Instruments Lights - which bulbs illuminate odometer

[Mark 42]

Which light bulbs illuminate the odometer and trip odometer in the instrument cluster? Are they illuminated by one of the three W3W bulbs for the other gauges, or do the odometers have their own bulbs?

[Gregs///M]

They are illuminated by the main two W3W bulbs. Only early clusters have three w3w bulbs and one of them is not for primary illumination.

[Mark 42]

Thanks!
I thought there were a couple of the smaller bulbs that are for illumination rather than warning lights (?) because some are 1.2W and some 1.5W or something like that.

BTW, anyone know which of the 3 plugs and what color wire goes to the Brake Lining warning light? Mine keeps coming on, and I can get it to go out for awhile with a good swift whack on the dash with my fist (Hammer Fist - it helps with board breaking in TKD, but I'd like to fix it). There are 3 plugs - Blue, Yellow and White IIRC. I sprayed PB Blaster and WD-40 in the connectors, which helped a bit, but if I know which pin of which plug to focus on, it might help.

[Mark 42]

I did find out which wires the gauge illumination is on:
BMW E30:
white connector (C2)
pin23 GREY/RED - power (+).
pin16 BROWN - ground (-)

Now it I can find the same info for the brake pad warning circuit,
I might be able to fix it rather than just remove the bulb.

[mikelat]

It may be the solder for the resister to the instrument module circuit board. Often this resister is mounted slightly above the board as it gets hot so the repeated hot/cold cycling cracks the solder at the board. Remove the cluster, disassemble it and reflow the solder to that item and carefully look for other cracked solder joints while you are at it. You can also replace the resistor with a 1 watt version. Alternatively (mickey mouse) you can just tape over the dash light.

[Mark 42]

That is one of the things I'll check. Apparently it's a 220 Ohm resistor.

http://www.e30zone.net/e30zonewiki/index.php/Instruments#Brake_Pad_Light_Flickering

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?p=684092#post684092

I'll see if I can find a 1W resistor that size. Sadly, Radio Shack is gone, so I may have to buy it online.

[Mark 42]

Found it. Says it will be here Friday. I'll just go ahead and replace it...
from what I read, the original is a bit undersized (1/4 Watt).

http://www.ebay.com/itm/281362620841

For that price, it's worth not having to take it apart again later.