I noticed last night that my HVAC controls have no backlighting. Vent control, temp, and fan speed *****. This makes them very difficult to see at night despite the courtesy lighting. It appears that they should have some sort of backlight to them, but nothing comes on with the headlights/parking lights. I couldn't find anything on search. Anybody have any ideas for how to go about troubleshooting this?

All other courtesy lights work, as does the lighting for the instruments. HVAC is the standard, non-automatic type.

 

Could this be attributable to the dreaded FRM? I'm not seeing any other electrical gremlins except for a hatch does always like to unlatch via hatch button.

 

check out the parts diagrams for your car on realoem.com, I expect there is backlighting for the controls. Chances are there's a bulb out, the diagrams will help you identify where it is. Classic problem for cars 5+ years old as the incandescent bulbs in the dash etc. reach the end of their lifespan. I remember replacing multiple dash bulbs on my old 1989 Jeep Cherokee, and also a few on the 2002 MDX. Newer cars are starting to use LEDs instead.

 

I was under the impression that the r56 used all LEDs for the interior lighting. Is that not correct? Were they really still using bulbs and light pipes for the dash and center stack illumination?

 

Center console light are sometimes connected to your tail light fuse so you notice if they go out.

Worth a look.

 

Already went through the fuse box, all fuses are good. Tail lights and brake lights do work.