[TLMM10]

Great work and write up!

[MoeTE87]

Originally Posted by TLMM10

Great work and write up!

Thanks!

[Prak903]

Little update. In doing some digging, you can get the cluster to show gears using XHP, but you will not Get P, D or S. Only N, and then gears 1-8. It will show up like a manual even if you are in D/S mode.

For the rest to show, you need the adapter.

[MoeTE87]

Originally Posted by Prak903

Little update. In doing some digging, you can get the cluster to show gears using XHP, but you will not Get P, D or S. Only N, and then gears 1-8. It will show up like a manual even if you are in D/S mode.

For the rest to show, you need the adapter.

Thank you for checking and clarifying that Prak903

[oem.plus_440gc]

Does it show if you are in sport/sport+/eco pro in the dash? I'm assuming definitely not without the adapter, but what about with the adapter?

[Runner340]

I was beginning to question my choice in going with the 6WB cluster instead of the F8x cluster. The more I read what does and does not work with the F8x cluster on the F3x platform the less I regret it. The F8x cluster is not a seamless integration and the dials are not backlit during the day which was one of the main issues I had with the original 6WA. The HUD RPM and redline lights if actually accurate or work on the F30 engines and the cool looking ///M logo is intriguing though. I know going with a new 6WB was expensive out of the gate but everything works as OEM with or without xHP or special adapter. It's a thought provoking project regardless but not sure if the juice it provides is worth the squeeze. Also the 6WB is not going to affect resale, warranty, dealer software updates or if and when I sell or trade the car in.

[BuIIet]

Hi. Could you please advise coding before installation of adapter? Thank you.

[triax37]

Originally Posted by Runner340

Are the gauges backlit during the day?

Originally Posted by MoeTE87

Maybe, will need to check and see. I know the colored RPM lights are on all the time.

Following up on this - the gauges do not look backlit from the pictures. Any thoughts from people who have completed this project? Thanks!

[MoeTE87]

No it's not. Only the colored RPM lights are. However, the cluster is fully lit at night.

[PhO3n1X]

Just did F8x cluster retrofit into my F36 with xHP to show gears. I have an issue, when I change driving modes (sport/sport+/eco pro) menu doesn't appear on cluster dash. Does I need retrofit adapter for it or there are some missing coding params? Thanks in advance!

[oem.plus_440gc]

Originally Posted by PhO3n1X

Just did F8x cluster retrofit into my F36 with xHP to show gears. I have an issue, when I change driving modes (sport/sport+/eco pro) menu doesn't appear on cluster dash. Does I need retrofit adapter for it or there are some missing coding params? Thanks in advance!

Pretty sure you'll need the adapter to make the drive modes work. Otherwise you'll need to just use the infotainment screen to see when you switch modes. I'm installing my F8X cluster today/tomorrow. Grabbed an adapter from ebay for a little cheaper than the site listed here, so i'll let you know how it goes!

[PhO3n1X]

Originally Posted by oem.plus_440gc

Pretty sure you'll need the adapter to make the drive modes work. Otherwise you'll need to just use the infotainment screen to see when you switch modes. I'm installing my F8X cluster today/tomorrow. Grabbed an adapter from ebay for a little cheaper than the site listed here, so i'll let you know how it goes!

Thanks for information! Can you please post the link, where did you buy adapter from?

[oem.plus_440gc]

Originally Posted by PhO3n1X

Thanks for information! Can you please post the link, where did you buy adapter from?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/165967803283

The seller's name is cho_tedd and he was really good to work with. It came from China, but shipping was quick (about 5 days). He made mine to order so it took about a week to make and a week to ship. Shipping was $50, so it still ended up about $75 cheaper.

I haven't installed it yet so I can't confirm it works, but I wanted to try and get this retrofit done for as cheap as possible so I found arguably the cheapest F8X cluster on sale on ebay (or anywhere I could find at the time), got it virginized through someone on ebay (getting it back in the mail today so I'll let you know if theres any issues on that end), and grabbed the adapter from ebay as well.

