E32/E34 instrument cluster issues - repairs

[Dta36]

hi all,

i'm going to just jump straight into it, i have an e34 535i 1989, and i've been having some tachometer problems. symptoms at the moment are; the tacho will die and drop to 0 and not work whilst driving. sometimes bumps in the road cause it, and most of the time it happens when the headlights are on. it also does happen when the headlights aren't on.. also, when it's playing up, if you rev the car out, it'll flick up from 0 to 5k and stick there even when you're bouncing off the limiter.

this is becoming increasingly more common though there are phases where i'll drive the car a lot without incident..

any ideas? suggestions? theories?

thanks
-jon

no one ever addresses instrument cluster problems..

[ross1]

Sounds like the cluster's capacitors dying, a quick search will get the info you need.
Bouncing off the rev limiter, eh? Search " broken rocker arm" while you're at it.

[Dta36]

lol. isn't it if you adjust the valves regularly (properly) will help with it not breaking? thanks for your advice though! i had a feeling it might be that, everyone i've asked in person said the same thing..i just wanted a second opinion. cheers!

[Onyx86]

Its the capacitors.... I JUST had the same issue and ended up replacing my cluster with one from a 7-series (only one the parts depot had)

Option A, solder new capacitors on
Option B, grab a new one from eBay, or if you have any bimmer part shops.

If its a grey-back like mine you won't need to swap the coding chip (in the brown harness), if its a "newer" one then you will have to switch them, its a box looking thing on the back of the cluster.

Sent from my MB855 using Tapatalk

[brokatrot7]

I have a suitable cluster if you chose to go that direction.

[Dta36]

haha cheers guys! i think i'll go the capacitors.

also, every now and again, if i go over a bump in the road, sometimes the whole thing will just have a dead face. like, all the lcd goes blank and all the needles don't work. is that also a capacitor thing?

it's not a mass common issue, but it does happen..

thanks heaps guys.

[paperplane94]

yes all the problems you have been saying since post #1 are capacitor related.

does you lcd look like this:


if so, then the larger capacitor (graybacks) is failing and needs replacement. Replace them all for good measure.

read this whole thing, when I changed my caps:
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1507985


and here are the links for cap replacement on other sites:
caps replacement:
http://www.bmwe34.net/E34main/Mainte...Capacitors.htm
http://www.bimmer.se/mektips/instrument.htm
http://bmwe32.masscom.net/johan/dash...dash_caps.html
https://web.archive.org/web/20150110...terrepair.html

[bubba966]

Slightly related maybe.

When an E34 cluster goes bad does it smell like melting/burning plastic/electronics? Also will the P illumination for an auto fail to appear?

Reason asking is that I occasionally get a burning/melting plastic or electronics smell in my Touring. And I just noticed yesterday when I got it home and put it in park that the P no longer showed up even though E/S, & R/N/3/2/1 still would all illuminate.

It's got a maybe year old blower motor that was a new factory blower. It's also had the cabin filter changed about a year ago as well so doubt it's either of those typical E34 meltdown issues.

[3axap]

My money is on your transmission range switch having a bad connection. Open it up and clean the traces inside. That's assuming it didn't melt itself.

[bubba966]

Yeah, I'd thought it might be an issue with the selection switch. Guess I should pull that out and give it a look see. Otherwise it works fine, just doesn't display the P when it's parked.

[Dta36]

It looks exactly like that! thanks man. i didn't know that actually happened to people coz no one ever talks about that and i've never seen anyone else having the same issue..
cheers bruz

[Dta36]

yes it looks exactly like that! i didn't know people actually had this same problem coz i never seen this pop up ever. cheers paperplane!

[PieterWil]

For future reference -> I made a video that shows how to repair the dashboard. https://youtu.be/r3MjNCDxD48
If you have any questions, let me know.

[shogun]

good info, thanks, here the link to fongman recovered with the wayback machine fongman1 repairpages instrument cluster repair
https://web.archive.org/web/20060411...terrepair.html

all repairs from fongman from wayback machine https://web.archive.org/web/20060117...net/~fongman1/

[G46]

@PieterWil thanks for the video made by you, its really helpful, i hope it can fix my cluster issue, during cold, the display is only bottom half of everything, but when its up to operating temperature, it will display all, however sometimes it displays only bottom half of every digital display, i need to press the cluster in to see every display. hope it will fix my cluster issue, im gonna try this next week, my e32 is now currently in a workshop for gearbox input shaft seal replacement and i do rear main seal at the same time. and also all those lower arm, upper arm, stabilizer link to fix all those clunks and plays at the front wheel.