sensinitas

Hello -

This is my first post on here, so hopefully can get some help.

Recently went to start my 2004 W211 E55, and the instrument cluster was completely dead. Everything else worked fine, except for the parking sensors. Car drove fine as well. Came back the next day to work on it, and the cluster was working fine. Drove it for the day with no issues. The next day it was dead again, so I started trouble shooting. Here is the interesting part - I had spilled some water in the trunk the day the cluster died. I thought it was confined to only the rubber trunk mat, but when I removed all the floor panels, I found condensation everywhere. Coincidence or related? I've been airing the trunk out for two days, and just bought some desiccant to put back there to dry any residual.

Here is what I've done so far:

• I checked, pulled, and re-seated every single fuse. Engine bay, dash, trunk. No blown fuses but also no change.
• Checked the main battery - Less than 12v when the car was off, over 13v when it was on. Replaced the battery. No change.
• Checked the auxiliary battery - Over 12v when the car was off, over 13v when the car was on.
• Pulled the cluster to inspect the connector, as well as the ribbons behind the gauges. I'll appeared OK. Reconnected the cluster and still no change.

At this point I think the cluster is dead and needs to be replaced. Just wanted to check with the community on anything I may have missed before I pull the trigger on a replacement cluster.

sensinitas

Update - found 7 broken wires in the part of the loom that connects to the trunk. Soldered all wires back together. Trunk soft close works again now, but cluster is still dead