[3struck]

I'm not familiar with our clusters (yet), but I am with the e30. Does anyone here know if the the e36 cluster is similar in design?

I know the e30 has a lithium ion battery on a circuit board that has a 20-25 year life span. I've had to replace it before. Two e30's I've owned at around 160k/20 year mark. The symptoms I always saw was the gas gauge beginning to pulsate or slightly wave, later giving way to a regular wave and near complete failure/unreadable. The '91 e30 I currently own with 67k still works ('89 production date) and it is just this year starting a very faint waving of the fuel gauge when a the 1/4 full mark. For you, if it's not a fuse, perhaps someone knows if our e36 clusters are similar to the e30's in respect to the battery and board. With the cluster out it can be replaced with a new board, giving it another ?? years. I recommend if you do pull it out, replace the bulbs as well, nothing worse than putting it back in and then soon thereafter seeing a dark spot on your tachometer.