Dead Instrument Cluster?
 

I have an '07 X5 4.8i with a dead instrument cluster.

It's been dead for a couple days now. The car runs, and the whole center stack works (nav, sat radio, climate control, etc all work fine). No blown fuses either.

I called the dealer and they said "Oh that happens. It will probably start working again on its own. That's what the BMW service bulletin says." That's what the freaking survice bulletin says????? NFW! That's what the YUGO service bulletin says, maybe...

WTF? A $70k car and Lucas-quality electronics and that's just 'how it goes'???

The car was recently flat-bedded to the dealer to have the entire windshield washer line replaced (probably froze, cracked and then leaked). Took it to the dealer (100 miles away), they fixed one exterior line leak, but didn't get the interior leak, so the interior was full of about 12 gallons of washer fluid - poured out the back of the tailgate as they loaded it on the flatbed! (yes, two trips, out of service for weeks, entire interior removed, all carpet removed, dried, reinstalled).

Could the washer fluid leak problem have caused the instrument gauge cluster problem?

Otherwise, if there's a simple solution, I'd love to avoid another 400 mile drive to the dealer and back and to the dealer and back (they don't give loaners to 'out of towners').

Thanks for any suggestions!

Chapter 2 of the Yugo Service Bulletin:
Mine is at the dealer right now for the "High Battery Drain" every week since purchase issue. Tech says 250 miles per week not enough driving. WTF? Does driving over 250 wind the rubber band tighter?

^ for 2 years, I've only driven the thing maybe 100mi. per week. I've had the high battery drain issue twice and it was completely random when it happened... same short trips, same everything. It can't just be "not enough charging with short drives". It would be happening to me much more frequently if so.

Funny thing. I dropped it off with the service manager who was telling me that it's not a common problem. His next visitor was a lady with a 4 month old 7 series - same thing. He was demonstrating the BMW battery charger in the parts dept when I left.

When the car is parked at night, the key fob (Comfort Access or not) must be kept some distance from the car. There is a transmitter in the BMW key fob, that "speaks" to the car. When that happens every night, the car does not go into "sleep mode". This is a major cause of the High Battery Drain issue. We moved our Key holder that was about 15 feet from the garage, and placed it in our kitchen, which is about 100+ feet from where the cars our parked (M6 and 750i). So far, no more Battery Drain issues.

I know, I know...how f---ing crazy, that we have to do this. Cars are getting more and more complicated and electronic every year though. Something we just have to deal with, or choose to drive an old car, without complicated systems.

And yes, I was told that when a newer BMW will not be driven for more than a week or so, it is HIGHLY recommended to place the car on a BMW trickle charger. I know...again WTF? But something that we just gotta do, or switch brands. This does suck though for those who park at the airport for a long business trip or vacation!

I hear ya. No comfort access in mine and I've been locking the doors (while parked in my own garage) but still the drain. I put it on the BMW charger every Friday night and the LED doesn't turn green until the morning. Never had this problem and I've owned many different makes, some of them real sh.tboxes when I lived overseas. I really enjoy the e70 - hatch rattles, battery problems, flaking steering wheel and headlight switches, orange peel paint and all. But the next ride needs to be more reliable. No reason to sweat at the airport parking lot wondering if, at 2AM, you need to call for a jump for a 70K truck. Just my picky opinion.

Locking it at night, does "help" BMWs go into sleep mode, but you need to keep the key fob away from the vehicle, locked or not! I personally have NEVER locked any BMW I have ever owned at night, in the garage. I have been told different distances, from different dealers. It has ranged from a minimum of 15 feet, up to 50+ feet. To play it safe, we now keep our keys on a Key Hanger in the kitchen, that is at least 100 feet away from the garage/cars.

I agree with all those sentiments. I can't believe the orange peel paint. They KNEW it looked like that when it left the factory - the other stuff took time.

Worse, my neighbor has a $20k Toyota, and the dealer drives over and picks up her car and brings it back to her when it's done. The Toyota dealer is right down the street from the BMW dealer - also 100 miles away. Me? I get to drive the Fu©&ing $70k BMW over there, get NO loaner car, have my wife (who has to follow me over there, two mountain passes and two hours away) and then have her drive me over there to retrieve the %$%$(* car. 400+ miles, total travel, and no loaner car!!!

In the past 4 months, the car has been 'right' for about two weeks. This was not my first BMW, but unless something changes I will absolutely never buy another one. Much as I like it (when it's working), this relationship is living on borrowed time...

I knew someone who had this problem with his Bentley convertible. $300k car, parked on a charger, like some kind of electric car.

It's absurd that BMW haven't solved this problem. Most of my friends who own cars of this caliber leave the keys in them at home, safely locked in their garage at night.

BMW quality is for shame these days. Porsche, on the other hand, topped JD Powers this year, above Lexus, etc. May have to give them another look next time around...

Call BMWNA. Tell them it is too dangerous to drive and the dealer refuses to help.

See what happens.

Roadside assistance will flatbed the car to the dealer, but they won't tow it back unless you're 150 miles away; we're 110. However, my wife is 8.5 months pregnant, so she can't drive me over to pick it up when its ready.

Worse, the dealer can't even order the part until they see the car and confirm the problem, which takes 4 days to order (cluster has to be custom-coded to my car).

I'm going to call BMW tomorrow and see if I can get anywhere...

Got a call from the dealer this morning. Didn't get the "you don't drive enough" or "your iPod drained the battery" excuse for the High Battery Discharge error. They're replacing the battery and a module that controls the battery. Apparently, when they hooked the car up and the tech in Germany logged in he was able to read "shadow codes" that the dealer couldn't see. Sounds like BS but who knows. If this works I'll post my charger for sale.:D

Love to hear what the part number is for that module...

These are not "shadow codes" but rather just codes showing stuff happening. The dealer only looks for "faults"- regular bus traffic isn't of interest to them since they don't know what to do with it. An engineer seeing a module waking up and timing out every 15 minutes might figure it out- but a dealer, again, looks for errors and "do Y when you see error X".

A.