E30 On Board Computer removal DIY

[Mark 178]

My OBC backlight doesn't work. Everything I read on the subject says it's a PITA to remove the OBC to get to the light-bar that needs replacing. "You'll have to remove your glovebox", "you'll need to remove half of your interior including the gear lever and handbrake surrounds" they say.

One article mentions that it can be done without tearing apart your car, but only if you have tiny carny hands. I don't, but they are rather slender... so I thought I'd give it a shot. And it was way easier than I expected.

P.S: Sorry for the crappy phone pics, They make it look like I have albino ghost hands or something.

STEP 1:

Remove your stereo. I don't have one installed currently (because I knew I'd just have to take it out again when I decided to do this).

STEP 2:

Pop out the hazard lights switch, and the rear demister switch. Unplug and set aside.

STEP 3:

Remove the ashtray/ciggy lighter. The reason for this will be clear later on.

STEP 4:

Up under the switches you removed are two phillips head screws holding the top of the console in place.

Here:

And here:

Remove them (obviously)

STEP 5:

Two more phillips head screws are located here:

And here:

You'll need a stumpy screw driver to remove these screws as they are located at a tricky angle. This is probably the hardest part of this DIY.

STEP 6:

Once you've wrestled the screws free, you can gently prise the left of the console forward.

Then pull the whole thing to the left to unclip the right hand side.

STEP 7:

The console is free and can be moved forward about 5 centimetres. Don't pull too hard because the heater controls and OBC are still attached to the plastic panel.

Now the slightly tricky bit, which you need carny hands for. Remove the four phillips head screws holding the OBC to the console. You won't get any sort of screwdriver behind there so grip the screwdriver bit with some pliers and unscrew one corner at a time, being careful not to drop the screwdriver bit.

The bottom right screw can actually be removed with a short screwdriver if your hand is flexible enough.

STEP 8:

The OBC is free! Now simply pull the lightbar out from the right hand side with your pliers, replace it (or solder in some new 6v globes) and put everything back together in reverse order!

This took me about an hour to do and I suck at DIY'ing. So it's certainly not as hard as some forum posts on the net make it out to be. Hope this helps some DIY noobs like me to get their OBC glowing in the dark again.

Edited May 16, 2009 by _Mark_