When driving today I had a very interesting and hair-raising experience. Driving along I turned on my defroster as my windows were getting foggy. Well after a few seconds the instrument cluster needles died down to 0 but the lights were still on just like when you turn on your headlights. The radio as well shut off and spat out my cds. The system reset itself and kept driving with no loss of power or anything that would cause me to slow down. Once again it happened when I turn on the heater to use the air vents in the car. It happened again with a successful "reset" and the gauges continued to work properly. When I play my music too loud on the cd player it shuts itself off to not damage the sound system. I had a instance when I had a S-10 that the gauges died and when I parked I couldnt turn the car back on. It turned out to be a alternator. So I drove home and shut it off and turned it back on no problem with the 850. I haven't tried to replicate the issue because I wanted to see if anyone had this experience and what they did or checked to look into it so I won't damage anything. Other than that she runs like a dream!!

go to new orleans and get a actual "authentic voo doo doll".then hang a capacitor,a piece of a pcb board and a selonoid around its neck and dangle this assembly from the rear view mirror:lol

It is the alternator for sure. I had a similar issue a while back with my e36 and e46. The e31 uses a lot of power thus the 2 batteries so the alternator has to be in tip-top condition to avoid any electrical issues. Get that done ASAP!

Look in the trunk left hand side and make sure nothing is melting and burning, relays and fuses.... On my previous 850 that I sold the new owner decided to turn on the defroster and the stuff in the trunk got in fire whilst driving....

Best way is to put a diagnostic system on the car DIS/MODIC and read all your errors and see if you can spot something obvious....



When driving today I had a very interesting and hair-raising experience. Driving along I turned on my defroster as my windows were getting foggy. Well after a few seconds the instrument cluster needles died down to 0 but the lights were still on just like when you turn on your headlights. The radio as well shut off and spat out my cds. The system reset itself and kept driving with no loss of power or anything that would cause me to slow down. Once again it happened when I turn on the heater to use the air vents in the car. It happened again with a successful "reset" and the gauges continued to work properly. When I play my music too loud on the cd player it shuts itself off to not damage the sound system. I had a instance when I had a S-10 that the gauges died and when I parked I couldnt turn the car back on. It turned out to be a alternator. So I drove home and shut it off and turned it back on no problem with the 850. I haven't tried to replicate the issue because I wanted to see if anyone had this experience and what they did or checked to look into it so I won't damage anything. Other than that she runs like a dream!!

Also try wiggiling some wires near the battery while the key is in the on position or running, Probably something not getting good contact if it's not some of the mentioned above, Sounds like a module going bad as well, I would move wires around near the passenger battery, Hidden fuse in there! Also altenator wires and fuse/Relays in the trunk for proper seating, Please update the fix when you get it.

Look at this

http://www.cafeamwehrgang.de/fbilder/Si3.jpg

if don´t know where to search for all the fuses that are warped over the 8-series body... :)

91´ http://www.cafeamwehrgang.de/fbilder/Si91.jpg

92´ http://www.cafeamwehrgang.de/fbilder/Si92.jpg

93´ http://www.cafeamwehrgang.de/fbilder/Si93.jpg

94´ http://www.cafeamwehrgang.de/fbilder/Si94.jpg

95´ http://www.cafeamwehrgang.de/fbilder/Si95.jpg

UPDATE
Nothing was loose, not even a fuse/relay! Wires are in good condition so I drove it with no issues. I drove for a good while and nothing duplicated. Its been off for a while getting a minor tune-up with the fuel gauge sending units. I've heard if the car doesn't get turned on in a while it gets grumpy. I will continue to monitor.