the gauges and controls (such as rear defoster, esp buttons, all of those in the row except for the hazard button) are not lighting up. the gauges themselves are working, and the odometer, time, and outside temp and stuff like that are working but the rpm numbers and speed are not lighting up. what could be the problem? what should i check? thanks for your help...

 

bump...any ideas?

 

also the right left tail lamp went out at the same time as the the interior lights. i checked the bulbs for the tail light today and they were fine...even changed them and they still didnt light up when i turned on my lights. what could it be?

 

Maybe you just caught some German Gremlins! Try checking the fuses.

 

we checked all fuses that has to do with the cluster, interior lights, or tail lamps. anything else? is there some sort of connection between the left tail lamp and the interior lights?

 

I have no idea! Make friends with someone who has a Bentley Repair Manual, or pick one up for yourself HERE.
While you're at it pick up a VAG-COM as well! It's a great investment for your car.

 

The only other thing I could think of is there being a short in some wire that connects to the lights.
Cause they have to be wired separately if they will still function... right?

 

got me stumped, i would have guessed fuses. i'm still guessing that actually. take a minute or two, and go thru ALL your fuses, sometimes you might miss one, sometimes things are inter-related that you wouldn't expect.

 

someone took a look at it for me and i think they determined that something was getting shorted along the line with the angel eyes. they are connected to the tail lights.

 

that's what you get for trying to convert your car to a BMW , angle eyes