I'm glad to have ran into this thread, I joined this forum yesterday, and I happen to be a motorsports electronics engineer.... and a Link dealer... and am converting my 318ti M44 to a standalone ECU in the next few weeks.
Comments on your thread:
1. You can get all those Mini Timer (we call them Bosch LK's) connectors and components from milspecwiring.com or racespeconline.com. Great resources for engine management system wiring supplies.
2. Based on your posts, if you can somehow return that E36X link, I would. Get yourself a Storm or Extreme instead, the hardware is the same but they have a lot more flexibility as they're not constrained to the BMW AMP connector on the ECU. You can find the headers with flying leads, or even buy complete adapter harnesses, in plenty of places. So its still plug & play, but more flexible. This is what I'll be doing, with adapters for several different ECUs.
3. When you're ready for knock sensing, get a Link KnockBlock or another knock audio amplifier with a 3.5mm audio out that you can connect to your computer.
4. Go fully sequential on fuel and I'd consider a coil on plug conversion to go fully sequential spark as well. I've just received the plate and coils to convert my M44.
5. Link has 2 fueling modes, "traditional" uses MAP as the primary load source; you may find the modeled fuel equation better. This uses MAP as well but creates an air charge estimate and then determines fuel mass to inject. It requires a bit more injector data but its ability to track the lambda target is excellent.
6. For traction control, throttle-based torque reductions are about NVH and emissions compliance. Torque reductions based on fuel reductions and ignition cuts are more incremental, responsive and effective.
7. The M50 IAC is a good one, so good in fact I use it everywhere. I have twin M50 IACs on 1400hp turbocharged offshore powerboat V8s. I used a pair on a Lamborghini LM002. We used them for active engine braking control on Suzuki Superbikes. Its the Swiss-army knife of air control valves.
8. I highly recommend adding a fuel pressure sensor from the beginning. It is the most common, #1 issue in engine management system installations, and doing it now will save you at very least an equivalent amount of time at some point later in your project.
10. And NOW FOR THE WHEELSPEED SENSOR discussion. Caveat #1: I'm not an EE, I'm a calibrator with an old and worn out brain. So please tolerate my muddling through the following:
All the Link ECU digital inputs are designed to read open collector 0-5V square waves. They are not variable reluctance like the crank and cam. They do have a software-selectable pull-up and you can define the edge. Problem is that most ABS sensors are VR, and worse, they have a pretty low output at low speeds because of the tooth counts involved, as you saw from your testing. I've used this unit:
https://www.milspecwiring.com/DMC-D-Converter-Wheel-Speed_p_528.htmlI haven't had luck piggybacking ABS signals an ECU speeds with a mag/hall convertor, and I don't know anyone who has. Standard practice is to get wheel speeds off of a CANBUS (which your ABS unit doesn't have) or to use an ABS unit that has open collector outputs. 2002 and later E46 ABS units are like this, and I know quite a few people who have retrofitted this to the E30 and E36 chassis with success. Honestly, this is the best way for you to get traction control & upgrade your abs in one shot. That said, it might be a fun experiment to see if you can share those signals between the stock ABS unit and get a reilable speed at the Link.
Feel free to ask any questions! As soon as I find a clean, complete DASC kit I'll be doing a standalone install myself.
Cheers,
Neel
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