Gauges stop working, Fuel, speedo,temp,etc..

[houndjjj]

Hi..
Just recently my 89 535i (E34) has had an intermittent problem where all gauges including speedo,tacho,fuel,temp,check display and odometer turn off. It's as if the ignition has been turned off. I can still drive the car but have no idea of speed, engine temp, etc. If I wait a while and restart the car it comes back to normal. The computer with outside temp,time, consumption, etc still works. I've also noticed that if i leave handbrake on or outside temp gets below 3 degrees celcius I don't get the warning "gong". Can anyone shed some light on this problem?
Many thanks in advance.

[BillionPa]

the gonger in my car was dead long before i got the car.

sounds like the dreaded capacitor problem with the cluster, you will need to rebuild it..... although it could just be a loose connection.

[houndjjj]

the gonger in my car was dead long before i got the car.

sounds like the dreaded capacitor problem with the cluster, you will need to rebuild it..... although it could just be a loose connection.

Thanks BillionPA.
Where is the capacitor? I'll check for a loose connection tomorrow.

[shogun]

There are in total 5 capacitors.
I doubt that this comes from capacitors, maybe more in direction of loose connections of wires/ground. Anyway, to change capacitors has to be done sooner or later anyway. Do it now and forget about it for the next 10 years.
I did it on a friends car last Saturday, 30 minutes and it was done.
http://bmwe32.masscom.net/johan/dash_caps/dash_caps.html