So, this is a project of small victories and defeats. I was expecting this from previous BMW ownership. I am doing projects/upgrades that are 'free' in the sense that I already have the tools and knowledge to repair something without having to replace it. They are fun, small jobs that are somewhat intricate or involve carefully detail work. One of these projects is tackling the fuel gauge and the OBD panel.

The OBD panel (I referred to it as the OCD panel above) is a small panel below the rearview mirror that tells you when something isn't working correctly. This is usually a monitor brake lights, coolant level, washer fluid level, etc. They don't always tell you you fixed it as the eletronics are wired in an interesting logic. Something like using the wrong wattage of brake light bulbs can trigger the light even though they work fine. It can also tell you if a sensor monitoring something has stopped working. It's 'OCD' to me because I don't like seeing warning lights when I start the car. My '95 M3 LOVED to tell me something was wrong and the electronics were far more aggravating than the this car. A lot of people might say "meh." and ignore them, but I guess I'm someone who can't. I am not the kind of person who needs all the soup cans in the pantry with the labels all facing the same way, but when it comes to machinery, I like my stuff wired tight.

I had three consistant lights on start that illuminated on the OBD panel; brake lights, coolant level, washer fluid. Fixed the washer fluid leak, light off. The brakes light illumination is common, but found a workaround...the light turns off now when I step on the brakes the first time after starting, light off. The coolant level sensor was dead. $12 for a new one, light off. Yay! Victory is mine!

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The other issue I was aware of before buying the car was the funky fuel gauge. It dances and reads inaccurately, or doesn't read at all. Similar to this:



My model has two fuel sending units, wired in series. The gauge monitors the average resistance between the two, so when one goes bad, it does the funky chicken. Also, because the car is 25 years old, the electronics on the dashboash may need cleaning or the solder points on the board may have broken. I decided to tackle the later because it was free and I have the tools and a *little* bit of knowledge about this stuff. So, I pulled the instrument cluster, cleaned it, re-touched all the connection points with a soldering iron, changed the bulbs and reset the needles for the fuel and coolant gauges:

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I treated this equipment like it was a bomb. It's 25 y.o and could be brittle. I took my time and a couple hours in the evening was a small time expense paid. I put it together and everything worked! Then I went on a test drive and as soon as I took the picture of the illuminated dash, the fuel gauge did the funky chicken. Defeat.

So, I consulted with the P.O. who has been extremely gracious answering my questions. I have been reciprocating this by helping him with his questions as he refurbs the NA he just bought. Anyways, he told me he replaced the one sending unit two years ago. Thankfully, it is the more difficult of the two, and the more expensive one. It is also the one that triggers the low fuel light. Despite the fuel gauge not working, I know that when the fuel light comes on, I have 1.5 gallons left. This left the obvious choice to the problem to be the OTHER sending unit. I ordered one last night to be ere before the long holiday weekend. Hopefully, the next time I post, I will have another victory under my belt.