Messages

1

General Topics / M42 E36 Performence Mods

« on: December 27, 2013, 06:24:30 PM »

I am looking for some mods to do on my 318is now that i most of my stuff sorted. I thought of the turbo route but JakeB's kit getting it down here + the conversion will cost me near $3000. And for a Auto to manual swap it will be another $1000. For which I could rather sell the 318is and add up everything to buy a faster 328IS with a manual gearbox. I love the M42 Motor but right now just dont see FI and all that as an option worth it for me. Dont get me wrong, its a really fun car to drive, I go out of my own way to find the twisty roads but its becoming a weekend driver since I dont drive to work anymore. So far I am content with its acceleration and handling. i am thinking to keep the car for a few more years and will get some panels repainted soon. So was thinking to do some performance mods as well.

I am thinking to get a Chip + Strut Bar + X Brace and call it a day. Whats the best chip out there (Bang for the buck) and how much HP do we gain from it? The Xbrace seems like a PIA to install but I think given some time I can do it on my own. Does the Xbrace and Strut Bar REALLY make much of a difference for handling?

Let me know what do you guys think. Thanks 

2

Electrical / Re: CD Player/Headunit no longer powers up!!!

« on: December 18, 2013, 12:32:57 AM »

hey dave, I figured it out!! it was a small connector just under the passenger footwell. it has a red wire with a white stripe which I think provides the 12V power to the CD Player Slash Headunit. It has a 1 foot by 1 foot plastic box with some other connectors left inside. So when I did the interior of my car I must have forgot about reconnecting. now that I have reconnected it the power is restored back to my head unit. I also think it may have caused issues with my alarm which I will rewire up tomorrow and look.

thanks for your suggesting and urging me to look in there even for one last time

3

General Topics / Re: Installing Alarm Help and Keyless Entry

« on: December 17, 2013, 09:57:40 PM »

Adding some pics from the manual of the new alarm.

4

General Topics / Installing Alarm Help and Keyless Entry

« on: December 17, 2013, 09:41:22 PM »

hey guys, so I can finally work on my car. I bought an 1 way cheppo alarm off the bay to replace the old alarm that came with the car,  it was an AudioVox alarm which was malfunctioning after my car was garaged for some time with the battery disconnected, and then the remote had some water damage.

So I removed the old alarm and I am having some difficulty when it comes to the central locking mechanism. I figured out how to wire the ignition cut off relay. the trunk and bonnet switch along with the lights I think. But the central locking is eating me up. I called a few places and they want $100 ~ $200 to install it for me. 

can anybody offer me some help set this up? I have an multimeter and the instruction/installation manuals for both the alarms.

Link to Install Manual of the old alarm (Audiovox APS 35Cl)
http://www.manualslib.com/manual/12476/Audiovox-Aps-35-Cl.html

and below are some pics of the instructions on the new Alarm.

5

Electrical / Re: CD Player/Headunit no longer powers up!!!

« on: November 27, 2013, 09:21:05 PM »

Hey thanks for getting back to me. you know I often have these kind of frustrations with electrinics before I make a break through. I was also having problems with my alarm which would stop disarming the car after a few hours had passed. I think I have managed to reset now (fingers crossed).

Sorry for being down then, I got frustrated since I am shifting places and cant find enought time to sit down and look at it myself. but thats what I am going to do next week. Hopefully. I have a multimeter.

if you know other members good with cd players and stuff ask them to chip in too please.
I will see what I can do and come back here when I am ready, in a few more days. 

Thanks

6

Electrical / Re: CD Player/Headunit no longer powers up!!!

« on: November 23, 2013, 10:24:44 PM »

The battery is good, its the connection, it has no power, i checked the fuses, replaced them and I saw there is 12V at fuse 9 and fuse 44. however there seems to be no power at the white/violet wire in the dash.


man I  hate working on these e36 cars, people dont maintain them and they have way too many electrical problems. I just didn't want to take it to a mechanic and drop hm 500 bucks to find out it was a stupid wire or fuse somewhere.  but looks like thats just what i gotta do.

7

Electrical / CD Player/Headunit no longer powers up!!!

« on: November 23, 2013, 03:07:45 AM »

My Sony CD player head unit has stopped powering up. I have tested the player on a  ac power 12v atx supply and it worked (Red + yellow wire is positive and black is ground). So the head unit itself is good, however something is wrong in the car connections.  I checked the fuses inside the engine bay they were okay except fuse 26 (10a which I replaced).

