Hi everyone,
I’m hoping someone here with experience on Audi instrument clusters can help me figure out an ongoing issue I’ve been dealing with.

I have a 2000 Audi (B5 platform), and originally had an instrument cluster with part number 8D0920932G. Everything worked perfectly at first — RPMs, EPC light, Check Engine light, etc.

Over time, I started noticing the RPMs would randomly stop working, and both the EPC and Check Engine lights wouldn’t turn on. This happened maybe once a month at first, but eventually it became more frequent. Oddly, if I tapped on the cluster, everything would start working again. Toward the end, I had to hit it several times, and eventually, the entire cluster just completely stopped working — no lights, no gauges, nothing would power on at all.

I assumed it might be a wiring issue (RPM signal, EPC/Check Engine wiring), so I picked up a cheap C5 cluster (4B0920936QX) from a local guy. Initially, everything worked except the oil temperature gauge, and I wasn’t able to read or modify the EEPROM to change fuel settings — but I could live with that.

After about 6 months, the same issue started again — RPMs stopped showing, and no EPC or Check Engine light. However, this time the cluster would only work if I held it at a certain angle. If I moved the cables slightly, it would stop working — clearly a contact issue, but only with that cluster. This made me even more confused.

Then I got an S4 cluster (8D0920930GX). With VCDS, I managed to recode it for 4-cylinder use, so the RPMs now display correctly — and no matter how I move the cables or cluster, RPMs always work fine. However, the oil temperature shows 20°C too low, which I assume might be due to a different oil temp gauge or EEPROM mismatch. Could this be fixed by swapping the oil temp gauge from the original A4 B5 cluster?

My second issue with this S4 cluster is that the EPC and Check Engine lights never come on, and I can’t connect to the engine module via VCDS. Strangely, I can still connect to other modules like HVAC and ABS. This has me wondering if the pinout is different between these clusters.

One more strange detail: when I had the C5 cluster installed, the radio backlight (original B5 radio) would only light up 3 buttons when I turned on the ignition. But when I turned on the car’s lights, those 3 would turn off, and the rest of the radio buttons would light up. With the S4 cluster, this issue is completely gone — the radio backlight works as it should. Again, this makes me suspect a pinout mismatch with the C5 cluster.

I’d really appreciate any advice from someone who understands these clusters. Has anyone dealt with similar issues or done these kinds of swaps successfully?

Thanks in advance!

That’s weird though, it’s a gen 3 cluster with the digital clock. I’ve got IMMO off on the ECU, so that shouldn’t be the issue, right? Unless this cluster has a different pinout or something?
According to Audizine, it should be IMMO3

Yeah, the original cluster had a digital clock too, but the speedometer stopped working, so that’s why it was replaced.

What I still don’t get is why I can’t connect to the ECU with the new cluster. From what I understood reading the Audizine article, it should be IMMO3 and support CAN bus communication, so it should work

And you would be wrong.

All 3 part numbers he posted are Gen3 clusters with digital clocks (which are FL only), the only difference is that one is from an A4 B5, one from an A6 C5 and one from a S4 B5.

Your ECU is?
On C5 cluster RPM work via CAN, immo also via CAN, EPC and MIL light also via CAN
If one is nit working anything else will not work