1988 735i instrument cluster

I live in California and have owned a 735i 5 spd (grey market import)
for almost 7 years. There have always been little problems like the
drivers side seat controls not working or the miles per hour gauge not
working. Now my mechanic says the instrument cluster has to be
replaced. This makes sense since on a regular basis the only gauge
working is the RPM's! Yep, a bit of problem if I'm going on long
drives with no engine temp or fuel gauge. Does anyone know how to fix
this or where I could get an instrument cluster. The BMW is now my
second car, it has approx. 234k miles on it and worth about $2,000.00,
so it's hard to justify a huge expense. But it drives beautifully and
I'd love to have it for awhile longer. Thanks in advance!

Judging by the pictures on
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/partgrp.do?model=GB33&mospid=47359&hg=62&fg=05
your e32 instrument cluster is very similar to the one in my e30. The
individual instruments within your cluster can be replaced without too much
trouble. Sometimes the instruments can be repaired by simply removing them
and cleaning the contacts with contact cleaner solvent purchased at an
electronics supply house. I drove my '84 318i to 340k miles and replaced
every instrument in it except the speedo during that time. These
instruments all came from a used cluster that I bought on Ebay for $75 which
had a bad speedo which is how I learned that the individual instruments can
be replaced. If you're lucky everything will work on the used cluster and
you can just swap it. It's not really a big deal to remove the cluster. By
the third time I could get it out in less than 15 minutes. Don't believe it
if your manual says that you have to remove the steering wheel. My e30
Bentley manual said the wheel had to be removed but it was not true - not
even that close. So have a look on Ebay or in your local junk yard. When
you get done you will be even more attached to your beautiful car.
Good Luck
Jack

"David" wrote in message

>I live in California and have owned a 735i 5 spd (grey market import)
> for almost 7 years. There have always been little problems like the
> drivers side seat controls not working or the miles per hour gauge not
> working. Now my mechanic says the instrument cluster has to be
> replaced. This makes sense since on a regular basis the only gauge
> working is the RPM's! Yep, a bit of problem if I'm going on long
> drives with no engine temp or fuel gauge. Does anyone know how to fix
> this or where I could get an instrument cluster. The BMW is now my
> second car, it has approx. 234k miles on it and worth about $2,000.00,
> so it's hard to justify a huge expense. But it drives beautifully and
> I'd love to have it for awhile longer. Thanks in advance!
>