M3 Instrument Cluster

[HotRod]

My 95 M3 has developed a rather annoying habit over the last couple months. The instrument cluster works fine about 99.5 percent of the time, however, every now and then the instruments just go dead. Tach, Speedo, fuel guage, and temp just go dead. It doesn't appear to affect anything with the way the car runs, just have dead guages. Then after a couple minutes, however the interval is starting to get longer and longer, everything lights up and then goes back to normal. It seems as though it happens on decel, usually in 4th or 5th gears when I lift off throttle.

Anyone else have this happen? A friend who owns a repair shop mentioned that he had heard that sometimes a bad door lock actuator causes the cluster to act up, but he doesn't know why that would be.

Any thoughts?

Also, occasionally I hear three pings like an alarm or warning, although I haven't noticed anything that this could signify. Anyone know?