1988 735i instrument cluster

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David - 05 Nov 2006 19:48 GMT

I live in California and have owned a 735i 5 spd (grey market import)
for almost 7 years. There have always been little problems like the
drivers side seat controls not working or the miles per hour gauge not
working. Now my mechanic says the instrument cluster has to be
replaced. This makes sense since on a regular basis the only gauge
working is the RPM's! Yep, a bit of problem if I'm going on long
drives with no engine temp or fuel gauge. Does anyone know how to fix
this or where I could get an instrument cluster. The BMW is now my
second car, it has approx. 234k miles on it and worth about $2,000.00,
so it's hard to justify a huge expense. But it drives beautifully and
I'd love to have it for awhile longer. Thanks in advance!

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Jack - 05 Nov 2006 20:34 GMT

Judging by the pictures on
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/partgrp.do?model=GB33&mospid=47359&hg=62&fg=05
your e32 instrument cluster is very similar to the one in my e30. The
individual instruments within your cluster can be replaced without too much
trouble. Sometimes the instruments can be repaired by simply removing them
and cleaning the contacts with contact cleaner solvent purchased at an
electronics supply house. I drove my '84 318i to 340k miles and replaced
every instrument in it except the speedo during that time. These
instruments all came from a used cluster that I bought on Ebay for $75 which
had a bad speedo which is how I learned that the individual instruments can
be replaced. If you're lucky everything will work on the used cluster and
you can just swap it. It's not really a big deal to remove the cluster. By
the third time I could get it out in less than 15 minutes. Don't believe it
if your manual says that you have to remove the steering wheel. My e30
Bentley manual said the wheel had to be removed but it was not true - not
even that close. So have a look on Ebay or in your local junk yard. When
you get done you will be even more attached to your beautiful car.
Good Luck
Jack

>I live in California and have owned a 735i 5 spd (grey market import)
> for almost 7 years. There have always been little problems like the
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
> so it's hard to justify a huge expense. But it drives beautifully and
> I'd love to have it for awhile longer. Thanks in advance!

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Anthony Wilson - 05 Nov 2006 22:25 GMT

I have the same car. The cluster sometimes blinks out and then on again.
First, most of the info is on the small dash computer. They want one
thousand dollars to fix it. I know this isn't the solution, but when it goes
out, I smack the top of the dashboard toward the right side. It comes on and
stays on. So I know it's a contact problem. Mine is a cream puff with 140k
miles on it. I think it will run another 20 years. Good luck to you.

> Judging by the pictures on
> http://www.realoem.com/bmw/partgrp.do?model=GB33&mospid=47359&hg=62&fg=05
[quoted text clipped - 27 lines]
> > so it's hard to justify a huge expense. But it drives beautifully and
> > I'd love to have it for awhile longer. Thanks in advance!

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Bob - 06 Nov 2006 04:40 GMT

Check out this E-Bay Seller by the name of Euro-Electric, they sell
refurbished clusters for a reasonable price (as well as swords and other
stuff), I do not have personal experience with them but understand
through our local club that others have had good service.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BMW-E32-E34-INSTRUMENT-CLUSTER-BOARD-POST-9-90-WA
RRANTY_W0QQitemZ280043878928QQihZ018QQcategoryZ33675QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmd
ZViewItem

The link is pretty long so may not come through correctly, try cutting
and pasting to make it work.

Good luck, Bob

> I have the same car. The cluster sometimes blinks out and then on again.
> First, most of the info is on the small dash computer. They want one
[quoted text clipped - 40 lines]
>>> so it's hard to justify a huge expense. But it drives beautifully and
>>> I'd love to have it for awhile longer. Thanks in advance!

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John Burns - 06 Nov 2006 00:32 GMT

> I live in California and have owned a 735i 5 spd (grey market import)
> for almost 7 years. There have always been little problems like the
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> drives with no engine temp or fuel gauge. Does anyone know how to fix
> this or where I could get an instrument cluster.

Look for a US company called Programa (maybe with two m's), they
refrbish them. They have an advert in the ROundel usually.

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