Navigation Screen Dim

[Fuji1990]

So had the Z4 a year and half, enjoyed every moment cracking car. Now selling unfortunately feeling the financial pinch at the moment and need something more sensible for the time being.

For the last few months the satnav screen has been getting dimmer despite me trying the manual brightness control in the settings. Now during the day with decent sunlight its very dim and just about readable but at night the screen is completely black, if i flash a torch at it i can see the screen is on. All functions and features still work, i am struggling to find a replacement or anywhere near me that could possibly repair it. Im assuming its a fault with the auto dim feature but im by no means an expert. Wondering if anyone has any insights or had a similar issue?

 

[inkey$]

Welcome Fuji1990.

I think they just get like this with age (mine isn't super bright). The brightness settings don't tend to do a lot on most older cars, and if it has an auto-dim feature (unsure), then thats surely starting to be impacted in similar age related ways.

If yours is dark at night and you need a torch to see the details then possiby the screen itself is on its last legs. Sometimes they come up on here from breaker cars, so have a look through the For Sale/Wanted section and maybe put a wanted ad up. They’re an easy swap over if you do find a replacement.

There may be somebody on here that knows a fix, but I’ve never seen one and just lived with mid noughties nav-brightness.

 

[Fuji1990]

Thanks for the reply inkey$

When i first got the car Feb last year it was bright enough and when i changed the brightness settings it actually made a difference. Now when i change the brightness it makes 0 difference at all and even on a bright day its not always easy to make out whats on the screen. Night time - impossible. I was dreading that as you said its just an age related thing. Theres a small sensor near the screen which i believe is for sensing light levels and adjusting the brightness but have no idea if this is even repairable.

Thanks for the advice ill keep an eye out for a 2nd hand screen on here hopefully wont take long