I'm hoping all goes smooth when it comes time to install! I'll see if I'm going to have time either today or tomorrow to knock it out. Definitely by the end of the week.

If everything works as it should, I'll try to post up some links for the ebay sellers I used and prices I paid.

[oem.plus_440gc]

Ok. Update time.

Just got everything installed today. Not everything as smooth as I had hoped, but about as smooth as I expected...

1. Adapter harness. Works great from cho_tedd on ebay and he was helpful today in trying to get a glitch figured out. It seems as though the speed limit info (in both cluster and HUD) are not compatible with the adapter. I can't confirm if this is only an issue with the adapter from ebay, or if this would happen with the adapter from bimecu as well. I reached out to MoeTE87 and he unfortunately does not have speed limit info on his car to compare. If anyone else gets the bimecu adapter and has speed limit info working, I'd love to know. UPDATE: Tried removing the adapter and plugging the cluster direct to the car and the speed limit info worked. So the adapter I have is not compatible with that option. I'm speaking to bimecu as well to see if theirs would be compatible.

2. Virginization/coding. I don't think I would not recommend the ebay seller I used for this. They were quite slow in the process and in the end, the coding needed to be redone so I ended up using coding dynamics who got me up and running in about 10 minutes. Full disclosure. Virginization was advertised as $130 (was advertised for 6WB). After sending the cluster he asked if I wanted him to code it as well so it would just be plug and play when I got it back. I said sure as long as he knew the coding for the F8X cluster to F3X. He said no problem. $50. He had my cluster for about 2 week to virginize and code and when I got the final invoice it showed $180 for virginization and $50 for coding. Apparently, clusters after 2015 have a newer chip that take longer to virginize and are therefore more expensive. Figured, whatever, I'm not getting the cluster back without paying, so I paid. Got my cluster installed this morning and nothing was working right coding wise. Got on the laptop with coding dynamics and had it up and running in 10 minutes, so that was another $50 down the drain for coding that didnt work.

Overall, I'm super happy with the upgrade. But if anyone else wants to do this, my recommendation would be to reach out to coding dynamics on IG directly and have them send you a fully coded F8X cluster (and have him for live support when installing if you have any issues). All in here's my cost breakdown.

Cluster - $175 +$20 shipping (cluster has a few scratches in the lens, but I'll swap it with the lens from my stock cluster to make it look brand new).

Coding/Virginization - $130 + $50 (2015+ cluster) + $50 coding (didnt work) + $150 coding from coding dynamics

Adapter - ebay cho_tedd - $200 + $50 shipping. Definitely would recommend (especially if you don't have speed limit info). Again, not sure if speed limit info would work with the bimecu adapter so source may not matter.

All in, about $830. Granted I could have saved $50 by not having the ebay seller "code" the cluster, but I don't think you can really do this properly for much under $800. Take that for what its worth. To me, it was worth it to gain what is, IMO, a much nicer cluster and the addition of the M HUD features.

If I were to do it again, I would probably just buy a virginized/coded cluster directly from coding dynamics, the adapter from ebay, and know it would be a 10 minute hassle free install once I got the cluster and adapter. Should still be right in the $800-$850 range I believe.

Still cheaper than a 6WB, and for me, I prefer the looks of the cluster and the features of the M HUD to the 6WB. Others may not.

Couple more things I figured I'd mention (SPECIFIC TO HAVING THE ADAPTER).

Eco/Comfort/Sport/Sport+ modes. When flipping through they do display in the center portion of the display the way they do on the 6WA, however there is no Eco mode so it only displays 3 options, but you center idrive screen allows you to scroll through all 4 modes. Where the DCT shift aggressiveness indicator is in the cluster will go through the 3 modes and fill the blocks there accordingly. Again, with 4 modes on the F30, but only 3 modes on the cluster, you end up with slightly different alignment between. I never use eco, so that doesnt matter to me. Comfort/Sport/Sport+ is all i need and works just fine in the cluster.

