no speedo lights

[jamie_sri]

hi there lads, just signed up on behalf of ma father in law, he has an A plate e30 318i which has no lights for the speedo, all the other lights work in the dash, handbrake, indicators, service lights etc, only things that dont work are the back lights for the speedo, rev clock and fuel and temp gauges, anyone any ideas whats wrong? fuses are all fine or am i missing one thats hidden somewhere?

cheers, jamie

[kam-325i]

Hello and welcome to the zone....

Are the lights for the heater controls working ok ?

[jamie_sri]

yeah they work, not sure if theres meant to be a light where the knob for putting the headlights on is but that dont seem to light up either, light for adjusting the headlight beam also works

[kam-325i]

the headlight switch is illuiminated, most probably the bulbs have broken. The dash lights are feed from fuse 23.

Could be a broken contact/track on the PCB on the back of the cluster.

[jamie_sri]

so best to take the clocks out and check for breaks in the pcb or the bulbs? how do the clocks come out?

[smithy318i]

so best to take the clocks out and check for breaks in the pcb or the bulbs? how do the clocks come out?

read this

[jamie_sri]

cheers folks, al get it done on either the morn after work or on sunday, may even get the camera out and put up some photos of the car

[someguy]

The light behind the light switch comes off the same fuse as the rear window heater.

If you're replacing that bulb I'd recommend taking out the foglight switch so you can see what you're doing.

[Brianmoooore]

The bulb for the headlight and foglight switch is nothing to do with the rest of the panel illumination. This bulb should be lit all the time the ignition is on, not just with the lights.
If the heater panel lights come on with the first position of the headlamp switch, then the relevant fuse and the dimmer switch are all OK.
Most probable cause of the problem is simply that the two bulbs have blown.
The cluster bulbs (especially the right hand one) can just be changed without removing the cluster. Just remove the panel above the driver's knees and twist out the lamp holders with a long pair of pliers.
The cluster illumination lamps are the two holders that are much bigger than the rest.
The bulbs are 3W capless types. 5W ones are more easily obtained, but if you use these the orange plastic domes that give the cluster its orange glow WILL melt.

[jamie_sri]

was the bulbs that were blown, when the car was fixed and painted a while back we asked the mechanic to take a look and see why it wasnt lighting up and he said he checked and it must be an electrical fault as the bulbs were ok....lazy lying cunt lol using 5w bulbs in them now, will the orange plastic still melt even if they are dimmed down a bit?

[smithy318i]

Yes. Use 3W bulbs