Help me with fuses
 

Ok so i'm having some problems with my car right now, the gauge lights and reverse lights and a few other things won't work, the problem is that i've found the fuse

Fuse # 23
7.5 Amps
Instrument Panel Lights
Front Parking Lights
Taillights
Rear Side Marker/License Plate Lights
Active Check Control
Rear Defogger
Multi-Function Clock
OBC

but when I put a new fuse in it just blows it.

I'm pretty sure this problem is my dumbass fault because I just installed my Eclipse 8053 headunit in with two pioneer amps and a kicker sub, they worked fine in my last car and the same in the bimmer but the other day the ground came out of the amplifier and knocked out my cd player tachometer and i'm thinking the lights too but I replaced that fuse before night and didn't have a problem, it wasn't until yesterday that I drove it at night and realized that I couldn't see the gauges so I guess the problems are linked but Today I disconected the cd player and the amplifiers from all power and signals and replaced the fuse but it still blew so now i'm stuck and have no clue what to do.

PLEASE HELP

Sincerely,
Cabe

yes you probably have a faulty ground or a short somewhere, check all the wiring for your deck and amp, make sure all the ground wires are properly connected and that nothing that isnt the ground is touching the chassis

ok i just checked all my wiring, removed the battery checked that checked all the other fuses put a new one in slot 23 tried it and it still blew the fuse so i'm almost positive now it's not a fault in my wiring but from the ground poping out. Could that have blown one of those things in an unrelated fuse fuse 12 is for the cd player, i'm really at a lose

yea, problem solved, turns out there was a wire behind the cd deck that i have no clue what it was for (it was orange and didn't look like BMW wires) but it was loose and frayed so I cut it off and put electrical tape on the end and everything works again, Thanks for the help.

-Cabe

That would be the illumination for the old head unit, typically an orange wire. Which would make sense, since it has to be wired to the dashboard's instrumentation. This wire allows the radio to brighten and dim along with the rest of the dashboard lighting. Glad you figured it out :)

sorry to jump onto this thread me being new and all but the problem sounds similar to my own im currently experiencing.

my instrument cluster will light up the trip meter and the other warning lights such as dipped beams, fog lights, oil light battery light etc but the main back light for the speedo and rev counter etc will not light up...replaced the fuse initially but when turned the ignition and tried to turn the lights on it wouldnt light up the back light, thinking it might be a blow bulb or something took the cluster out and checked all the bulbs and they checked fine put it back in checked the fuse again and ofcourse it had blown... went through 3 fuses hehe they keep blowing...

the reason i says sounds similar is because when i got the car... second hand.. there was no radio in it so i fitted my own which of course dims and brightens when you turn the lights on... is this going to be the same thing do you think? a rogue frayed orange wire? if i take out the radio unit will it be easy to find and sort out?

its a 318i btw 1996.