Brittany Chen Li

The dash lights are so dim and the dimmer seems to be bypassed. Can new bulbs be put in easily? Also is removing the Pod Hard to do. This girl needs new tools. Peace, Brittany Chen Li

Incendier

Sounds like you bought my car...so much stuff to do.

Pod removal is pretty easy. Steering wheel off (remove horn pad, 27mm (?) nut holds wheel on - you'll need an extension on your ratchet). Pull the horn pad straight out, fairly firmly, or you'll break the posts.

From underneath - phillips screws hold the long plastic cover, phillips screw holds the steering column cover. Two 10mm bolts, one on each side of the column, and two allen bolts (#5 on my Allen set), one on each far end of the pod, and it will lift forward and off. Removing the wiper/cruise/signal pod helps. Both allen bolts go through two rubber/steel bushings which hold the sides of the instrument panel; the left bushings are loose and will fall off when you pull the pod so be prepared to catch 'em.

The three dash lights are at the bottom of the circuit board. 12V 1.5W, as I recall.

Having said that, dim bulbs sound like either (a) a bad dimmer control (is it gone entirely?) or (b) low voltage. May want to check both before going behind the pod.

Good luck, and you might want to stretch out before attempting this.

Erik Juhl

Hello,
I just went through the pain of removing the pod, so I would suggest you first try some plastic safe contact cleaner for your dimmer switch. If that fails, you can find really good documentation of the pod removal at Nichol's Web Site
I also posted a report on my efforts not too many threads ago, so you might want to check that out as well. Good Luck!

Paul D

I would try replacing the dimmer switch first. It's relatively inexpensive and easy to get to (don't have to remove the pod either). It helped out my dash lights quite a bit as mine were also dim. Good luck.

fernando irazabal

when your problem is resolved the nexy thing is to replace the light for more watts.i did this to may car. i replaced them with the bolb of a 92 bmw 525i that goes on the parking lights(in the front in the fender panel).they are 3watts it makes all the differnce.

87 5speed

John Struthers

Hey!
Is this thread infectious?
Out hunting for an evening snack-Mustang's-
Pattycakes gorged on a glazed, white IROC.
In the process discovered a few new bumps on the local four lane overpasses. Bump...center pod light goes off...Bump...
light on. Brittany, I would offer a confirmation -related to my "NEW" problem-
as to Erik J's post. You might have something loose or dirty. But, if you have go into the pod put in 'new' bulbs clean and tighten up every contact or connector you stumble across -one at a time-.
Good luck,
John S. 82' Weissach Auto., 'Pattycakes'

Incendier

John, to back you up, this is what originally got me into the pod.

Culprit was the solder joint of the center illumination bulb. As I recall, the illumination lights are bulbs pressed into hard-soldered sockets, while the rest of the dash lights are the turn-in socket-from-the-back type.

A quick careful resolder and no more bump problems.

Randy V

The pod illumination lights (there are three of 'em) consist of an exposed contact wire bulb (no base, just two wires - not sure of the name of this type bulb) that presses into a gray plastic bulb holder. The bulb holder has two metal 'wings' that make contact with the flexible circuit board that surrounds each cutout in the back of the instrument cluster.

Over time, these 'wings' get fatigued, allowing the bulb holder to lose contact with the flex circuit board.

You can get a hand up behind the instrument cluster to give the left and center bulb holders a turn to reseat them - the right one is not accessible this way.

I ended up buying new holders and replaced them when the pod was out, as the original ones were deformed from heat and would not seat properly. I upgraded the bulbs to the 3 watt type for extra brightness. A word of caution on that - as the dash lights are always illuminated on the older model vehicles, I keep the dimmer switch at the off position during daylight driving to prevent the bulb holder from overheating and deforming.

Probably more than you wanted to know about dash pod lighting, but it's my primary area of expertise !

I agree that Brittany's problem is most likely the dimmer switch.

Incendier

Randy, quick Q - I and my solder stick - although it was a while ago - am almost positive that the illumination lights weren't that way.

This is certainly not a topic worth beating to death, but are they ALL the same screw-ins as the warning lights in all MYs?

(Oh, and I'll wave my magic post-disappearing wand if I'm wrong)

Thx.

Big Dave

How can the dimmer switch be removed? I was trying to get at it a couple of weeks ago but couldn't see well enough to determine the right way to remove it. Since my dimmer switch only has two settings ("on" and "off"), I'm sure a good cleaning is in order.

Brittany Chen Li

My dimmer is not connected, so does that mean it should be Full Brightness? Maybe some blubs are out.
Thanks all of you!
Big Kiss
Brittany Li

Randy V

James, my experience is with my OB '79 - pretty sure yours is the same. The dash lights are of a larger type than the various warning lights. When it comes to Porsche discussions ain't no such thing as beating a topic to death !

Dave - the dimmer is connected by two phillips head screws - tough to remove even with the pod partially off - you'll have to be a regular Harry Houdini to get the right body position to remove them with the pod still attached.

OK Brittany - time to post some pics of you with your car - got anything in leather? - hoo hah!

If the dimmer is not connected you should have no lights at all - by all means, check those blubs .

Erik Juhl

Brittany,
If your dimmer switch isn't connected, are the two wires at least joined by a male - male spade? Mine was in this state when I purchased it a little over a month ago, leaving my pod lights on at full illumination. Then one day fiddling with the adjustable sttering height, they just went out. Turns out it was the fuse, so be sure to check out 928 Specialists fuse charts for your model year. If your two wires are NOT connected, just go to your local hardware store and get that male - male spade or rip it off of your unused dimmer switch. Good Luck!

Thom1

Hi Brittany,

Welcome to the club! Hope you have lots of fun with your 928.

What year is your car? You might want to use the signature block under "my profile" to display characteristics of your road rocket. This will help us to troubleshoot. See the info. that I supply in my signature.

Please forgive me for pointing out the obvious. I just wanted to make sure that you are turning the thumbwheel on the left side bottom edge of the instrument pod to adjust the instrument lights.

By the way, the bulbs in the pod switches/big ***** are easy to replace. Just gently pry out the center piece with a very small screwdriver. Then push 2 very small screwdrivers into the clip holes at sides of the bulb, and pull out ****, gently pull out bulb with needle nose plyers. (Detach battery ground strap first; in case you accidently crush the bulb, and short something.) Replacement bulbs can be found at the BMW parts counter:
BMW packaging numbers:
12v 1.2w
w2x4.6d
07 50 9 063 579

HTH,
Good Luck

Randy V

Thom, an even easier way to swap those control **** bulbs:


Pull the entire control **** straight off to expose the bulb, then, using a short length of small diameter tubing (like aquarium airpump tubing), push it onto the bulb, then pull the bulb straight out.