seeking help to rectify instrument cluster problems

[E28 Master of diguises 0]

Hi there ppl i was wondering if there is anyone out their that are bmw mechanics or are enthusiasts at heart that could help a like-minded person like myself that is wanting to gain a bit of BMW knowledge.

the problem that i have is i have just replaced my dash cluster i have all important dials going ( speedo, rev counter) but i still have problems with the odometer is not rolling over, and the fuel meter and temp is still inaccurate

Can someone please help I'll be willing to exchange a box of beers in return for a bit of helping out

please help me I would like to get this Ole skool beema up and rolling as well as legal beagle and on the road

[BM WORLD 1258]

Hi there ppl i was wondering if there is anyone out their that are bmw mechanics or are enthusiasts at heart that could help a like-minded person like myself that is wanting to gain a bit of BMW knowledge.

the problem that i have is i have just replaced my dash cluster i have all important dials going ( speedo, rev counter) but i still have problems with the odometer is not rolling over, and the fuel meter and temp is still inaccurate

Can someone please help I'll be willing to exchange a box of beers in return for a bit of helping out

please help me I would like to get this Ole skool beema up and rolling as well as legal beagle and on the road

probably find the the little drive cog that turns the tumblers is broken (quite comon) just remove teh gears mech from your old one .

[ducatiss 1]

Re your fuel and temp - when you say they are inaccurate what do you mean - are they reading low/high/going all over the place..what?

Generally the symptoms that you have described are caused by dead or dying batteries on the SI (Service Indicator) board inside your cluster. Have you replaced these? The E30 ones are actually soldered on.

Another thing that will cause this is bad connections from the gauges themselves. Make sure that the we nut the holds the gauge to the board has a washer and that its clean and tight so that an electrical connection is made. As you have an E28 Im only guessing that they are similar in construction to the E30

Edited March 27, 2008 by ducatiss

[E28 Master of diguises 0]

Re your fuel and temp - when you say they are inaccurate what do you mean - are they reading low/high/going all over the place..what?

Generally the symptoms that you have described are caused by dead or dying batteries on the SI (Service Indicator) board inside your cluster. Have you replaced these? The E30 ones are actually soldered on.

Another thing that will cause this is bad connections from the gauges themselves. Make sure that the we nut the holds the gauge to the board has a washer and that its clean and tight so that an electrical connection is made. As you have an E28 Im only guessing that they are similar in construction to the E30

I deem to say when the gauges are reading inaccurately it means that yes they are reading all over the place for the fuel and the water temp isn't moving at all

[ducatiss 1]

Well the easiest thing for you may well be to go into a car wreckers and see if you can source another complete unit. I think he fault is in the cluster itself from what you have described rather than in the sensors. As already said, most likely your problems stem from the onboard SI board batteries. These batteries can also split and corrode shorting out the board. If the board is still ok, you can unsolder the existing batteries and either solder in new ones (the hard way) or preferably, solder them into a remote battery holder that you would get from the likes of Dick Smith so that you can easily change them in the future. I would still price an E28 cluster as the price may be quite reasonable. You could also check Trademe as there are often a few 5 series being parted out. I ended making up one good cluster out of three here !!