Electical Problem (what else?!)

[E30m42cab]

Okay, My E34's gauge cluster has been acting up for a while now. It started out that the speedo and tach would spin around aimlessly, and the gong would ding a few times, and then it would go back to being normal. Then my gas gauge stopped working. Then I got a message on the dash readout "CODE TACHO"+"CODE kmh/mph"+"CHECK MANUAL" and that would not go away until I disconnected the battery. The speedo and tach still freak out once in a while, and now my gas gauge, temp gauge, and the odometer/trip odometer don't work, and I have "CODE ?" on my display. I tried disconnecting the battery again to get rid of that, and now my OBC won't show the time, temp, cons., range, etc... it just reads PPPP.

WTF?!!

I used to not care that my gas gauge didn't work because my range calculator and trip odometer still worked, but now neither of them do, so it's time to figure out what's up. So, What's up???

 

[m5runner]

I think you may have to get the cluster replaced buddy. A good junk yard would be your best bet

 

[E30m42cab]

Yeah, that's what I'm thinkin... I was hoping there were little batteries to replace like in the E30's, but I guess I'm not that lucky.
How much of a pain in the @$$ is it to yank the cluster out?

 

[m5runner]

I'm not really sure because I don't do my own maintenance. If you lived in Ga I would point you to a few guys that are more mechanically inclined than I'll ever be to help you out. rule #1 about buying a BMW is making sure you have a good friend that knows how to fix them. Search the net a little. There may be some pics on how to do it. I've taken mine off my 92 before and it wasn't too difficult. Maybe a copy of a Bentley manual would help your situation the best.