85 528i Electrical problem, central locking, interior lights

[olsen85]

Hi all, thanks for reading my post.

I have recently purchased a 1985 BMW 528i, in excellent condition. I fear I have inadvertently damaged some wiring or something, while looking for the bonnet lever.

When trying to open the bonnet, I looked on the right hand side first (RHD vehicle) instead of the left, where the bonnet lever is usually located under the steering wheel next to the driver side door. There was a switch located in that spot after trying to pull it the plastic keeping it in place came undone and fell off.

About 10 seconds later I realized that the bonnet lever is located on the passenger side (as I said RHD vehice) - feeling like an ass now.

Now the interior lights do not switch on, neither does the central locking mechanism work. The place where the switch (I don't know what sort of switch) was now has a hole as the plast holding it came undone. I can reach inside with 3 fingers and try to pull the switch back through - but I don't if that would do any good? As far as I can tell all the wiring is still intact, but of course I can't take a good look without pulling off the entire panel surrounding the steering wheel.

Any help, suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

olsen