E30 winter beater needs help (dash lights)

[Lee in Ottawa]

Hey guys, your help is needed again. The dash lights on my 87 325is aren't working. Some of the heater controls light up but not the speedo/tach/gas etc/. I have a potential buyer for it when I'm ready to take the 535 out of storage but the condition is I have to get the dash light working. I've done alot of searching but have found no info on the subject. Hopefully you guys have an anwser. Thanks in advance for your help.

[Warren N.CA]

You can remove the steering wheel and cluster just like an E34, but no airbag to putz with. Then you can access individual bulbs. But having them ALL out seems to point to fuses or something external to cluster.



Hey guys, your help is needed again. The dash lights on my 87 325is aren't working. Some of the heater controls light up but not the speedo/tach/gas etc/. I have a potential buyer for it when I'm ready to take the 535 out of storage but the condition is I have to get the dash light working. I've done alot of searching but have found no info on the subject. Hopefully you guys have an anwser. Thanks in advance for your help.

[winfred]

don't need to pull the wheel on e30

[632 Regal]

yep, check all the fuses with an ohm meter before you do drastic things. too many lights out at once for a bulb to fail as far as I can think.

[Unregistered]

yep, check all the fuses with an ohm meter before you do drastic things. too many lights out at once for a bulb to fail as far as I can think.

I had the same issue and I took care of it a few weeks ago. You have to take off the lower dash trim and then unscrew the thumbscrews behind the trim. Then you can forceably remove the trim behind the wheel. After that you have to take out about six screws which are pretty easy to locate. Then you can pull out the instrument cluster. In there are some little black twisties and you have to twist and pull to remove them. Take out the bulbs and replace them with the 99 cent bulbs you can get at a grocery store. It's pretty easy to do.