S/D on the shifter. This works just find as well, however, once you take manual mode, there's no way to tell the difference between manual and sport shift.

Thanks to MoeTE87 for answering some of my questions along the way. If anyone has any questions, feel free to hit me up as well. I can share pics/vids/etc as needed, but didnt post any for now as mine looks pretty much identical to Moes.

[fs34]

Thanks for the write up!

What does this upgrade provide? I like the dash on my 335, am I missing something?

[oem.plus_440gc]

Few more quick updates on the adapter front after discussing a few things over night.

It seems since the adapters were designed in China, where all BMWs are KPH based, the speed limit info will not work with US (MPH) based cars, and it doesnt sound like there's a work around from the ebay seller. So if you have speed limit info in your cluster/HUD, better to go with the bimecu adapter. I've talked with them, and they assured me they have not had that issue.

However, if you don't have speed limit info (or if you don't care about it and dont mind it being disabled), the adapter seems to be working well. If anything else pops up, I'll come back and udpate.

[oem.plus_440gc]

Originally Posted by fs34

Thanks for the write up!

What does this upgrade provide? I like the dash on my 335, am I missing something?

One major thing this upgrade provides is having the M View information in the HUD. This will put the tach/gear info in the HUD along with speed. I felt the HUD stock was pretty useless. All it showed for me was speed and speed limit since I used AA for navigation and infotainment. Retrofitting the F8X cluster atleast makes me feel the HUD is useful along with a super clean, classy, classic, analog cluster with white backlighting and the lights on the tach near redline.

[PhO3n1X]

Thanks for detailed feedback oem.plus_440gc ! Does this adapter show dynamic engine warmup redline indicator on tachometer or always stays with 2 red strips?

[oem.plus_440gc]

Originally Posted by PhO3n1X

Thanks for detailed feedback oem.plus_440gc ! Does this adapter show dynamic engine warmup redline indicator on tachometer or always stays with 2 red strips?

It is not dynamic. One yellow 2 red at all times.

I'll keep updating if anything changes!

[SuspecTARX]

Originally Posted by triax37

Following up on this - the gauges do not look backlit from the pictures. Any thoughts from people who have completed this project? Thanks!

I've fitted an F8x cluster in my F30 330d and it is backlit during the day with only the DRLs on, but the backlight is very dim tbh, might be a way to adjust this with coding

[SuspecTARX]

Originally Posted by fs34

Thanks for the write up!

What does this upgrade provide? I like the dash on my 335, am I missing something?

To be honest it's not that different from the regular F3x cluster with extended scope aka 6WA, but for me it's the little things that are different and make it look better for me personally.

1)The digital speed is displayed like 2 or 3 times bigger than in an F3x cluster and it also seems to refresh much faster.

2)Design of the gauge faces and the digital instantaneous consumption display looks nicer, more modern imo

3)Cut off and slightly differently shaped rings around the gauges look nicer

4)The ///M logo under the speedo looks much nicer than totaly unused space like the regular cluster

5)White backlight with the red speedo needles are also nice, but might be more tyring for your eyes at night than the red backlight, although you can turn down the brightness to a pretty low amount tbh

I probably missed some things, but for other people it would probably be different anyways

[SuspecTARX]

Originally Posted by oem.plus_440gc

Ok. Update time.

Just got everything installed today. Not everything as smooth as I had hoped, but about as smooth as I expected...

1. Adapter harness. Works great from cho_tedd on ebay and he was helpful today in trying to get a glitch figured out. It seems as though the speed limit info (in both cluster and HUD) are not compatible with the adapter. I can't confirm if this is only an issue with the adapter from ebay, or if this would happen with the adapter from bimecu as well. I reached out to MoeTE87 and he unfortunately does not have speed limit info on his car to compare. If anyone else gets the bimecu adapter and has speed limit info working, I'd love to know. UPDATE: Tried removing the adapter and plugging the cluster direct to the car and the speed limit info worked. So the adapter I have is not compatible with that option. I'm speaking to bimecu as well to see if theirs would be compatible.

