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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Oct 2016
    Location
    Flag, Az
    Posts
    187

    INSTRUMENT CLUSTER NOT WORKING *Help*

    Hello

    I own a 2004 BMW 330i ZHP and am having an issue with my instrument/gauge cluster.

    I had left my car outside for a couple days and it got really really cold and also had snow and rain which may or may not have anything to do with the problem but when i went to drive her, none of the gauges work or light up and as an added bonus the nav screen/radio doesnt work either.

    Anyone else ever experience this problem? Seems to be a fairly common thing with E46 which is unfortunate.
    I have done a little research and found that checking fuses 10, 34, and 43 may help with the problem. Checked my fuse box and found the list of "instrument cluster 10, 34, 43" Yet, my fuse box does not have a fuse labeled 34 or 43. The "43" fuse seems to be the magic one but my car does not respond to removing it. Disconnect the battery?

    Any and all help would be HUGELY appreciated!

    Thanks!
    Last edited by ETAction; 01-08-2017 at 03:01 PM.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jun 2014
    Location
    Toronto, ON
    Posts
    1,162
    I had the exact same issues in February of 2015 when I left my car outside in -31C for a night.

    Essentially you need to hard reset the instrument cluster and you can do this in a few ways:

    1) Disconnect the battery from the car and leave it overnight so any remaining charge within the cluster dissipates overnight

    2) Remove fuse 43 (strange that you do not seem to have this fuse) and leave the car overnight. Fuse 43 is what provides power to the car while the car is turned off. This helps the cluster 'remember' things like the trip meter, clock time etc.

    3) Remove the cluster from the dash and unplug the two connectors in the back and set the cluster aside overnight. You would want to go with this method if you cant follow method (1) since you won't be able to lock your car if the battery is disconnected.

    Either ways, once the cluster has been 'reset', it should start working normally again. It did in my case. Let us know how it goes.
    anandoc

    2004 330i auto | ZPP, ZCW | Schwarz 2 (668) | schwarz (N6SW)

    aFe Stage-1 Pro DRY S intake | Morimoto FX-R 3.0 retrofit | ///M3 Seats (power, heat, bolster adj.) | ///M3 Strut Brace | ///M3 SMG Steering Wheel retrofit | OEM Alarm retrofit | GROM USB | Khoalty angel eyes


  3. #3
    Join Date
    Oct 2016
    Location
    Flag, Az
    Posts
    187
    Quote Originally Posted by anandoc View Post
    I had the exact same issues in February of 2015 when I left my car outside in -31C for a night.

    Essentially you need to hard reset the instrument cluster and you can do this in a few ways:

    1) Disconnect the battery from the car and leave it overnight so any remaining charge within the cluster dissipates overnight

    2) Remove fuse 43 (strange that you do not seem to have this fuse) and leave the car overnight. Fuse 43 is what provides power to the car while the car is turned off. This helps the cluster 'remember' things like the trip meter, clock time etc.

    3) Remove the cluster from the dash and unplug the two connectors in the back and set the cluster aside overnight. You would want to go with this method if you cant follow method (1) since you won't be able to lock your car if the battery is disconnected.

    Either ways, once the cluster has been 'reset', it should start working normally again. It did in my case. Let us know how it goes.
    Thanks for the advice!

    Do you believe it is triggered by the cold weather?

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Oct 2016
    Location
    Flag, Az
    Posts
    187
    Battery was disconnected for at least 4 hours and reconnecting, still nothing.

    found the fuse chart and removed all corresponding fuses for the instrument cluster and radio, removed them, and after putting them back, still nothing.

    last resort must be removing the instrument cluster and unplugging it.

    god i hope it works

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jun 2014
    Location
    Toronto, ON
    Posts
    1,162
    Quote Originally Posted by ETAction View Post
    Thanks for the advice!

    Do you believe it is triggered by the cold weather?
    I believe it is. In my case, I was driving along on my way when a coolant leak (completely unrelated) occurred. I had to get the car towed to my independent mechanic's garage. Being that it was a Sunday, I left the car outside in his parking lot in -30 or more weather. The coolant leak turned out to be just a defective drain plug in the radiator and no big deal.

    But as a side-effect of leaving the car outside, the IKE went all wonky. Even when the car was turned off and locked, the rear tail lights won't turn off. There was also other weirdness going on such as the lights within the cluster won't turn on randomly. My indy mechanic went through the full wiring diagram and ended up disconnecting a single wire from one of the IKE connectors. Turns out that this wire runs to fuse 43 and he could have simply removed that instead of removing the wire.

    Removing fuse 43 meant that the IKE would not receive power when the car was turned off. This meant that it would not remember the trip meter and clock settings and every time I turned on the car, I would hear a whirring motor sound - which was the IKE resetting it self when it received power upon startup. My indy mechanic wanted to send the IKE to Toronto for getting it fixed proper - which meant a lot of $$$. I said, f**k it and reconnected that wire (fuse 43) after a few days and the cluster was good - as if nothing had ever happened to it.

