Dashboard goes dead while driving

[cubicleman]

Hi,
I have a 1995 325i with approx 155,000 miles.

Recently, the dashboard controls died suddenly while I was driving. After about a half hour, the needles jumped back to life and the gauges lit up. During this time, the air conditioner kept blowing and the tape deck kept playing. Also the clock and onboard computer remained on.

Over the next few days, the frequency increased. But sometimes the gauges and needles remained dead for a minute before coming back to life, sometimes longer.

Prior to this, I had a problem with the interior lights flickering on and off with the switch turned to automatic, before finally staying on until I turned the switch off. Because I have a long commute, I would wait well past the 15 minutes recommended in the manual before turning off the switch. This problem has not gone away, but I wonder whether this may have led to the dashboard problem.

Does anyone know what is causing both problems and how I might be able to resolve them?
Thanks.

[tm1100s]

Does it just go out, or do you see some flicker or does it do a sometimes on/sometimes off behavior?

It I was going to narrow down the problem, I would find the fuses responsible for supplying the power and move them around a bit in the socket to overcome any corrosion or a degrading contact or just replace the fuses (cheap insurance). Next, I would move on to the groundings, make sure they tight with no corrosion. Pull the gauge panel out and pull the harness plugs and reinstall, looking for any bad contacts.

If none of this works, borrow another panel and see if the problem goes away with a different setup.

Beyond this, it's wiring diagram tracing time. Gentlemen, start your DVOMs.

[cubicleman]

Thanks for the reply.

The needles go down to 0 and the odometer disappears. I don't recall whether the background light goes out.

When the odometer goes out, I think it stops recording the miles because after a while, say 15 minutes, the mpg indicator on the consul (which remains on during this whole time and is much brighter) will sometimes decrease. I haven't noticeably altered my speed, so I suspect the car is calculating my mpg based on stagnant mileage.

I can tell when things resume because the low fuel light, the hot engine light, and the lights that come on when first starting up all light up for a few seconds, and the needles jump back to life.

Sometimes everything comes back on in two seconds, sometimes a minute, sometimes 10 minutes. There doesn't seem to be a pattern, except that the car stops freaking out after having been driven about an hour.

Thanks for the advice. If any of the above helps narrow down the problem, I'd be interested in knowing.