M Roadster center gauge lights/clock

[Krystanimyth]

Hello All:

I am trying to bring my 2000 M Roadster back to excellent condition, and one thing I have an issue with the gauges. Or more specifically the light bulbs(?) behind the gauges. I have read they are 2 watt bulbs, but those bulbs are no longer available. The 3 watt bulbs people seem to be using don't have much in the way of feedback. Has anyone here replaced their console gauge lights? I have 2 of the 6 gauges dark right now, and I am thinking if I replace one I may as well replace them all so the level of brightness is even.

Second part: the clock. Yes, the clock. Did this work for anyone? I see on this site, and others, that the Z3/M Roadster clock seems to be universally broken. Has anyone discovered a method to get the clock to be reliable?

I have a sweet new car stereo for this car, and I know it makes no sense to put it in and later take care of the gauges - as it seems you get to the gauges through the stereo 'port'. So my goal is one time to fix it all.

 

[DavidM]

Try BMW for the bulbs - I got like for like replacements - not sure about the wattage.

Why wouldn’t the clock work?

 

[g8jka]

I have an ///M console retrofitted to mine. Clock is useless as it never works, temperature gauge always seemed to read a couple of degrees out and the oil temperature gauge takes a while to go up but I think that is because of the sensor in mine. They are getting taken out soon and will be replaced some other gauges. The bulbs on 2 of the gauges (clock and oil temp I think) are normal sidelight (501) bulbs and the third one is a smaller type. I put some LED ones in the 2 gauges which made them a lot brighter but one started flickering recently.

 

[Althulas]

I can’t remember what size the bulbs were but took them out and bought replacements at Halfords. As for the temp gauge I’m sure I read that there’s a + and - slot at the back to twiddle with but nether been to bothered to be honest to look as where the temp probe is underneath the rear wheel arch you get all the heat reflected back from the road. I would rather have an oil pressure gauge and volt meter than the clock and temp gauge.

 

[Krystanimyth]

Try BMW for the bulbs - I got like for like replacements - not sure about the wattage.

Why wouldn’t the clock work?

Well in reading here, and elsewhere, it seems to be a very common complaint: the clock in the center console doesn't work. I am sure some do, but many people have this issue.

 

[Althulas]

Forgotten to add my clock does not keep time to bad enough to be irritating but have a more accurate one on the stereo hence the first one to be switched out for a oil pressure gauge which is far more useful. Sry to go on.

 

[g8jka]

I am going with volt, oil temp and oil pressure gauges and probably put the original OBC somewhere else which gives the clock and outside temp. I have seen someone put the facelift OBC into the ///M console where the middle gauge is but it requires cutting the original console which I don't really want to do.

 

[mccalli]

First post on this forum, and by luck I did this to a 1998 non-M Z3 yesterday. Gauges aren't the same of course, but similar principle.

I ordered 2 x BMW Genuine Interior Light Bulb + Holder Socket (61 13 8 353 797) from Amazon, after checking the part on realoem.com. Good site and worth checking for yours too - you need your VIN, and it will look up all part numbers.

I then followed a guide on how to do it. Hmm. Let me tell you straight up - the guide is doable, but I suspect the job would have been a lot easier had I taken the console trim off first. That's not a necessary step, it's just that the last bit is very fiddly otherwise and you will have to make a blood sacrifice to the machine gods (or less prosaically, you're likely to nick your hands on some plastic edges). Here's what I did without removing the trim - this is for the heater controls, the gauges on an M are an additional step below.

• Get a flat blade screwdriver (shortish handle, to undo some screws in the side of the radio enclosure), some long-nose pliers, a torch that you can prop-up somewhere and radio extraction tools. I recommend gloves too - I didn't use them, and I paid for that mistake in minor cuts and nicks to my hands. Oh, and you need the bulbs of course...
• Remove the radio. In my case, this meant also taking out an aftermarket DIN cage which was irritating - bending the tabs back straight to release it. I took photos of the radio connectors to make sure I put everything back in the right place after.
• Two screws either side of where you just took the radio from - remove them, taking care not to drop them
• The guide I followed said there were some metal clips to release where the screws were. There were no such clips on mine, but mentioning for completeness.
• There are two plastic tabs holding in the gauge housing still - lift them up gently and then push the heater controls back - your controls and housing are now free.
• Push any radio connectors off to the side somewhere - they will get in the way otherwise.
• Rotate the housing so you can see it sideways, long edge on. The guide I read said to completely turn it so you could see the underside of the housing - in my case, that simply wasn't possible and all the wiring prevented it. If you can do it though, do so - would make the stage of reinsert the bulbs a lot easier.
• The bulbs on mine were held in with some brown wiring going to a black plastic connecter, plugged into the bottom of the bulb holder. Get your pliers and pull out the bulb complete with holder. It's possible you may end up just pulling out the connector - no worry, just pull the bulb holder out afterwards.
• Again with the pliers, hold the connector cable steady with one hand and plug in the bulb/bulb holder with the other. Repeat for each bulb, as it's advised to replace all at the same time.
• This next bit is the pain - plug the new bulb holder into the gauge housing. On my non-M, one was easy (the left hand one) and the other hard (the centre one that handles lighting both the centre and the right hand). No trick that I'm aware of, just faff until the bulb holder slots in. This took me a while, cost me a small amount of skin, and I had someone holding a torch and pointing in, since otherwise you can't see the socket. I imagine you could also prop the torch up on the driver's seat too.
• Test! Get away from any wiring, turn on the ignition so the electrics come on, then turn on the lights - do you get illumination? Does your radio still work? Good.
• Plug it all back together - put the heater control housing back, clip those plastic tabs back and then screw in (being careful not to drop the screws inside the car...), reinsert the radio (including cage if necessary). You're done.

