E-28 Fuse Box

[Tango]

Some time ago I read where a fuse box from a six series was swapped with the current ceramic style box. My fuses keep working loose - and my previous one showed signs of melting. Anybody upgraded their boxes? 84 533i (276,000km)

[kaoru-tochiro]

If there's melting going on you probably have short circuits around the chassis due to water getting in from rust. Bend the tabs up so there is more tension on the fuses

[Tango]

Thanks

I know I have a short somewhere - everytime I hit a major bump my engine shuts off - I can re-start in while still moving by putting it in neutral ( necessary when on the freeway) - car starts every time til the next bump.. Car is in Winter storage and will have a mechanic check it out - Where should he look first - this is probably one of those simple jobs that takes 5 hours to find.

[kaoru-tochiro]

That could very well be the main rellay or fuel pump rellay, replace them they cost like 7 or 15 dollars from BMP Design catalog.

[Tango]

Thanks - will try that : Two more - How difficult is it to replace the bulb behind the heater controls - cannot see them in the dark? and my dash is cracked - anbody have experience with the dash caps?

[kaoru-tochiro]

You're welcome, for the bulbs the sliding knobs can be pulled off but the rotating ones, you have to pull the console cover out...it's tricky because you must first remove the radio and get to the ones that bolt up into the dashboard, its a pain but once you start its pretty simple.

About the cracked dashboard, BMP design has these covers that stick to the original dashboars, right on top so it ends up looking like the original, and they have a lifetime guarantee against cracking. they are like $87. good luck

[Tango]

Thanks again

I have had the body redone/paint, new fenders, heads done and am trying to clean up the details. Still need new wheels/tires and shocks. Contemplating the Ronal R26 but have recently noticed a few people say they have put on wheels from an E34. My leather is perfect. Also need to fix the cruise control. Woulld also like to put on a front spoiler - but most are not simple bolt-ons.

[kaoru-tochiro]

You're welcome again! seems like you're doing a restoration. Yeah I've seen guys with the E34 wheels, but I've also seen e28 with e36 M3 wheels. You should post us some pictures of the work progress, I'm working on a 1984 528 e, the engine is really good, doesn't burn any oil but it has minor rust, I have a mig welder, all I need now is the right weather. The 5 speed is solid but the diff has a little play, it bucks bad when I let go and push on the gas. Good luck fixing it!

[Xzilla]

The fusebox melting in a 533i is a common problem. I went thru two myself before I did some research to find out the problem a few years ago. It's an undersized wire going to the aux electric fan for the radiator. Too much current is drawn thru the fuse and causes it to heat up...and melt the plastic around it. If I can re-find the fix for it, I'll post it. It's essentially just pulling a larger feed wire to the fan from the fusebox. '84 533i (260,000 miles)

[4-Door Flunky]

Howdy.
I had a dark heater control panel, too. There are two bulbs in it. I think the one you're interested in is on the bottom right-hand corner of the panel (sitting in the car, facing the panel).
It's not hard to get the panel loose. You take out the two screws at the top which hold the 'ring' around the panel. Once the outer ring is off, you can reach right into the socket, no need to take out the radio or anything else.
If you're talking about a light on the actual knobs, I've seen two ways those light up. My 1985 535 came from the factory with tiny 'mini-boards' that lit up an LED in the knob. It's almost impossible to take the controls loose without breaking off the tabs that attach to the wires to send juice to light up the knobs. I robbed the heating panel out of a 528, and that one has one wire with three little female hook-up spots on it to attach to each control. This single wire with three hookups comes out of that bulb in the bottom right corner of the panel, so if that bulb (which lights up the fan switch part of the panel) is good, the rest of the panel lights up, too.
It still didn't work, at first, but I drove for a couple of days, and it just lit up on its own. The bulb must not have been in good...which might be your problem, too.
Flunky
PS-I saw an uncracked dash on eBay a month ago...it sold for over $400. I've decided to live with the cracks.
My fuse box is slightly melted. I had a bunch of problems, especially the no-start problem you described. I discovered that a lot of those fuses can look fine, and actually not work. I bought the whole set of fuses on eBay for $10 and replaced every last one of them. That solved my problems. Before I did that, I spent $15 on a main relay, and $30 on a fuel relay from the dealership. I still don't know if that was my problem, or one crappy fuse going to the fuel pump. Change that fuel pump fuse before you spend any money on other goodies.