Brake light during start up

[e30Lumbee]

Hey Everyone! I recently bought a 1990 325i and I love it. I had it checked out by a BMW mechanic and he said it looks and seems very solid. But I've noticed I have a few electrical problems with it.

I haven't bought a Bentley Manual yet, but plan to next week.

The Tach doesn't work, the MPG gauge is non-fuctional and the heating/cooling knob light works every now and then. The thing that annoys me the most is the "CHECK" light for "Brakes" comes on eveytime I start it up. Once I press the brake peddle it goes away. Is this normal? Or a cause for concern? Also how can I trouble shoot it?

I love this site and apprechiate any help.

Thanks

Josh

[JasonC]

It's normal for the check light for the brake lights to do that.

[JTapper]

Check your tach fuse. It's a 7amp, I thinks either #21 or #25 under the hood.

[SpecM]

Ditto on the brake light / check light thing... all e30s do that. No biggie...

[e30Lumbee]

Thanks guys, I'll check those fuses after I get out of work tonight.

[Jparkr]

If your foot is on the brake pedal when you start the car then the light will not come on. If it starts to come on randomly while driving, but the lights work fine, the check the module for corrosion. It is located in the trunk behind the left side panel. It is a little black box with two connectors going into it.
Should be right beside the factory amplifier.

For the Tach. You most likely need to change out the SI board. If you have a spare cluster then swap it in for a quick test. If the test cluster works properly. then you can remove the SI board out of it and install it into your cluster (unless you dont care about the mileage differences on the clusters. If thats the case just leave the working cluster in.)