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Hi Folks, New to the forum. I recently bought a '79 528i. 96,000 miles and very clean. However, the odometer just quite. How do I remove the gauge cluster? Have folks tried to repair these on their own? I would assume North Holywood speedo or similar could repair it. Thanks in advance for your help.

Andy

It's likely to be the plastic gears, which you can purchase from another member (Jeff?)

To remove the cluster

1) remove the panel under the steering wheel
2) reach up under the dash and you'll find a kneweled nut which holds the cluster in, unscrew it.
3) find the speedo cable extension and disconnect it. there is a short extension from the back of the speedo to the cable that runs to the trans. once this and the nut are disconnected you can use the speedo cable extension to push the cluster out. it's a tight fit over the steering wheel. you'll have to disconnect the electrical connections on the back of the cluster too.

if you need an 80 mph speedo a used one would be way cheaper than rebuilding yours.

...tom






From: Andy Antipas <aantipas@sopris.net>
To: tech_forum <tech_forum@firstfives.org>
Sent: Wednesday, July 04, 2012 at 11:25 am
Subject: odometer

Hi Folks, New to the forum. I recently bought a '79 528i. 96,000 miles and very clean. However, the odometer just quite. How do I remove the gauge cluster? Have folks tried to repair these on their own? I would assume North Holywood speedo or similar could repair it. Thanks in advance for your help.

Andy




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This is a common problem on these cars.

Contact Jeff Caplan on this forum, as he can guide you on the repair, or you can have him do it. He makes replacement gears. He is quite supportive of the E12 community and his prices are generous.

For future reference, to save time waiting for a personal response, the left column on the home page has Technical FAQ's and Google search features to review ten years of previous posts (archives).

You will find a gauge cluster removal FAQ, and another related to dash removal.

odometergears.com.

Thank you everyone for the information!

And when you get everything back together, never, never push the button that changes the reading back to 000 while your car is moving, even a lil!
Doing that repeatedly, wears out the plastic gears.
That's how they got worn down in the first place.
Jeff is the guy @ odometergears.com or something like that.
Ask for him on this website & he'll respond. He has a sweet E12.
Welcome & good luck,,,,Greg
Ps,,,,You might want to pull the steering wheel for good clearance for the
instrument panel before you get frustrated about almost having
enough clearance.
Get a book & ask questions here. These E12 nuts want to help!

Thanks Greg. Really appreciate it. I'm trying to post some photos with no success. I'm a bit of a dinosaur. Thanks, A

Andy Antipas wrote:Thanks Greg. Really appreciate it. I'm trying to post some photos with no success. I'm a bit of a dinosaur. Thanks, A

To post photos, they must reside on the web somewhere. Once they do, you can link to them. As far as I know, they are not uploaded from our computer to the forum (you probably knew that).

You can use a site like imageshack to load images.

Andy,

You've gotten great directions already from the above posts on how to remove the speedometer. Like Tom said, check the FAQ's on the forum.

Only thing I need to correct would be the reseting while moving. Pressing the reset has NOTHING to do with wearing out the gears. Hit reset at any speed. It will not have any effect on the wear and tear.

What you need to do first is pull the speedometer and get a tooth count on the outside gear being turned by the worm gear. It's usually an 11 or a 21 tooth gear. Also, you will need to check the grey metal gear. It is the cog next to the numbers. If it slips while you hold the shaft, it needs to be replaced.

These gears are listed on my website under BMW --> mechanical gears.
http://www.odometergears.com/products/B ... edometer/9


Call me and I can get you the correct parts to fix it correctly and forever. Below is a general out line for doing the fix:

Gently lift the needle over the stop. See where is rests. This is where the needle needs to be reset when you are done.

Insert a small flat blade in the back of the speedo to lock the speedcup. This is a metal drum that holds the speedometer shaft. This will prevent the shaft from turning.

With the speedcup locked, hold the needle cap tight and twist back and forth. Hopefully the needle will start to get loose and come off. If not, remove the two screws on the face and carefully unscrew the three bronze screws holding the two halves of the speedometer together. Then hold the speedcup with one hand and twist the speedometer needle back and forth until the needle comes off.

You will then need to carefully pull the shaft out just enough to get the metal gear off. Slip the new replacement in and press the shaft back through.

Press the new plastic gear back on the shaft.

Reassemble the speedometer and test it with a drill in reverse.

Jeff Caplan -- 757-593-3478 Odometergears.com

Hi Jeff
I wonder just where I got that info from!?
Thanx for correcting me.
So, what wears out the gears?? Time?
Greg

GripGreg wrote:Hi Jeff
I wonder just where I got that info from!?
Thanx for correcting me.
So, what wears out the gears?? Time?
Greg

I think the gear begins to spin on it's shaft.

AAHA?! Good theory, Blaise.
Thanx,,,,Greg