Messages

1

Electrical / Road Speed and Engine Speed signals for HUD

« on: February 07, 2010, 01:56:55 PM »

Went home and tested some more yesterday with no sucess.  It seems like al the information about location of speed signals doesn't apply to my 318is.

Going from this wesbite http://www.unofficialbmw.com/speedo/speedo_d.html I soldered a test wire to my speedo just like in the picture, and nothing.  No signal at all.

Since we couldn't get that to work we tried looking under the glovebox for this connector.  The black wire should contain the rpm signal.


Unfortunately I couldn't see that connector anywhere in my car.  I took off the plastic ECU cover and still couldn't find it.  So I'm not sure if its buried somewhere else back there or if my car doesn't have it at all.

We also looked at the yellow OBC connector on the back of the cluster for the road speed signal.  Supposedly theres a wire that sends that signal from the cluster to the OBC.  I just am unsure if my car would even have it considering I only have a 6 button OBC.  I was also not able to locate a pinout chart for that yellow OBC connector.

Also, how would I go about testing the pins on that connector?  Doesn't the connector have to be plugged into the cluster to get the signal?  Would I have to cut and splice every wire running to that connector?

So far this has been frustrating.  I've done a huge amount of research but there are no definitive answers.  I was hoping these two signals would be fairly easy to get without having to tear into the car, but its looking less and less promising.  

Any tips or help would be extremely appreciated!

2

Electrical / Road Speed and Engine Speed signals for HUD

« on: January 28, 2010, 08:36:49 PM »

Very brief update: we took some readings with the Multimeter running a wire to the c101 pin 14 in the engine bay.  From all the research we've been doing it seemed fairly certain that we would get a speed signal here.  There was also supposed to be the engine speed signal located at pin 9.  Interestingly enough, the multimeter picked up a reading at pin 14 that fluctuated exactly in line with the engine speed!

I believe the reading was between 400hz at idle and 12000hz at 7000rpm.  My digits might be off a bit there as my buddy was holding the multimeter and I dont have much electronics background.  The multimeter read .400 at idle and 12.000 at 7000rpm.  

I'm a little unsure what to make of these numbers.  They perfectly mirror a signal that would measure rpm (I would rev the car and the readings would fluctuate accordingly).  But all of the people doing M50/S50 swaps seem to have road speed signal located at that pin.  

We ran out of time tonight but are going to spend awhile testing different things tomorrow so hopefully I'll have something to report back.  Hopefully we will be making progress!

3

Swaps, Turbos, Buildups / dynotech motorsports budget turbo build

« on: January 27, 2010, 11:38:24 AM »

Thanks,

I read the entire thread when I was building my setup. I thought I saw a price once but couldn't find it again to confirm it.

I wonder if that setup is completely plug and play though?  I am in need of a clutch fairly soon, but I've read so many conflicting reports about what the m20 kit needs.  Longer flywheel bolts, some sort of spacer etc. etc.  If that kit is plug and play completely it would really spike my interest.

4

Electrical / Road Speed and Engine Speed signals for HUD

« on: January 21, 2010, 11:39:38 AM »

I most definitely will. We will be working on it pretty soon here so hopefully we will find something useful.

5

Electrical / Road Speed and Engine Speed signals for HUD

« on: January 21, 2010, 10:48:12 AM »

So if the DME converts the signal and then sends it to the cluster, there must be a wire in one of the cluster harnesses/connectors that sends the converted signal to the speedometer itself.  

Where would I find a pin out of what all the wires in the cluster harness connectors do?

6

Electrical / Road Speed and Engine Speed signals for HUD

« on: January 20, 2010, 09:43:22 PM »

Hey everyone,

One of my buddies is going to try and program a heads up display for his senior design project (computer engineering major) using my e30 as the test car.  For the HUD we are thinking he needs to tap into 2 different wires.  One that gives the road speed (mph) and one that gives engine speed (rpm).  
The HUD unit will be located on the dashboard right behind the cluster bump and close to the windshield.  Without tearing into the ECU, are there any wires running to the cluster or otherwise easily accessible that we could tap into?  

Is it possible to get those signals directly off the cluster itself?  We are just in the planning stages right now and want to figure out the easiest way to get these two signals.  

Any suggestions would be much appreciated!

Thanks,

Gray

7

General Topics / The mess under the intake

« on: December 21, 2009, 07:26:03 AM »

Where are you all getting the 19/32" vacuum hose?  I went to Advance, Autozone, and Carquest and no one had even seen 19/32" before.  Is there a different size I can use instead?

8

For Sale / The Ultimate COP FS Thread

« on: December 12, 2009, 10:57:37 AM »

Let us know how it drives after you get a chance to test drive it.

I've driven it about a hundred miles or so now...much much smoother throughout the entire rev band.  I don't really feel any power difference, but it's probably a bit quicker just because the car is actually getting a solid spark now.  It runs so much smoother that I really wonder how worn my plug wires were, they must have been about dead.  Totally worth the investment, and coupled with the vacuum mess delete I'm doing in a few weeks I think the engine will be running better than ever.

9

For Sale / The Ultimate COP FS Thread

« on: December 06, 2009, 09:52:39 AM »

Yep I ended up getting it, turns out my buddy who was 100% sure he labeled 1 and 2 correctly actually swapped them.  Fires right up now.

I didnt get a chance to drive it but I'm amazed at how much smoother it idles and revs up to 1800rpm.  I always had a really rough idle but these seemed to have cured it quite a bit.  I cant wait to drive it and see the difference.
Original plug wires with 156k on them must have been really worn.  


Thanks a bunch Rob.

10

For Sale / The Ultimate COP FS Thread

« on: December 05, 2009, 11:18:14 AM »

Problem is now I have everything unplugged from the original coil box, so the only reference I have of where the wires go is what coil they are plugged into now.  I'm pretty confident they are right, but is there any way to tell from looking at the connectors or wires?

11

For Sale / The Ultimate COP FS Thread

« on: December 05, 2009, 11:00:30 AM »

Installed but no start

Well it starts but sounds like its down a cylinder or two.  It'll run for like 10 seconds and fight to keep running but eventually dies out.

I'm pretty sure I got all the coils plugged into the right lead, my only though is that the coils arent fully seated on the spark plug, even though I had them screwed all the way down.  

Any suggestions? I might just try re-installing the whole thing and if that doesnt work then I'll file down one of the plastic spacers and see if the coil will seat better on all the plugs.

Hopefully I don't have a bad coil.


Also, when you all are installing the coils, do you plug them into the right leads before screwing them down?  Is it possible to get them connected once they are all seated?

12

For Sale / The Ultimate COP FS Thread

« on: November 29, 2009, 08:12:23 PM »

Payment and PM sent

13

Suspension / Check out these rims

« on: January 04, 2009, 12:57:14 AM »

I really really like those.  What all is needed to run them? Centering rings I assume and probably spacers depending on which width.

14

Member Profiles / bimmergirrl

« on: December 30, 2008, 01:26:56 PM »

I registered here before I had an e30... glad I did because I got alot of information.

15

General Topics / M42 E30 Trip - 2100 miles - 34.9 mpg

« on: September 05, 2008, 10:57:52 AM »

Any other maintenance youve done that you have noticed a difference in mileage?