I just wanted to thank the guys above for getting me pointed around the right way.
i have an oddball VAG car, the 2002 A6 with the 3.0NA is lowest in the market and lowest in support/info.
as suggested i used vag eeprom and the kkl cable. i have linked it below to save future effort.
Also, dumping you the bin here (will add to cluster bin forum too). Maybe it can be useful to some future need.
The good news... I was able to pull the VDO cluster's eeprom and overwrote the new cluster.
I made sure my cable was setup on the proper com and plugged it into the OBDII port.
turned the car to the on position
open the software and verified connection by reading the cluster using DASH
this read the eeprom and the sw loaded it to the main window. i saved it off for good measure.
I then swapped clusters, cycling power on the car to swap clusters, but leaving the SW open.
i then wrote the eeprom the new cluster.
This was easier and safer than any other method described anywhere on any forums, plus it worked flawlessly in less steps.
pin 1673
thanks again!