2003 m3 convertible is having a instrument cluster problem. Car sat for about 3 months turned it on and cluster was completely dead besides airbag,convertible light, and abs. Car starts no problem and drives fine. With all fuses in place radio powers on and off repeatedly and so does middle overhead light above review mirror in sync. With fuse 34 unplugged turn signals make sound but no illumination on cluster,radio functions, and abs light on cluster no longer shows up. Have tried pulling the cluster out along with battery and letting car sit for a week. Pulling fuse 43 and letting car sit or a few days. Not sure if cluster needs rebuilding or maybe has a bad ground. Nothing so far has worked any help would be appreciated.
If it was working when it was parked, I'd be looking for a bad connection somewhere, not a failed part. Something as simple as un-plugging and re-plugging all connectors that have anything to do with the instruments could well do it. I've seen such problems many times on my BMWs, and other cars.
Thanks for the reply what do you recommend unplugging? I took the cluster out unplugged both connectors in the back and all fuses I could find related to the cluster, nav, and radio.
I can see again when I get back home but if I remember when I removed the cluster the radio wouldn’t function correctly. It would power on but not work correctly. There was no rain but there was a few nights it got about 30 degrees Fahrenheit. Do you recommend a cluster rebuild? Which electronics would be damaged? Thank you
I agree with Ray, most likely a bad/corroded connection. Recheck all the ones you disconnected make sure they are seated and properly locked in position. After that try a reset by disconnecting both battery cables from the battery posts. short them together and hold for about 10 seconds. Then reinstall on battery, and see what happens.
Checked all the connections they all seem to be fine . Held the cables together for 10seconds and let car sit with unplugged for 2 days still no change. Any other suggestions?
I wouldn’t replace or rebuild anything until you’ve isolated the root cause of the problem.
Do some searching on here for similar cases.
Ignition switch has been known to cause wacky electrical issues.
Check the voltage at the jumper post located under the red plastic cover under the hood. This is where the main power cable from the battery splits off to the starter+alternator and the fuse panel. It sounds like your voltage is low. Whacky voltages cause whacky issues.
He’s been doing it for a long time and knows his E46 tech.
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