 » Site Navigation | | | | » Recent Threads | 1999 M3 Swap 09-07-2023 10:10 PM Yesterday 08:18 PM 6 Replies, 318,962 Views | | | |  |  |  |  04-14-2009, 03:18 AM | #1 | | Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Richmond Hill, GA Posts: 1,231 |  interior lights and instrument lights not working
I am having issues with my interior light and what I mean by that is the illuminated buttons and instrument lights. My dome lights and mirror lights work. Everything else is working like its supposed to. Has anyone else ran into the same problem? I am truly stumped and need help. I found this threa and I want to know where the "little box" mentioned in this post is located. |  |  | | 04-14-2009, 03:29 AM | #2 | | NOBODY F's with the Jesus Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Ventura California Posts: 7,824 |
Angel, it's your headlight switch. You probably shorted out one of the grey/red interior illumination wires which almost instantly blows the rheostat inside of the headlight switch. Have you messed with your radio or anything electrical lately? Let me guess, your gauges, window switches, sunroof switch, cig lighter, HVAC panel and door lock switch don't light up, but the clock, odometer, dome lights, footwell lights still work. The rheostat that blew controls all of the lights on the dimmed circuit. You could repair it with solder, but it's a really delicate procedure.
Last edited by cooljess76; 11-22-2010 at 04:10 AM. | | | | | 04-14-2009, 04:59 AM | #3 | | Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Richmond Hill, GA Posts: 1,231 |
you sweet voodoo man, Thats exaclty what's going on. how ho I solder it? I am fairly competent with a soldering iron so I might as well try it. My radio was stole and they thrashed my interior and thats how it happened. | | | | | 04-14-2009, 05:32 AM | #4 | | NOBODY F's with the Jesus Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Ventura California Posts: 7,824 |
Bummer dude, sorry to hear about your radio. First, fix the grey/red wire going to the radio, make sure it's not touching anything. Then you'll need to remove the headlight switch. It's a little tricky. Remove the headlight knob, it unscrews. Pry the little plate off behind it. Remove the screws that hold it onto the dash. Can't remember the rest of the steps, but you'll figure it out. Once the headlight switch is out, pry it open. You'll see a white ceramic or plastic block. On the side of the block there's a spring looking rheostat that is bent in the shape of a horseshoe. See if you could locate the break in the spring. This is the part that blew. Usually it's towards the end of the spring, but not always. Then find the skinniest soldering tip you could find and go to town. A couple dabs of solder should do the trick. Good luck, LMK if you run into any problems. I have a spare that I could send you if you can't fix it or mess it up, so no worries.
edit; Oh yeah, it may help if you remove the instrument cluster to get a little more access, but i'm not sure if it's absolutely necessary.
Last edited by cooljess76; 11-22-2010 at 04:09 AM. | | | | | 04-15-2009, 12:27 AM | #5 | | Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Richmond Hill, GA Posts: 1,231 |
yeah I tore all that apart yesterday looking for the source of the problem. This really helps though I'm going to take the switch off the instrument cluster surround right now. I'll let you know what happens. EDIT I took the switch apart and and found some melted plastic but when I tested it for continuity with the multimeter I found that It looks to be working correctly. Here is a pic of what I found.   sorry for the crappy pics. melted on the top right corner. | | | | | 04-15-2009, 02:19 AM | #6 | | Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Richmond Hill, GA Posts: 1,231 |
Ok, I finally got it. Once again you were right Jess, It was the rheostat. You weren't kidding about the "delicate procedure" I would have taken some pics of it for others to see but It was too damn small to even attempt. Thanks for the help Jess. My switch doesnt quite as smooth as it used to so how much are you looking to get for your switch? | | | | | 04-15-2009, 02:37 AM | #7 | | NOBODY F's with the Jesus Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Ventura California Posts: 7,824 |
I'll give it to you for free, just pay postage. The one I have is blown though, so you'ld have to repair it as well. Here's what happened, mine blew so I purchased a used one from Bavarian Auto Recycling. They sent me one that was blown also. Then they sent me a regular e36 switch which isn't even remotely close to the Ti switch. Then they sent me a foglight switch. Finally I said screw it and fixed both of the Ti switches I had. Then another member needed one, so I sold my spare to him under the condition that he send me his old one so that I'll have a spare. So that's the one that I currently have as a spare, I just never got around to fixing it. If you want it, it's yours but you'll need to solder the rheostat. | | | | | 04-15-2009, 04:14 AM | #8 | | Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Richmond Hill, GA Posts: 1,231 |
I already did it once so what's another time. At least this time I know what to look for. Let me know how much I owe you shipped to 31407. | | | | | 06-24-2009, 11:16 AM | #9 | | Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: North Bay, Northern California Posts: 251 |
Can you tell me the order and orientation in which the parts go together after you solder the burned coil.
I can't remember or figure it out... | | | | |
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