Oh, and do not bump your rear view mirror with your head whilst doing this. Said mirror might just fall straight off. Not that that happened to me you understand, oh no...

For your M, to get to the lower gauges you also have to unscrew a sleeve for each of the lower gauges you want, then remove the gauge. There's a good youtube video showing the procedure for the M here - he specifically mentions using 13.5v 3W bulbs and they worked for him.

 

[Krystanimyth]

First post on this forum, and by luck I did this to a 1998 non-M Z3 yesterday. Gauges aren't the same of course, but similar principle.

I ordered 2 x BMW Genuine Interior Light Bulb + Holder Socket (61 13 8 353 797) from Amazon, after checking the part on realoem.com. Good site and worth checking for yours too - you need your VIN, and it will look up all part numbers.

I then followed a guide on how to do it. Hmm. Let me tell you straight up - the guide is doable, but I suspect the job would have been a lot easier had I taken the console trim off first. That's not a necessary step, it's just that the last bit is very fiddly otherwise and you will have to make a blood sacrifice to the machine gods (or less prosaically, you're likely to nick your hands on some plastic edges). Here's what I did without removing the trim - this is for the heater controls, the gauges on an M are an additional step below.

• Get a flat blade screwdriver (shortish handle, to undo some screws in the side of the radio enclosure), some long-nose pliers, a torch that you can prop-up somewhere and radio extraction tools. I recommend gloves too - I didn't use them, and I paid for that mistake in minor cuts and nicks to my hands. Oh, and you need the bulbs of course...
• Remove the radio. In my case, this meant also taking out an aftermarket DIN cage which was irritating - bending the tabs back straight to release it. I took photos of the radio connectors to make sure I put everything back in the right place after.
• Two screws either side of where you just took the radio from - remove them, taking care not to drop them
• The guide I followed said there were some metal clips to release where the screws were. There were no such clips on mine, but mentioning for completeness.
• There are two plastic tabs holding in the gauge housing still - lift them up gently and then push the heater controls back - your controls and housing are now free.
• Push any radio connectors off to the side somewhere - they will get in the way otherwise.
• Rotate the housing so you can see it sideways, long edge on. The guide I read said to completely turn it so you could see the underside of the housing - in my case, that simply wasn't possible and all the wiring prevented it. If you can do it though, do so - would make the stage of reinsert the bulbs a lot easier.
• The bulbs on mine were held in with some brown wiring going to a black plastic connecter, plugged into the bottom of the bulb holder. Get your pliers and pull out the bulb complete with holder. It's possible you may end up just pulling out the connector - no worry, just pull the bulb holder out afterwards.
• Again with the pliers, hold the connector cable steady with one hand and plug in the bulb/bulb holder with the other. Repeat for each bulb, as it's advised to replace all at the same time.
• This next bit is the pain - plug the new bulb holder into the gauge housing. On my non-M, one was easy (the left hand one) and the other hard (the centre one that handles lighting both the centre and the right hand). No trick that I'm aware of, just faff until the bulb holder slots in. This took me a while, cost me a small amount of skin, and I had someone holding a torch and pointing in, since otherwise you can't see the socket. I imagine you could also prop the torch up on the driver's seat too.
• Test! Get away from any wiring, turn on the ignition so the electrics come on, then turn on the lights - do you get illumination? Does your radio still work? Good.
• Plug it all back together - put the heater control housing back, clip those plastic tabs back and then screw in (being careful not to drop the screws inside the car...), reinsert the radio (including cage if necessary). You're done.

Oh, and do not bump your rear view mirror with your head whilst doing this. Said mirror might just fall straight off. Not that that happened to me you understand, oh no...

For your M, to get to the lower gauges you also have to unscrew a sleeve for each of the lower gauges you want, then remove the gauge. There's a good youtube video showing the procedure for the M here - he specifically mentions using 13.5v 3W bulbs and they worked for him.

THANKS! I followed this walk through / write-up and it worked really well. My center console now has all lights working, and I have my new radio installed. It was NOT easy, and the last part was something I missed - so I ended up making a quick trip to AutoZone. They had a 12v 3w that worked like a charm. I had one bulb on top and one on bottom out, so I needed both types, but I replaced them all.

Super psyched to get this done, and get the new radio in place.

NOTE: I decided to forget about the analog clock, and just leave it in its as-is broken state.