I thought its a power issue so I used my multimeter and measured the yellow, red and black connectors and sure enough there was no 12V power going to the cd head unit. I checked radio fuse 9 and 44 and both are good. 

Can you guys with the audio/electrical department of these cars or faced such issues please help me through what should i be looking to troubleshoot powering the head unit in the car?   I am a car audio and electrical newbie but have a multimeter too if it helps. I am not looking to take apart my entire dash board apart, again! Are there any hidden fuses? or something?  Recently I have been having some electrical issues with my car after taking it out of the garage after some time(a year or more) At first the alarm started to act up and would refuse to disarm itself after 30 mins had passed and then I noticed the heater pumps only hot air (no cool ac) and then noticed the CD player didn't work.   

8

General Topics / Re: coolant flush help - engine overheated

« on: November 23, 2013, 02:57:45 AM »

hey guys thanks for your reply, So I went with a different approach since I couldn't jack up the car properly due to not having jack stands and almost had an accident.  I went on to drain the radiator and dark muddy water inside. at first I thought it might had been my head gasket or something which might have caused some oil and water mixing. I continued to flush the radiator using my garden hose, I would turn the heater on then fill it up, check for bubbles and then would run the car/idle for like 5 - 10 mins. and let the water coolant flow through the system. Drained and refilled and went through this 5 times and then the water started to become clear.

So I came to the conclusion that it couldn't be the  head gasket or the engine or some oil mixing into the water as the color would remain the same and not clear up after so many flushes. It actually seemed to be some rust and corrosion. anyway since then I filled and bled the system with 50% Green Anti Freeze and 50% Distilled Water. Took it for a 10KM Drive around town and the temp stayed normal.

Then I realized my aux fan was never working and the clutch on my mechanical fan is probably bad too. I found the AUX fan to be the problem of the temperature sensor on the radiator which I fixed for the time being by jumping it with a small wire. Will take it to the mechanic to have both the fans sorted. I think the water pump and thermostat are good though.

attached some pictures.

9

General Topics / coolant flush help - engine overheated

« on: November 22, 2013, 01:49:31 AM »

hey folks, long time, havent used the car lately due to not needing one, I know i still got that diy fog light to post up, never found the time but oh well, one of these days. i promises

anyway, I just started to get my m42 fired up after sitting for almost a year, replaced the automatic trans oil, added about 1l on engine oil(hope didn't add too much?) and reset the inspection light. And realized that apart from a few electrical issues, the engine was having some over heating issues as well..

Engine seems to be overheating up to 3/4 of the OEM temp sensor after a 20 ~ 30min drive.I know normal is 2/4. So I came back and it was quite warm later on i opened up the radiator cap and saw a lot of green goo inside the tank, So thinking of doing a coolant flush and bleed tomorrow hoping it fixes my issue. I am keeping the thermostat and water pump replacement in my to do list early next year.

So I am reading this, http://www.pelicanparts.com/bmw/techarticles/E36-Coolant_Flush/E36-Coolant-Flush.htm

I was thinking the job was simpler then that above and I could simply drain the radiator with the blue cap and refill, but it sounds like I have to take out a drain bolt on the engine under the car near the exhaust headers while the heater is running? This is to drain the water inside the engine? Can anybody please confirm this or tell me where this bolt is? and then I take off the little blue cap on the radiator? drain it and fill it up with some antifreeze and distilled water? I bought a regular 5L of average anti freeze so I will do a 50 50 mix or something. 2.5 liters of the anti freeze and 2.5 liters of the distilled water.

also i dont have a crush washer can i just reuse the old one for now as I will be going for a long trip (few hundred km's) in a weeks time?

not getting much feedback in bfC so need some help & input from fellow m42 ers as I will do this tomorrow 

thanks

10

General Topics / M42 transmissions all the same?

« on: January 18, 2013, 11:03:01 PM »

I found my vin online keflaman, its WBABE62010JC00728

Tell me how do you know irish, this would be interesting

just want to make sure I get the right trannie in case my one is really f'd.

11

General Topics / M42 transmissions all the same?