    Did you find fuse 43? When you removed it and started the car did you hear the "whirring" sounds? Leave the fuse apart overnight to begin with and see what happens.
    anandoc

    2004 330i auto | ZPP, ZCW | Schwarz 2 (668) | schwarz (N6SW)

    aFe Stage-1 Pro DRY S intake | Morimoto FX-R 3.0 retrofit | ///M3 Seats (power, heat, bolster adj.) | ///M3 Strut Brace | ///M3 SMG Steering Wheel retrofit | OEM Alarm retrofit | GROM USB | Khoalty angel eyes


  6. #6
    Join Date
    Oct 2016
    Location
    Flag, Az
    Posts
    187
    Quote Originally Posted by anandoc View Post
    I believe it is. In my case, I was driving along on my way when a coolant leak (completely unrelated) occurred. I had to get the car towed to my independent mechanic's garage. Being that it was a Sunday, I left the car outside in his parking lot in -30 or more weather. The coolant leak turned out to be just a defective drain plug in the radiator and no big deal.

    But as a side-effect of leaving the car outside, the IKE went all wonky. Even when the car was turned off and locked, the rear tail lights won't turn off. There was also other weirdness going on such as the lights within the cluster won't turn on randomly. My indy mechanic went through the full wiring diagram and ended up disconnecting a single wire from one of the IKE connectors. Turns out that this wire runs to fuse 43 and he could have simply removed that instead of removing the wire.

    Removing fuse 43 meant that the IKE would not receive power when the car was turned off. This meant that it would not remember the trip meter and clock settings and every time I turned on the car, I would hear a whirring motor sound - which was the IKE resetting it self when it received power upon startup. My indy mechanic wanted to send the IKE to Toronto for getting it fixed proper - which meant a lot of $$$. I said, f**k it and reconnected that wire (fuse 43) after a few days and the cluster was good - as if nothing had ever happened to it.

    Did you find fuse 43? When you removed it and started the car did you hear the "whirring" sounds? Leave the fuse apart overnight to begin with and see what happens.

    -30 sheesh brrrrrrrrrr

    Yes, I was able to find fuse 43 once I located my fuse map.
    I left the key turned on (not the motor) while i removed it and plugged it back in.....

    I will try starting the car with it removed and listen for the sound as well as leave the fuse out overnight. I really hope it works

    I drove around for a bit hoping it would warm everything up and turn on, but no such luck.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Branford, CT
    Posts
    16,055
    So does the car start properly? It still doesn't work when the car is already running?
    It sounds like it may be a ground issue if it's affecting the nav as well, assuming the fuses are all functional. Check to see if you blew any of them, just to rule out the fuses.
    BP
    2005 330i ZHP / 6MT
    Imolarot / Naturbraun
    2003 330iT / 6MT
    Orientblau / Naturbraun




    It's not the car you drive, it's how you drive it.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jun 2014
    Location
    Toronto, ON
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    1,162
    Quote Originally Posted by ETAction View Post
    -30 sheesh brrrrrrrrrr

    Yes, I was able to find fuse 43 once I located my fuse map.
    I left the key turned on (not the motor) while i removed it and plugged it back in.....

    I will try starting the car with it removed and listen for the sound as well as leave the fuse out overnight. I really hope it works

    I drove around for a bit hoping it would warm everything up and turn on, but no such luck.
    That won't help. When the key is in position 1 or 2, the other two fuses are supplying power to it so you didn't really do a reset. I would recommend that you leave fuse 43 out overnight and report back.
    anandoc

    2004 330i auto | ZPP, ZCW | Schwarz 2 (668) | schwarz (N6SW)

    aFe Stage-1 Pro DRY S intake | Morimoto FX-R 3.0 retrofit | ///M3 Seats (power, heat, bolster adj.) | ///M3 Strut Brace | ///M3 SMG Steering Wheel retrofit | OEM Alarm retrofit | GROM USB | Khoalty angel eyes


  9. #9
    Join Date
    Oct 2016
    Location
    Flag, Az
    Posts
    187
    Quote Originally Posted by az3579 View Post
    So does the car start properly? It still doesn't work when the car is already running?
    It sounds like it may be a ground issue if it's affecting the nav as well, assuming the fuses are all functional. Check to see if you blew any of them, just to rule out the fuses.

    Car started just fine with fuse 43 removed. Radio/nav still would not work. No lights on cluster and none of the gauges respond. Only signal I get is the yellow ABS when you first start the car so I know part of the instrument cluster is getting a signal.
    Although the screen would come on for a few seconds with just BMW on it and black out again.

    Checked all the fuses that correspond to the radio and instrument cluster and they are fine. Have not checked all the fuses however.

    Battery ground cable seemed fine when I disconnected it earlier in the day.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Oct 2016
    Location
    Flag, Az
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    Quote Originally Posted by anandoc View Post
    That won't help. When the key is in position 1 or 2, the other two fuses are supplying power to it so you didn't really do a reset. I would recommend that you leave fuse 43 out overnight and report back.
    Removed fuse 43 and will leave out overnight.
    Fingers crossed!

    Everyone's insight is much appreciated.

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