Electrical problem on '88 735i

:confused:

okay! here's my story. when I first bought my car about 7yrs ago from my cousin, car already came w/ intermitent tail light problem. when I drive it at night ,after awhile I get the annoying sounds and, a message about my tail lights being out. then, it will turn back on again later. weird... anyways, I drove it like that for a while. till about two years ago took it to European shop and got diagnose. the shop told me that I have a bad computer board and need to be replaced. so, they replace it but, the problem never went away. went back a few times but, everytime car in the shop it never does the problem. finally I got fed up w/ it and never went back. then, about a week ago my right low beam went out. thinking just a light bulb. but after replacing the bulb still no light. I ask my uncle if he could take alook why is not working. after he checked it w/ a tester ( looks like a screw driver w/ pointy tip & LED ) he told me there's no power on the cable that plugs to low beam bulb. I don't know how that happen but, he did ( temp fix so, I won't get pull over ) a micky mouse job where he attach to parking lights to get positive line. now the freaking right headlights comes on when ever parking lights is switch to on. or, everytime I set the car alarm. sometimes I wonder if it's better to just sell the car cuz, this year everything starting to fall apart on this car. put new trany, H2O pump, fan clutch, shocks, and the two front end arms. I think thats what it's called cuz, stearing wheels was shacking alot. anyhow, last night my left headlight wasn't working. and all the messages are going haywire on the dashboard. also, I forget to mention the digits# below odometer has broken numbers too. been like that the day I got my car. then, out of frustration lastnight I kept pressing the plastic cover for Tach & Speedometer and, realized everytime I push the cover on the bottom, those broken digits comes back on. anyone ever had this problem? or, think it's a short somewhere on my dashboard. for sure today as soon I get home from work I'll remove the cable that my Uncle attach to parking lights. and, hopefully the left headlight comes back on. are BMW 7 series known for electrical problem. anyone else had a tail light problem? what did you do to fixed it? is there even a fix for this type of problem besides, re-wiring the whole car. I think the car is possess or, maybe Cristine is back and use my car as a disguise. :devil:
sorry for such a long post. I'm actually debating w/ myself if I should post it or not. but, then again I really need you guys help and advised so, I post it.

To everyone, thank you in advanced.
viper2m

The lighting problem is a known problem and is very cheap to fix. You have to resolder some relay contacts. In the LKM and in the mustard coloured relay.

More on that here:
http://www.evansweb.info/repairs/mustard_relay.html
and:
http://maxf.freeyellow.com/soldering.htm

As for the dash take it out and clean it. This could solve that problem aswell.

:sun: Johan

Johan735,

Thanks for the reply & for all the fixed info. you've provided. believed it or, not. up to this time I'm still dealing w/ those annoying messages on my dashboard and, tail lights still going on & off. but, tomorrow I will call in sick at work and, start working on those relay. just, curious! why those relay cost so much? or, is there any other manufacturer besides BMW who manufactured this relay? or any third party. (Generic brand)

anyways, thanks again for your help.

viper2m

To my knowledge there is no other manufacterer that makes these relays. When you open it you'll see it's just 2 relays on a PCB and nothing more....shouldn't cost more then $10....but hey there is "BMW" printed on the side...

There is a company that sells rebuild LKMs but the price is still WAY to high for what is is.

I see you posted the message on Jun 2002. That's a long wait to get a reply. There are some more active forums for the BMW e32 (7 series from 1988-1994) link www.thee32register.co.uk and
http://bimmer.roadfly.org/bmw/forums/e32/

:sun: Johan

Johan

Yeah! your right! I did waited for a while w/ no respond. then, I just forget about it. till a few days ago, got email from this forum that, you did reply to my post. Thanks again. anyways, the trick to resolder the relay board WORKS. :D gussshh! can't beleived it, after all those years I put up w/ the annoying bell and sensor messages, it only took not even 15min. to get rid off it. (relay only) haven't touch the KLM board yet. but, YES it Works...

Also, thanks for inprovising new links.

Regards,
viper2m

:frog:

Dear Sir,

I hope you would be able to help me.

I have a 88/89 BMW 735i, Chassis No.:02763772. What started happening is that whenever the vehicle is switched on and started the ding-dong starts going.
The following are then also dead on the dasboard: the petrol guage, the temp guage, the LED display where all the errors are displayed. The ref counter are however working. When I press the brake peddal the ding-dong would sometime quite down and it would seem that the LED display get brighter but it is still not displaying anything.

Sometimes when I ref the engine up to over 4000rpm the LED display and the other guages would start working.

Could you please tell me what is wrong to allow me to have this problem fixed.

This is my second 735i and it is a lovely vehicle but I don't want to spend thousands of rands running from one place to another while everybody tries to fix the problem.

Thanks in advance for your help

Johan de Klerk

Dear Sir,

I hope you would be able to help me.

I have a 88/89 BMW 735i, Chassis No.:02763772. What started happening is that whenever the vehicle is switched on and started the ding-dong starts going.
The following are then also dead on the dasboard: the petrol guage, the temp guage, the LED display where all the errors are displayed. The ref counter are however working. When I press the brake peddal the ding-dong would sometime quite down and it would seem that the LED display get brighter but it is still not displaying anything.

Sometimes when I ref the engine up to over 4000rpm the LED display and the other guages would start working.

Could you please tell me what is wrong to allow me to have this problem fixed.

This is my second 735i and it is a lovely vehicle but I don't want to spend thousands of rands running from one place to another while everybody tries to fix the problem.

Thanks in advance for your help

Johan de Klerk

Hello Johan,

The problems you are describing might have two causes:
- A bad contact on the code plug. On the early models the plug is installed in the brown connector that goes into the instrument cluster. Try cleaning the contacts with electrical contact cleaner spray.
- Deffective caps in the dashboard. Have a look at http://bmwe32.student.utwente.nl under "dash cluster caps". If you are uncomfortable soldering new caps just print the webpage and take the cluster with the page to a tv repairshop. They'll do it for a small fee.

Kind regards,
Johan

Hi Johan,

Thank you very much.

I am going to have someone do it for me tomorrow.

Thanks again for the reply.

Johan de Klerk

Hi Johan,

Thank you very much for your help and suggestion.

It worked 100%.

My dash is back to normal and you guys saved me a ton of money.

These forums and websites is a life and money saver.

Regards

Johan de Klerk

Glad I could help you!

Cheers,
Johan