@@CroVlado0510 I want this done on my car it looks really cool I will contact you when I got the money to spend

[@kevinsmith4924]

Hey man what all leds did u use for everything you did

[@CroVlado0510]

For the cluster you only need PLCC2 (also called 1210).

[@kevinsmith4924]

@@CroVlado0510 OK cool.. What about the window buttons and heat and air control and the headlight switch

[@CroVlado0510]

@@kevinsmith4924 I’ve made videos on the hvac and windows, working on the headlight, it’s a bit more involved.

[@kevinsmith4924]

@@CroVlado0510 yea I knw i just need to know what all kind leds for all of them so I can order me some

[@CroVlado0510]

@@kevinsmith4924 it all depends on if you you’re going for direct swaps or more of a custom. Again if you watch and listen to the videos I did explain all of this. If you’re going for direct swaps you’ll need 3mm, 5mm, 0805, 1206, and PLCC2

[@killerb276]

Hi how much would you charge to do this

[@CroVlado0510]

Wouldn’t be worth your money honestly. I value my time quite high and shipping back and forth would put the price way out of what it’s worth, in my opinion.

[@killerb276]

Even if I’ was happy to pay the costs & have everything done like you have on your own car light switches etc

[@dilshad2007]

can this be done to e39 ?

[@CroVlado0510]

Yeah

[@martindimitrievski4348]

Where can I buy these LEDs?

[@CroVlado0510]

Lots of places. AliExpress, eBay, Amazon, LightHouseLEDs, etc.

[@martindimitrievski4348]

@@CroVlado0510 can you throw me a link of the ones you used? Thanks!

[@CroVlado0510]

I don’t have one. I just typed in what I was looking for in AliExpress and clicked the one with most sales and reviews. It’s all the same.

[@martindimitrievski4348]

@@CroVlado0510 they are called SMD led right?

[@CroVlado0510]

PLCC2 smd led

[@Hardee03]

Hello Sir, I am from Germany would you accept a customer? i would like what you did on your Cluster to be done on my E46's Cluster also.

[@CroVlado0510]

Honestly I don’t think it would be worth the cost. Shipping from Germany to USA and all the way back would probably be expensive on top of cost to do this work. You can message me on discord if you want to talk about it CroVlado#8786

[@vincentsgro3348]

Hey man I want you to do mines I will pay I tried doing the needles I did exactly what you did in the video I got the same results by taking my cell phone flashlight and putting the Needles behind it and I saw the same results you got with the needles. my only issue is I am afraid to do LED bulbs I tried installing the red needles with the original orange and got different results would like to do an official makeover with my cluster I want your info man please get in contact with me please respond to this and let me know where we can take this Conversation elsewhere thankyou !

[@CroVlado0510]

What’s up, man? How can I help ya?

[@vincentsgro3348]

I basically tried doing what you did I got the same results with the needles I practice on some three series Needles and they came out pretty decent then I use my cell phone background light and put the needle up against it and I saw the exact deep rich red that you saw and got the problem is I’m afraid to do the LEDs I want to do the whole conversion just like what you did that cluster reminds me of a newer cluster or let’s say out of an E 60 M5 I want The same look that you got and made what do I Gotta do to ship out my cluster to you lol i’ll pay for the whole thing and pay you whatever you’re asking

[@CroVlado0510]

@@vincentsgro3348 I’m not sure how much this is worth it to you but I can do it. Message me on fb and we can talk about color and whatever else. facebook.com/vlado.mlakic

[@vincentsgro3348]

@@CroVlado0510 excellent thankyou

[@sirpernikcz4767]

Hi, what are the sizes of the leds?

[@CroVlado0510]

PLCC2

[@husamalkaifi6500]

Amazing vid brother what’s ur ig I just have a question because my temperature gauge for some reason stoped working

[@CroVlado0510]

I don’t have insta, I have fb mostly for some car groups. I don’t stay active on social media.

[@husamalkaifi6500]

@@CroVlado0510 just messaged u on Facebook

[@S54M3Yavuz]

Dont push the needle all to the bottom. This is the most mistake people do. Its stuck then...