I've taken the liberty of posting Zoso's excellent how-to's on our site until his domain is back up. If that's a problem, please let me know and I'll remove them right away.
318i Tech Procedure -
Dash Light Replacement My dash lights were starting to go. The left side of my dash cluster would go out for a week then come on for a day and the light behind my fan switch was out. Dash cluster removal is a process and will take you some time. The key is to not force anything and take your time. I read on the internet that some people have been able to get to the dash console without taking the steering wheel off. I was close, but the steering wheel trim was blocking my ability to get a dash trim piece off and I didn't want to add force. Perhaps non airbag equipped E30s are different. Take that as a warning that this write up is how I replaced my dash lights. There may be a better way and other cars may be different.
Required tool list:Screw driver
Wrench, extender, 21mm socket
Click on the thumbnails for larger pictures.
Unplug the negative terminal of the battery. If you have an airbag, make sure you wait at least 10 minutes before disconnecting the airbag.
Remove the screws holding the panel in that is above the pedals. Then remove the screws that hold in the knee bolster. See the red arrows.
Remove the padding behind the knee bolster.
Under the steering column, remove the philips head screw and pull the panel off that exposes the airbag wires.
Unplug the airbag connector.
Use a torx screw to unscrew the airbag from the steering wheel.
Unplug the airbag connector. Place the airbag in a safe place with the metal side up.
Mark the steering wheel and the steering post end so you can put the wheel back on straight. Use a 21mm wrench with an extender to remove the nut. Bentley recommends replacing this nut, but it seemed fine to me. Note, if you put the key in the ignition when the airbag is unplugged, the SRS light will go off when you put it all back together.
The wheel is finally off.
Remove the two screws holding the bottom steering wheel column trim on.
Remove the two screws that hold the top steering wheel column trim on.
Reach under the dash and find the two thumb screws. Unscrew them and be careful to not drop them.
I could not get the top steering wheel trim off, but I managed to pull it out of the way and get the trim piece behind the wheel off.
Remove the screws that hold the trim that goes around the dash console.
More screws to remove.
With the trim around the dash console removed, the dash console can be removed by unscrewing the two screws at the top and two screws at the bottom. Be gentle with the top screws. When reinstalling this part, do not torque on the screw much. I just used a bit and my hands. Unplug the connectors behind the dash console by pulling the black tabs and then pulling the connectors straight out. There are a couple of bulbs back there that you can replace too. Be very careful removing the dash console. I broke one of the two mounting tabs near the top of the console. Luckily it holds ok with just one.
Take the radio and OBC/clock out. My car didn't have a radio at this point and the OBC/clock is easy to remove. Just pry the face off then pull at the top and bottom squeeze tabs. The location of the bulbs are circled or arrowed. There are two bulbs in here. The left one is easy to get to. It is right near the radio opening. The one of the right side is a pain to get. it is down low, but if you squeeze your hand in the OBC hole, you can pull it out.
Here is a picture with everything ripped apart. What a mess! Take your time and don't force anything.
Here is the rear of the dash console. Take out all the screws. I think there are about 8 or so brass colored ones. Carefully pull the dash apart. Be careful not to not let anything touch the cluster face. The dash bulbs are behind the orange plastic lenses. Just twist out the bulb housing from the read. Take all the bulbs you took out of the dash and the console behind the heating controls to your local auto parts store. Do yourself a favor and replace as many bulbs as possible. It is good preventative maintenance because you won't want to have to do this more times than necessary. Clean the dash console connectors while you have the console out. They'll have the ones you need or ones that are very similar. Installation is the reverse of removal. Take your time and don't force anything.
Difficulty:3/5
Disclaimer: I am not a professional mechanic. Information this page should be used at your own risk and discretion. Different models and model years may be different than my 1991 318i. Read: If you screw your car up following my instructions, sorry. Isn't it sad that in this sue crazy world you have to put a disclaimer on your web page?
Topic: Zoso's Dash Light Replacement (Read 5296 times)