Dodgy Instrument Cluster!!

[BM-BOY]

Hello!

My '89 535ise seems to have an intermittant fault...
When I first bought the car, everything was fine, but after about 2 weeks of driving, the obc told me brake linings need replacing... This I haven't yet done due to lack of cash, but plan to do before end of the month...

Anyway, since these messages started coming up, the fuel, temp, and consumption guages in the cluster have stopped working intermittantly. Also, when the guages stop working, the obc display also dissapears, yet the obc still functions correctly... It seems to me like a dodgy connection or something, but before I attempt to remove the whole dashboard, I was wondering whether this has happened to anyone else, and if so, what did you do to rectify??

Many thanks in advance!

Carl

[Kai@e34.de]

your dash is out of order (circuit board), i guess you have one with a grey back side? they fail often. try to get a newer one with a white or blue back side from another 535i.

[BM-BOY]

Thanks for that...

I forgot to mention... If I put my foot down, and drive it like I stole it, everything comes back online, and works fine, sometimes for the rest of the journey, sometimes for a minute... Could it still be a faulty circuit board if it works fine sometimes??

[Kai@e34.de]

sure, one or more loose connections in the circuit board, faulty capacitors... how i said, these old dashes with the grey back side (you can recognize it by the missing ASC light between the speedo- and the tachometer) often fail.

[DanH]

Its cheaper to just replace the capacitors than the whole cluster.

Heres a how to for that:

http://www.bmwe34.net/e34main/maintenance/electrical/capacitors.htm

[Javier]

or partially damaged fuse. Check F1, F17 and F20, specially F17 and F20 if OBC is involved.

Javier

[BM-BOY]

One last thought - Before this problem started, I was driving along one night when my lights stopped working on main beam, so i stopped, popped the hood, and had a look round the fuse box. Suddenly main beam was back on again, but when i shut the hood, lights went out again, this time only side lights working. I popped the hood again, fiddled with some loose wires, looked at the fuse box etc... Lights came back on!! This time they remained on for the rest of the journey...

Anyway, it had been raining at the time, not too bad, but earlier in the day it had been pretty heavy so I guessed water could have gotten into the electrics somehow...

A couple of days later, I obtained some de-water spray (like wd-40) and sprayed around all the electrics I could see...

Do you think this may be causing my problem???

[DanH]

Sounds like your LKM needs similar treatment as your instrument cluster.
Search archives for LKM...

[BM-BOY]

Thanks guys,

Just one last question, I promise...

What the hell is the LKM??? Stupid I know, but I have read all about how it causes things to go wrong etc, but what is it, and more importantly, where is it??

[Omega]

LKM = Light Kontrol Module

Does what it says on the box, controls the lights. IIRC its in the relay box in the engine bay. Big, long black plastic thing with LKM stamped on it.

Search this forum with "LKM Fix". There's tons of information on it.

Also try http://www.bmwe34.net/E34main/Maintenance/Electrical/LKM.htm

[Kalevera]

First off, welcome.

Secondly: don't drive around with a brake lining check control message -- the linings are bad; that's not only a stupid risk of your own life, but jeopardizing the lives of others, especially if you're driving the car like you stole it.

Be sure to read http://www.bmwe34.net. Most, if not all, of the issues listed are discussed on that site.

best, whit