Dashboard goes dead!!

[Markash]

I have an 89 525i and from time to time, all the gauges on the dashboard will just go dead while driving. Speedometer, tach, temp, message center and fuel all just die. Blinkers still work, and once the car sits for a bit, upon start up the gauges will all be fine. Any one else have this problem, and if so, what is the fix? I thought I had read in a repair manual that this can happen due to some sort of re-chargeable battery, but am clueless as to where to find it. HELP!!!

[John Antan]

Originally Posted by Markash

I have an 89 525i and from time to time, all the gauges on the dashboard will just go dead while driving. Speedometer, tach, temp, message center and fuel all just die. Blinkers still work, and once the car sits for a bit, upon start up the gauges will all be fine. Any one else have this problem, and if so, what is the fix? I thought I had read in a repair manual that this can happen due to some sort of re-chargeable battery, but am clueless as to where to find it. HELP!!!

Dear Markash,
I have the same problem you have/had but my loudest chime sounds after I hit the brakes and the dash controls go out. When I restart and
not step on the brake..........it's normal. I'm new to this forum so will give you an email address to reply [email protected]
Many thanks,
John

[zmuff]

By the symptoms both of you descibed, it sounds like the capacitors on the back of the instrument cluster are going bad. It's happened to a lot of folks, mine acts strange every once in a while but not bad enough for me to open up the instrument cluster and replace the capcitors. To do this job you will need to comfortable with soldering on printed circuit boards. Here is a link that describes the repair. On the left column select "FIXES", then "ELECTRONICS", and finally "DASH CLUSTER CAPS". There are tons of other fixes on this site also, it's for the e32 7 series but most of the fixes will still be the same. Good luck.
Mike

Johan and Sean's e32 Page