Cluster display died?

[ATB88]

Hi all, wondering if this is a situation anyone else has been in and if there's a simple fix: car has been at a body shop the last two months, went to pick up yesterday and decided to leave it with them another week so they could touch a few more things up.

While I was inspecting the car, the shop owner pointed out that he thought it was weird that my cluster doesn't display mileage. This was news to me. Sure enough, I went and fired the car up, and the displays on the cluster are completely dead, except whatever indicator lights (brake etc) are on the very right side of the cluster. No mileage display, no doors open/closed.

This has never happened before in my 8 years with the car, and it seemed to develop while the car was at the body shop. The owner pointed out, though, and this is reasonable, that nothing they worked on has anything to do with cluster wiring. They worked on the front bumper, rear bumper, and windshield seal area.

Anyone know what the cause of this could be? Hopefully maybe just a fuse?

[bigjae46]

A fuse is where I would start.

[BL92]

This becoming very common
Was it on trickle charge for a long period of time ?

[bran.stum]

Similar situation happened to me a few years ago. I checked fuses and all were fine, ended up having to ship my cluster out to be repaired.

If that's the case for you, there are a few threads on this forum discussing options for shops or DIY.

[ATB88]

This becoming very common
Was it on trickle charge for a long period of time ?

Been at the shop for 2 months. Idk if they trickle charged it, but maybe.

[tr3flip]

This happened to my M3 also when I didn't drive it for a month or two. It ended up coming back to life on its own. Then happened again a year later. I sent out my cluster to get fixed here:

https://www.automotivecircuitsolutions.com/products/bmw-e46-instrument-cluster-speedometer-repair-service

[Mayan-Viking]

I've been pondering this a bit recently. Not long ago, I hooked my wife's Z3 up to a trickle charger for a few weeks. We stated having a cluster issues shortly thereafter. Admittedly, the issue that is presenting seems to be a relative common one amongst these cars. But it's still in the back of my head...

A couple of questions:

1. Do we know for sure the stray currents associated with these trickle chargers negatively impact BMWs of this era?
2. If so, does a higher end trickle charger rectify this issue?
3. De we believer newer, more advanced cars, are also impacted the same way when charged/stored over time?

I appreciate any support this fine forum cares to lend.

Cheers and thanks.

[George Hill]

I don't know what the direct cause is or what the actual fix is but I see this when batteries go dead. Something happens either a on the draining side or the recharging side the smokes the cluster. *edit, for the ones I have personally seen, at least 3, a trickle charge was not used and not related.

GM5Repair.com couldn't fix one of mine but Automotive Circuit Solutions fixed a friends.