2. Virginization/coding. I don't think I would not recommend the ebay seller I used for this. They were quite slow in the process and in the end, the coding needed to be redone so I ended up using coding dynamics who got me up and running in about 10 minutes. Full disclosure. Virginization was advertised as $130 (was advertised for 6WB). After sending the cluster he asked if I wanted him to code it as well so it would just be plug and play when I got it back. I said sure as long as he knew the coding for the F8X cluster to F3X. He said no problem. $50. He had my cluster for about 2 week to virginize and code and when I got the final invoice it showed $180 for virginization and $50 for coding. Apparently, clusters after 2015 have a newer chip that take longer to virginize and are therefore more expensive. Figured, whatever, I'm not getting the cluster back without paying, so I paid. Got my cluster installed this morning and nothing was working right coding wise. Got on the laptop with coding dynamics and had it up and running in 10 minutes, so that was another $50 down the drain for coding that didnt work.

Overall, I'm super happy with the upgrade. But if anyone else wants to do this, my recommendation would be to reach out to coding dynamics on IG directly and have them send you a fully coded F8X cluster (and have him for live support when installing if you have any issues). All in here's my cost breakdown.

Cluster - $175 +$20 shipping (cluster has a few scratches in the lens, but I'll swap it with the lens from my stock cluster to make it look brand new).

Coding/Virginization - $130 + $50 (2015+ cluster) + $50 coding (didnt work) + $150 coding from coding dynamics

Adapter - ebay cho_tedd - $200 + $50 shipping. Definitely would recommend (especially if you don't have speed limit info). Again, not sure if speed limit info would work with the bimecu adapter so source may not matter.

All in, about $830. Granted I could have saved $50 by not having the ebay seller "code" the cluster, but I don't think you can really do this properly for much under $800. Take that for what its worth. To me, it was worth it to gain what is, IMO, a much nicer cluster and the addition of the M HUD features.

If I were to do it again, I would probably just buy a virginized/coded cluster directly from coding dynamics, the adapter from ebay, and know it would be a 10 minute hassle free install once I got the cluster and adapter. Should still be right in the $800-$850 range I believe.

Still cheaper than a 6WB, and for me, I prefer the looks of the cluster and the features of the M HUD to the 6WB. Others may not.

Couple more things I figured I'd mention (SPECIFIC TO HAVING THE ADAPTER).

Eco/Comfort/Sport/Sport+ modes. When flipping through they do display in the center portion of the display the way they do on the 6WA, however there is no Eco mode so it only displays 3 options, but you center idrive screen allows you to scroll through all 4 modes. Where the DCT shift aggressiveness indicator is in the cluster will go through the 3 modes and fill the blocks there accordingly. Again, with 4 modes on the F30, but only 3 modes on the cluster, you end up with slightly different alignment between. I never use eco, so that doesnt matter to me. Comfort/Sport/Sport+ is all i need and works just fine in the cluster.

S/D on the shifter. This works just find as well, however, once you take manual mode, there's no way to tell the difference between manual and sport shift.

Thanks to MoeTE87 for answering some of my questions along the way. If anyone has any questions, feel free to hit me up as well. I can share pics/vids/etc as needed, but didnt post any for now as mine looks pretty much identical to Moes.

Just wanted to add a disclaimer about this specific adapter from cho_tedd, in the description it says that it won't work with 2013 model year, I have contacted him about this as I don't have an adapter in my setup at the moment and I have a 2013 F30, good news is that his friend has managed to make it work on his 2013 F30 by updating the I-STEP level of the whole car (he said that updating just a few modules would probably be enough), so just keep that in mind if you have a 2013 or older F3x and want to do the retrofit. Haven't pulled the trigger on the adapter myself just yet, so can only share what I've been told