Help with 4 ways and turn signal

[trumanwoll]

The lights work in the fixed position but no 4 ways or trunsignal funtion. Kinda dangerous to do it manually. Where would a guy start?

[wegweiser]

90% of the time, it's a failing / failed hazard switch. BMW changed these somewhere between 72 and 73 (I'm too lazy to run the VIN range now in my books) , with the later ones illuminating when the headlights are on. See if you can find a suitable one to swap / test with! You can also check / wiggle the turn signal/hazard relay located just above/near the hood release lever. It's clipped to the metal kick panel. Says "4 x 21w" on it somewhere.

My money's on hazard switch. All signal power runs through it and this is a common failure mode.

[trumanwoll]

That's a big help...how rough is it to get the switch out of the console?

Got any thoughts on what to try with a tach not working?

[wegweiser]

It's a bit of a PITA to remove the switch. A fairly small repair I generally dread. I'd recommend pulling the console toward the rear seat to access it. Do you have AC in this car? What year is the car?

Without AC, you can lift up on the "floor" of the console to reveal a screw holding the console to the tunnel/carpet, just ahead of the shifter surround. Lift up the handbrake lever for room, and slide the console rearward. The switch is held in place by a plastic round collar nut, easily twisted by hand.

With AC, you need to remove the driver's side vertical panel and PRAY the face plate edge doesn't crumble to dust where the screws go in. Then you can get your fingers (or tweezers) and unscrew the plastic nut collar holding the switch in place. (Assembling a fragile cracking AC console / face plate is akin to duct taping a roll of wet toilet paper back together.)

Tach is probably a loose wire on the back of the gauges or loose wire going to the ignition system. The gauges themselves in my experience, rarely fail.

[Mike Self]

mine quites on a fairly regular basis because the dizzy is positioned so there's a strain on the tach wire where it fastens to the distributor. Those flexible engine mounts let the engine move enough to pull the tach wire off its terminal. Check that first, it's the easiest, as tachs rarely fail.

cheers

mike

[Guest Anonymous]

this thread has taken some weird twists. If you are concerned about your turn signals, the relay is, as stated above, by the hood release lever and easy to access. There is lots of stuff in the FAQ about testing and replacing the unit.

[trumanwoll]

Well I posted a couple questions last night and have a ton of help. I have spooted the relay but will try the switch first. The other question was why the tach is not working and will check the distributor cap.

Thanks

[trumanwoll]

Thanks Paul.

The car is a 73, no air, and serial number 2593639. I can get at the floor of the console and pull it back. You mentioned a serial number break for different part numbers. Do you know which I need to buy?

[trumanwoll]

thanks, will do. Walter on Beaver Creek Drive, E. Peoria, IL

[wegweiser]

I have both the re-issued white parts book binders *and* an old original orange parts book. Both show the following notation for hazard switch....which is plain useless. (they say before and after chassis numbers...but don't list the numbers! *urgh!*

I'm pretty certain you have the later type in your 73. Does it glow when the headlights are on, normally? (before this failure at least?)

BMW Part numbers for the 72-76 era switches

61 31 1 355 358 ---->Fg (chassis Nr)

61 31 1 356 193 Fg (chassis Nr) ---->

HTH!