# Blue Needle Cluster Swap



## usaf-lt-g (May 16, 2012)

I'm getting ready to do a blue needle cluster swap on my Premium MFD cluster. As many of you know you can purchase the "Blue Needles" on ebay for roughly $60.... however... you only get the needles and nothing else. The swap requires small electronics skillsets and small form factor de-soldering / soldering skills to correctly swap the needles, which means opening up you instrument cluster and performing surgery. If the needles are swapped without this surgery, then when they turn on at night.... they won't shine blue... they'll shine a weird combination of colors since the lights on the board are default RED. 

If anyone's interested in doing this to their own cluster (doesn't have to be a premium mfa... I can do it to any MFA), I can do this for you (for a fee of course), but you'll have to procure yourself the needles and then ship your cluster to me to perform the swap. PM ME FOR DETAILS.

I'll post pics once I have my own done.


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## OEMplusCC (Jan 27, 2013)

Nice, so you figured out which leds need to be swapped. I had blue needles but I sold them because I didn't feel like breaking open my cluster. 
Nice job! You are encouraging me to look into this again


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## CCR.J (Aug 24, 2014)

Very curious - what makes the cluster "premium" or not? I've been trying to track down a legit "full color" MFD gauge cluster - preferably with the blue needles already installed. Now, I've found several on Aliexpress ranging from 3-500$ or more - but have been dissuaded from purchasing by other members who've said they won't work, must have some kind of voodoo to make it work, etc. 

Interestingly, many I found were obviously EU units with the speedo in KPH - but I did find one in MPH, with blue needles, that ran to 200 mph max instead of 180 - which I'd so love to buy if it will work. But not if it's a $550 waste of money. My hands are too shakey to perform delicate surgery / de-re-soldering needed just for the needles. I know that these aren't EU only options, as I've seen a few NA gen1 CC's (usually early 09-10 loaded V6 Lux (max) models intended for Canada iirc). Not sure how crucial, but suspect the RNS510 is also required in order for it to play nice. 

Anyone with info / successful upgrade experience to one of these would be MUCH appreciated!! 
TIA


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## romney (Aug 21, 2010)

MFA Premium Instrument Cluster










Premium = full color.

I have a UK OEM blue needle cluster - 3C8 920 880 H. 200MPH/Celsius Temp. The cluster was swapped at the dealership. This needs to be done with VW computers to transfer the mileage from the old cluster to the new. No problems with an RCD510. With the addition of the RNS510, the MFD displays the nav screens.

Here are couple videos of my cluster:











Check my sig for all my OEM mods.

Viel Spaß!


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## BORA RSI (Oct 19, 2001)

Premium is the color screen in the middle.


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## romney (Aug 21, 2010)

BORA RSI said:


> Premium is the color screen in the middle.


Curious, did you also install the Multi Function Steering Wheel with Tiptronic paddles?

Here's a pic of mine with the cluster and the OEM replacement steering wheel with paddles.










Viel Spaß!


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## BORA RSI (Oct 19, 2001)

Mine came with palddles but I didn't like them lol. And the steering wheel I had was in my previous cc which was manual. I may upgrade to the new golf r one in the future and maybe do paddles than.


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## usaf-lt-g (May 16, 2012)

Also... to debunk and de-mystify some prior conspiracies about the "Premium MFA" and why some people when doing their swap lost their "Comfort Menu" / "Lights menu" etc.... I just found some very important information:

1) There were 2 types of the premium MFA made. 1 kind that supported 2010 and lower year CCs, and one for 2011+

2) If you have a 2010 (Like me), and got a "newer" made Premium MFA (which I did), the comfort menu and lights disappear. This is because during the 2010 - 2011 Year, Volkswagen decided to upgrade the electrical bus, and the way the "newer" MFA's connect up and communicate with this bus, is different from the old one and therefore it can't communicate correctly. In addition, features like "Bulb out" etc. become buggy if you swap this newer cluster with a 2010 or lower year CC. It'll work... but you'll be missing functionality.

3) There's about a million and one combinations of Clusters and Part #s out there. ETKA (The official VW Parts lookup tool) doesn't give any solid information as to whether a cluster is Color or not, nor does it deal very well with older part #s. 

4) A recent search, and I found that there was in fact a premium MFA (color cluster) made for the 2010 and lower CC, for gasoline based engines, that worked with the older electrical bus... however the Part # I recently found, *3C8 920 880 F* had the speedometer in kM/h..... I have been trying to find out what the equivalent part # is for this MFA but with a speedometer in MPH. So far... I have been unsuccessful. If I do find it however.... I will be putting my "Newer Model Premium MFA" for sale for someone as I don't plan to be trading my car in any time soon.


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## usaf-lt-g (May 16, 2012)

SO FYI.... I just found the correct Part # for a >2010 Premium Cluster if you want all the functionality you previously had (Comfort Menu / Lights Menu / etc.) - *3C8 920 980 MX* - This is a Volkswagen CC Specific for model years 2009 - 2010 etc with a premium MFA and will work with your bus correctly.

This means, that I'll be selling my other Premium MFA which is meant for 2011+ newer CCs. *3C8 920 980 T* PM me if interested.


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## usaf-lt-g (May 16, 2012)

An update on this.

I am HAPPY AS HELL to report, that my assumptions were absolutely 100% correct about the premium cluster. Once I replaced my cluster with the appropriate model year, ALL previously original functionality and menus appeared in the cluster. Comfort menu, lights and convenience, coming home leaving home... All there! In addition I performed the blue needle swap / electronics board modification which makes a nice difference. 









For 2010 models. This is the premium MFA you want.









Performing surgery on the MFA for LED swap (this is absolutely necessary if you want blue needles!!!!!! )









Comfort and lighting menus now present again!











Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## OEMplusCC (Jan 27, 2013)

Awesome job man. Love OEM+ mods


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## DarthBajan (Oct 22, 2008)

Where were you able to get the correct cluster from?


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## akipal (Nov 28, 2009)

*Premium MFA Cluster*



usaf-lt-g said:


> SO FYI.... I just found the correct Part # for a >2010 Premium Cluster if you want all the functionality you previously had (Comfort Menu / Lights Menu / etc.) - *3C8 920 980 MX* - This is a Volkswagen CC Specific for model years 2009 - 2010 etc with a premium MFA and will work with your bus correctly.
> 
> This means, that I'll be selling my other Premium MFA which is meant for 2011+ newer CCs. *3C8 920 980 T* PM me if interested.


is it for sale?

i have a couple question
can it be reset the milage?

i also bought a MFA cluster, part number 3C8920980TX
but it had a small problem
speedometer lags
if you accelerate or brake needle reaches to the actual speed in 2-3 seconds later
so even if you stop completely needle is still dropping in near 15-20mph

original part number for cluster is 3C8920971E(2014) or 3C8920971BX (2013)
i notice the part numbers are ending ---1 now 

my second question is what is difference between 3C8920980T and 3C8920980TX?
will 3C8920980T work on 2014 model?

thank you


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## usaf-lt-g (May 16, 2012)

*3C8 920 980 T - Premium MFA with R-Line Blue Needles*

*3C8 920 980 T - Premium MFA with R-Line Blue Needles* Will work properly on 2011+ models. 

Just finished this one, and it's ready to go any lucky person who wants it. *$570 USD* (I've had a few offers already).

you will need to flash your miles to it. If you don't know how to do this, I suggest you take it to your local dealer, and they can do it for you (There's several options besides just the miles that actually need to be exported from your current cluster, and transferred over... so that's why I suggest just taking it to the dealer if you're not sure how to do this).

Pics:


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