Instrument cluster failure and repair

[hjsbmw]

Over the last 1-2 years I started seeing these symptoms, at first occasionally, then gradually more and more. When turning the ignition on after parking the bike, especially on colder days:

- the fuel display would start at zero, then rise to the actual number of bars
- the function check where the needles do their dance would seem delayed or erratic in sound and behavior
- the clock would not advance during the time the bike was off, meaning, when turning the bike on it would show the same time it was when I turned it off

I did not get any fault codes on the gs-911. The bike always started, never got me stranded, though I suspect, according to other people's reports online, that I could have gotten there eventually. The internet suggests there are capacitors in the cluster that become weak, lose capacity, fail over time, and are responsible for the symptoms above. A DIY solution comes up too; it didn't appeal a whole lot as the described way to get to the capacitors seemed prone to cause damage. I ended up using circuit board medics. Not cheap, but they did a clean job, the instruments work again, and they did good on their stated 24h turnaround. Also, beats the cost of getting a new OEM part and did not require any programming or involvement of a dealer.

https://circuitboardmedics.com/2006-201 ... ter-repair (I have no affiliation with them; merely sharing my experience; maybe someone benefits from that)

[winkeldc]

Thanks for posting that, appreciate the heads up on the company.