Instrument Cluster/Odometer Questions

[deeclue]

First:
So I've been battling some ABS gremlins in my car, and my next step was to replace the burned out ABS bulb in the instrument cluster, which coincidentally had never worked since I owned the car. Lo and behold I pulled the cluster out and there is no place for an ABS bulb! Just a blank spot! The ABS has functioned properly for a very long time so I assume its not needed - but does this mean that maybe I have an instrument cluster from a different model? Seems kinda strange.

Second:
While I had all this out I am also going to fix the stripped odometer gear that caused everything to stop rolling. But for the life of me I cannot figure out what replacement gear I need to buy. The tiny main drive gear is pretty badly stripped and cracked so I can't be confident the number of gears I count, but I think there are 12. But on the smaller inner gears on the larger gears I count 14. Should these match or does 12 and 14 sound right in other experience? I attached pictures of the gears below.

I must say I'm surprised at BMW for making something so poorly marked that you have to count gears. I figured they'd put a number on the gear or something. Well hopefully someone knows what the hell I'm talking about, even if I don't - thanks!

[jeffnhiscars]

You spec the gear set by the mfg of the speedo...VDO or Motometer

[101]

As far as no ABS indicator spot on the cluster, it sounds like you may have an early model cluster in your car. IIRC, ABS was not added until the 1986 model year.

There are several vendors that you can buy the odo gear set from. Most sell these in complete sets of four gears, and they are reasonably priced. Replacement is not too difficult.

[deeclue]

Yeah I just went ahead and ordered a gear set that I think matches what I have - I'll visually confirm when it gets here. Its a VDO cluster.

Weird so someone swapped the cluster from an older car into mine - Maybe I'll poke around and see how easy it is to scrounge up the proper one for an 89. Clearly the one I have works but why not strive for perfection?

[cscracker]

The ABS light is different from the ones in the black inserts that are square on the back. It's just a hole on the cluster, and there's a bulb on two wires somewhere in your dash that's supposed to plug into it. The Check Engine light is the same way.

Shown here:

http://e30.iamgary.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/IMG_9896-700x525.jpg

For the odometer gears, as mentioned, you want to buy a whole set and replace all four. I just did mine with the Garagistic kit. They only go in one way and there are plenty of videos on youtube showing how to do it right.

[cscracker]

Edit button doesn't seem to be working. Here's a picture showing both bulbs, check engine and ABS, alongside the other cluster plugs.

http://e30.iamgary.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/IMG_9896-700x525.jpg

[deeclue]

Oh interesting - yeah thats exactly what the back of my cluster looks like. So you're saying that there might be a loose bulb on a wire somewhere in my dash that the ABS light is on?

Yeah the kit I bought is the Garagistic one, should arrive tomorrow so I can put this thing back together and get it back on the road again. Hopefully with an ABS light too if I can sort that part out. Thanks for all the help!

[cscracker]

Sorry, wrong link. Yes, there is, here's what I was trying to link.

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c113/Starofire/E30tech%20cluster%20writeup/IMG_5745.jpg

Check engine on the left, ABS on the right. The bulbs and holders are the same style as the ones in the ash trays and in the HVAC controls. The bulbs are 2721s.

[deeclue]

Oh thats awesome, I'm sure that those bulbs are just hanging out back there then. I'll see if I can fish them out tomorrow. Thanks again!

[deeclue]

Success! All my dash lights work AND my odometer is rolling again! Made no difference in my ABS issues, but its one more thing off the list. Thanks!

[Das Delfin]

Does your ABS light come on at all now that you've replaced it?

[deeclue]

It lights up when I start the car but not when the ABS activates. I have a separate thread going over here if you're interested: http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=393974

[101]

It lights up when I start the car but not when the ABS activates. I have a separate thread going over here if you're interested: http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=393974

I believe that's correct operation. Once it goes out after engine start, the ABS light will not come on again unless there's a fault in the system somewhere.

[deeclue]

Well I'm happy I changed that bulb, I can now see that the ABS kicks in while coming to a stop while the light is out - which is most of the time. But when I was driving just now the light turned on and the ABS stopped kicking in. Which I assume means that when its not kicking in the entire system is just not working. Replacing the ABS Relay seems like the next logical step.

[cscracker]

Yes, though usually it's just the fusible link in the relay that burns up. If you're decent with a soldering iron, It's pretty easy to open it up and solder in a new link, but I actually soldered the tab directly to the base, bypassing the link, and instead put an inline fuse (7.5 amp) on the wire going to that tab with a couple spade connectors and some heatshrink. The fusible link in the relay is a silly design in my opinion, especially since it blows very easily when jump starting the car, and it's a pretty expensive relay.