Lights on warning buzzer E34 520i 1988

[Benjy]

Please can anyone help as My e34 520i 1988 did not come standard with lights on buzzer and I keep forgetting to switch my lights off. I bought a little 12v buzzer with 2 wires but not sure of the best way of fitting it. Let me point out I am a real beginner (mong) when it comes to electrics so please talk in real la-mans terms. I have googled all sorts but can not find anything for a BMW e34 on this subject. Any help much appreciated

Many thanks

[whiskychaser]

Wiring diagrams are here:
Free Phone System Manuals Voice Communications 800 593-6000 (http://www.wedophones.com/BMWManualsLead.htm)
The later clusters are linked to the door switches and the bong. The earlier ones dont appear have that facility. You could take a switched live (not a permanent live) from the light switch and negative from the door switch and the buzzer will work.
Or maybe consider fitting a later cluster and bong:
http://www.exx.se/maintenance/instrument_cluster_e34/index.shtml
I think that should give you the 'lights on?' warning but you would have to confirm that when buying

[shogun]

is the gong working at all? See here
gong repair

http://www.bimmernut.com/forum/5-series-bmw/27342-gong-repair.html


How I Fixed The Gong - by Ian Nicholson :)

Hi Everyone,

Well, my gong didn't work. All the readings of the manual telling me how the gong would warn me of all manner of things left me feeling empty, worthless and alone.

All my friends on bimmer.info had working gongs - and loved them. For me, the sound of silence announced the Check Control display. I could only look on with weary eyes and wonder what 's song could possibly accompany the sheer poetry of "LIMIT 50Km/h".

Alas, I was doomed never to hear the dulcet tone of the BMW E34 5 series gong... or was I?

At once, in a fit of determined outrage I clutched my electric screwdriver and launched myself at the unsuspecting screws that held the panel between the pedals and my steering wheel closely cosseted to the bosom of my Five.

Each fell and surrendered themselves as dull thuds to the footwell carpet.

Soon, and with great trepidation, I gently peeled the panel away. Blinking in the dark I reached for the glovebox torch, and in its pearly light I caught a glimpse of my prize. For there, mummified among the soundproof padding in all it's revealed magnificence was... the BMW gong.

I gently pinched the clips that held it fast in the panel, and plucked the leads such that it dropped as would a ripened fruit into my hands.

Back inside, I pondered this sonic sarcophagus and laid my plans to reveal its contents. Prising each of the four sprung fasteners in turn, I pushed a strip from some forgotten blister back to hold them back. Teasing the top of the Gong out into the light revealed the marvel of modern electronics that BMW themselves demanded a handsome purse of AU$225 to replace.

But there, below, was the source of my scourge. A scurrilously cheap 50mm speaker, cunningly deployed when the rest of the world uses 57mm speakers in their computers and the like. The cruelty! A quick continuity check confirmed my fears, this cancerous component was the source of my misery.

Hunting the malls of the world wide web I found my answer - a 2-inch wide range speaker from Jaycar:

Jaycar Electronics - Better. More Technical. (http://www.jaycar.com.au/)

With my trusty tinsnips, I cut more corners off my speaker than BMW did theirs.

And lo, the speaker fit, and it was good. Freshly partnered to the ancient circuit board with honest solder I quickly reassembled the unit.

Rushing back to my eagerly-awaiting Five I inserted the cables and...

"Bing..." - "LIGHTS ON?"

A tear sprung in my eye...

"Bing...!" - "LIGHTS ON?"

I wanted more. In went the key and the 3.0 litre V8 roared into life! Like a giddy schoolboy I punched the LIMIT button and entered 50km/h.

Off I flew into the night...

"Bing...!" - "LIMIT 50Km/h"

With tears welling in my eyes I could no longer see and had to stop for fear of crashing....

Now we're together I want us never to be apart. My friends are talking to me once more and now my life is complete... again.




Fin.

[Ferrett 1962]

The gong is handy for the lights but I would like to set mine up like modern cars with a timer to switch them off after a programed time.
At the moment the headlights turn off with the ignition leaving the parkers on but I have never left parking lights on when stopping on the side of the road so I don't see the point of them staying on after I leave the car and the indicator light can be left on by moving the stalk past the normal stopping point of either direction anyway, so I am going to fix mine to turn off with the headlights when I turn my car off. This way I will never run the battery flat with the lights and I am sure there is a kit available to retrofit that will shut them off after a set time like newer cars.