Passat B6 MFD repair/replacement help

[D13S3L]

Hi all,

With the weather warming up I've noticed my mfd is fading to the point it's not visible. Other times I can see some lines brighter than others. Long story short I'm on the hunt for a fix.
upon the few days I've spent researching I've come to the conclusion I possibly have the following options:

1. Replace the whole cluster
2. Replace just the display
3. Retrofit colour display (wishful thinking this one)

Problems:
1. Apparently cluster has to have under 100km on it in order to be able to change to current car mileage. Also requires vcds/vagcom which I don't own nor have any idea how to use. Also the potential that the mfd is on its last legs too. Apart from that a full cluster doesn't seem too expensive off eBay (anywhere from $50-150)
2. There are some floating around eBay but not sure how reliable they are. Found a company called pixel fix that sell one that looks the same but looking just under $200 shipped. Also from 1 video I found on YouTube it seems some extremely fine soldering is required.
3. Seen a few of these done and they look great but no instructions on how except some more vagcom work required. also unsure if these clusters fit straight in or modifications are required.

My question is has anyone tried any of these methods? If so was it difficult or pretty straight forward?
Are there any companies/persons (preferably within the Melbourne region) that could do any of the above?
Worst case scenario can anyone point me in the right direction for the best place to start learning about vagcom


option 3 would be the best but I'm predicting pretty costly and difficult. Option 2 seems a better choice over option 1 as a brand new display should get me out of trouble for time to come where as the cluster could be on it's way out also being the car is now a decade old.

Thanks in advance for any help/advice. Apologies if this has already been covered. I've searched high and low with not much more than a lot of people complaining of the same issues and being told take it to a dealer (these posts being 5-8 years old now).


Andrew

[Passat my07]

You could try calling Howard Instruments and see if they can repair it. It might avoid some of your other problems. They are in west Heidelberg.

[D13S3L]

Thanks Passat my07. Gave them a ring today and they are getting back to me with a price tomorrow. Just need to see if they have the display in stock or can get their hands on it.