« on: January 18, 2013, 01:30:50 AM »

Hey, I am back, happy new year. So I am going to do a transmission flush with new fluid and all hoping it will fix my transmission issues and slippage, some say it works miracles but I dont know.  However If it doesn't work then I will need a new gearbox (used but good working condition), I think I can get one for around $200 - $300 and pay a local garage maybe another $300 to install it for me.

So just in case I am looking at used transmissions. Anybody know if there is a difference in transmissions between the M42 engines and M40 engines. My car is a 1993 318is coupe (automatic). Anything I should look out for when buying a new trans, I want it properly mated with the engine and all so its important I know if they are all the same or will all be fine.

12

Electrical / Trying to Install E36 Fog lights..Need Power Source..

« on: December 10, 2012, 04:53:22 AM »

I have figured it out, That Female Connector IS the Foglight Connector.  My car was wired for Rear Foglights and the Switch itself was only 2 way not 3 way so it would only power the rear lights.

In this image of the Foglight connector,


See the Yellow/White Stripe Wire on the Left? that is the Wire that powers rear Foglights, The Wire on the far right(3'rd) powers the Front Fog Lights, and the Yellow / Purple Wire in the middle is the wire that powers everything (kicks the relays)

Now I am thinking that all you need is a Euro Switch like this and you are done. The rest of the process is butter easy. I will get back to this and later post a DIY...

13

Electrical / How bmw e36 foglight harness works

« on: December 04, 2012, 02:41:07 AM »

okay so I have come up with a schematic of basically how this works...



Now this thing is nothing but a a relay and some connectors.  And should be do able for less then $10. I will get to that later but first for us to understand how this would wire up lets remind ourselves how a relay works and the difference between a BOSH/BMW Relay made for our cars and a regular relay.



As you can see the relays on our cars have a sightly different terminal locations compared to regular relays. They both function the same way, the tab's and leg/terminal output on the BMW relays simply makes it 'idoit proof'.


Now lets see how the Harness works



Ø Term 30 Pin 6 = Main power feed
Ø Term 85 Pin 4 = Earth
Ø Term 86 Pin 8 = Feed from switch
Ø Term 87 Pin 2 = Feed from relay to warning light in cluster
Ø Term 87 Pin 5 = Feed from relay to front lights via fuse 15

And Whats What on the Harness BMW provides..



So if my schematics are close to being accurate, Then I think the think That needs to be done is getting the Foglight switch inside the dash to work and Provide the 12V to the Black Connector, If that can be achived then the rest is just plug and play... Bad news is my Switch is not receiving or delivering any power to either its ow connectors or the black connector inside the fuse box. But the Foglight dash icon comes up when I put the Highbeam on...:confused:  What am I missing...why is there no power.. Fuse 15 is connected and Purple/Yellow wire also connected...:confused:

14

Electrical / Trying to Install E36 Fog lights..Need Power Source..

« on: December 03, 2012, 10:23:58 PM »

man, this is so much more trouble than it is worth. I am so mad at BMW for screwing so many things by cheeping out on our cars. okay so I figured out a few things. That Black female connector  with Grey/Yellow and grey / silver wire most likely is what powers the Foglight relay, The original bmw harness has a similar male connector that plugs in there and then to a relay.

The $200 - $500 BMW harness is nothing but a Bosh relay, a fuse and some connectors that's it.  The Foglight wiring can be done under 10 bucks if the foglight switch is working...The real deal is getting the black foglight 12V switch to work. You know the one that seems to get power from the headlight relay.

When I push the foglight button the Green Foglight icon doesn't come on the dash. So something is messed un in the wiring somewhere.  If I can get the foglight switch to work as in provide power then It will be a piece of cake to wire up the rest. thats all i need to get the fog light switch to work and provide power. I dont get any readings from the yellow/purple or other wires connecting to the switch when I power the car, lights etc...

15

Electrical / Trying to Install E36 Fog lights..Need Power Source..

« on: December 03, 2012, 04:00:46 AM »

Just a little update since I came across this other forum where this guy installed fog light sets on his e36. It gives an idea but I am having problems following what the guy is trying to say. Its decently documented but not so well written / hard to follow..

can somebody put this in laymans terms, its real hard to understand..
http://www.bmwforums.info/general-guides-how-tos/973-retro-fitting-front-fogs-e36-using-bmw-loom-pics.html

Here are some pics











PS: Keflaman I sent you a PM with some details, hope you get it..