02 745i Cluster is not lighting at all

Hi,
I have a problem that is driving me crazy. Hope someone can help me here and save me some money
2002 BMW 745i cluster "Dash/speedometer" is not dislaying anything on screen. The only thing is working is the speed and RPM needles. There is no lighting or anything coming on or displaying on the screens.
Took the car to BMW dealer and they said it's S2L and cluster programing and encoding. They want to charge almost $5,500 for this only
Price is way too much and I can not afford it.

I really appreciate any help to fix this problems

Try disconnecting your battery terminals for a few seconds and reconnect it.

I did disconnect the battery and reconneced it and nothing happened.
Also, I did check all the fuses and they are all good.

subscribing.....

hello all, newbie here. i have the same problem with my 2000 740il. no backlighting on the instrument panel and the radio unit. is this a common problem? thanks.

I had this problem before and it was a simple fix. Take your dash cluster out and open it up. On the back of the inside on the motherboard there are two ribbons that some how come loose. I dunno how, but resecure them and voila, problem solved.

Oh yea, don't be alarmed but when you unplug your speedo your car won't go to sleep untill you plug it back in. You will hear your disc changer constantly cutting on and off during that time. Once you plug speedo back in it stops. Should take you no more than 15 min.

Thank you "MakaveliFaison" for the tips.
Could you please guide me how to take the cluster out.
I don't want to miss up anything in this car

If you can explain in steps, it would be great.
Or if you can refere me to a link that has enough steps and details

By the way,
All the other lights are ok, radio lights, navigation lights, everything else
Except the cluster. It's the only thing that is not displaying anything

Again,
Thanks for the tips and hope your way could fix the problem

Basically lower your steering wheel out of the way and pull it far out as you can. remove the 3 torx screws at the top of the speedo. Then pull up on the plate with the little piece of wood grain on it that is below the speedo. You have to use a little bit of force but it pops right off, no screws.
Once you have that removed you can tilt the speedo forward, at this time you can see 3 clips that holds the clear speedometer window onto the speedometer. At this time you want to go ahead and seperate that window from the rest of the speed by using a flat head to unclip the 3 tabs. Once that's done pull the speedo window face forward and seperate the plastic trip meter stick from the rubber trip meter button that is attatched and a part of the speedo window. Once that's done pull the speedo window out by itself, then you can pull actual speedo forward and disconnect the two harnesses and pull speedo out. Once out just remove torx screws on back and have fun.

Side note, u can move your steering wheel when the car isn't sleep so if I was you I would put key in before I start removing stuff to wake car up. Then remove key because when you remove key steering wheel goes bacm to resting position. If that happens and u have stuff hanging out in the way thw steering wheel will crush it lol. So with car awake and key out, move steering wheel to a position all the way down and all the way out. So now, that is the new steering wheel resting position when the car is turned off until you decide to change it again. Good luck.

Originally Posted by MakaveliFaison

Basically lower your steering wheel out of the way and pull it far out as you can. remove the 3 torx screws at the top of the speedo. Then pull up on the plate with the little piece of wood grain on it that is below the speedo. You have to use a little bit of force but it pops right off, no screws.
Once you have that removed you can tilt the speedo forward, at this time you can see 3 clips that holds the clear speedometer window onto the speedometer. At this time you want to go ahead and seperate that window from the rest of the speed by using a flat head to unclip the 3 tabs. Once that's done pull the speedo window face forward and seperate the plastic trip meter stick from the rubber trip meter button that is attatched and a part of the speedo window. Once that's done pull the speedo window out by itself, then you can pull actual speedo forward and disconnect the two harnesses and pull speedo out. Once out just remove torx screws on back and have fun.

Side note, u can move your steering wheel when the car isn't sleep so if I was you I would put key in before I start removing stuff to wake car up. Then remove key because when you remove key steering wheel goes bacm to resting position. If that happens and u have stuff hanging out in the way thw steering wheel will crush it lol. So with car awake and key out, move steering wheel to a position all the way down and all the way out. So now, that is the new steering wheel resting position when the car is turned off until you decide to change it again. Good luck.

WOW T. You really had some guts to do that. I am not sure if I am gonna have enuff guts to do that kind of work...But for the $$$, one would have to. Knock on wood!!!
Great info there, my friend. Thanks

Yup, I knew I could fix the problem but was like forget it. So when I located one to order I figured why not open it up, if I can't fix it no biggie, if I can ill save money. When your in that situation you have nothing to lose, it already doesn't work lol. I had my soldering iron and what not out ready to do damage, but once I opened it and saw two ribbons not snuggly secured, I was like wow, that was too easy. Ended up saving a couple hundred. I performed this repair day after I put new alternator in.

Oh...So this was like recently then. No wonder you still have every procedure step-by-step for the poor guy...lol $5500 for the cluster, I'd say that is stupid " Highway Robbery ", wouldn't you say ? All and all BMW prices are ridiculously over the line...IMO
Just the problems we hear on here + those are not on this site ??? Forget about it!!! lol

Thanks for the steps.
I took it out and everything is in place.
I did not find anything loose or not in place

I think I will try to look for a another one and replace it, but not sure if this would require programming

Thanks again

Do you know how to check traces? If so you can easily fix it yourself with a soldering iron.

I can solder with no problems, but not sure how to check traces?
Would you explain

Thanks

Get your magnifying glass(es) out and start hunting for the burnt out or damaged section of the mother board. Just take your sweet time hunt for it with care of course.
Good luck.

Lol nah that's not how. But in your case it'll just be easier to get another one. Saw one on ebay for 200.