Weird electrical problem

[gt90]

I just bought a 1989 535im (see my other post) and I am having a strange problem with the check control and trip odometer. Every time I shut my car off and restart it, the trip odometer will reset itself to zero. I have had the car since late yesterday and just a little while ago the check control display was in german at start-up and stayed in german until I shut the car off and restarted it, then it went back to the english-us setting. The previous owner said he replaced the battery pretty much right before I got the car. Could this cause what I'm experiencing, is there a hook-up around the battery somewhere that he might not have plugged back in that could cause this. Also the OBC works fine and keeps it's info. Is there anyone who has experienced this problem that can shed some light on it?

[wingman]

The electronic display on early E34s is prone to this kind of thing. There is some good info on www.bmwe34.net as well as a miriad of ideas posted on this site. Check the 'search' section and you'll find heaps of stuff. You definately aren't alone with this problem.

[gt90]

Right after I posted this I realized I could search for it, and I found some helpful stuff. Apparently it's the capacitors in the gauge cluster. That's good to know that it's not a wiring problem.
Do I have to take the whole dash apart to replace the capacitors?

[Alexlind123]

No, you just have to take the instrument cluster out, its very easy. There are two screws ont he top to remove before it pops out. You may have to remove the steering wheel as well, which is trivial, you just have to remember to mark it so you get the wheel back on straight.

You can probably find detailed instructions by searching the forums, or the web.