Author Topic: DIY Full OBC Retrofit  (Read 45610 times)

Zoso

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DIY Full OBC Retrofit
« on: March 10, 2006, 09:59:41 AM »
No 318 in the US ever came with the full OBC, but I've been enjoying one in my car for a few months now.  It requires a bit of work and a special coding plug.  As far as I know, I'm the only 318 owner to have done this.... for now :D

http://zoso.no-ip.org/318i-obc.html

OBC pages from owners manual - 800k .zip
Interesting OBC tips
« Last Edit: April 15, 2006, 09:34:38 AM by Febi Guibo »

Febi Guibo

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DIY Full OBC Retrofit
« Reply #1 on: March 10, 2006, 10:22:00 AM »
I followed this and am now the second (? -- i doubt it) 318 owner celebrating his car's high gas mileage. I got my coding plug at zionsville.

Also, for anyone interested, I have a OBC-compatible turn stalk, and the wiring, horn, and relay box for the CODE featuer for sale!
« Last Edit: March 10, 2006, 10:26:27 AM by Febi Guibo »
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m42 fan

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DIY Full OBC Retrofit
« Reply #2 on: March 10, 2006, 10:37:15 AM »
Febi-
       How much were you looking to get for the parts?  I've been trying to get things together for this for a little while now.

Zoso-
       Many have said this before, but you're write-ups are first rate.  Your OBC write up is what convinced me that this was doable.

Brian

Febi Guibo

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DIY Full OBC Retrofit
« Reply #3 on: March 10, 2006, 10:46:14 AM »
+1 on that... it's a very doable retrofit... I did it when I swapped my dashboard and it made it even easier.

m42_fan ygpm.
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dude8383

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DIY Full OBC Retrofit
« Reply #4 on: March 12, 2006, 12:51:41 PM »
Quote from: Febi Guibo
I followed this and am now the second (? -- i doubt it) 318 owner celebrating his car's high gas mileage. I got my coding plug at zionsville.


how much did you pay for that coding plug? i need to order mine cause i just bought a full obc for my car as well. Also what p/n is the coding plug...i wanna make sure that i will be ordering the same thing :)


Zoso

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DIY Full OBC Retrofit
« Reply #5 on: March 13, 2006, 08:47:31 AM »
Quote from: m42 fan

       Many have said this before, but you're write-ups are first rate.  Your OBC write up is what convinced me that this was doable.

Brian


Glad I could help!  I always love seeing writeups on the internet - combined with the Bentley, I know what I'm getting into before starting something.  So when I do a procedure, I just snap a few pictures and writeup it up.  It's the least I can do to give back to the E30 community.

Zoso

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DIY Full OBC Retrofit
« Reply #6 on: March 13, 2006, 08:48:46 AM »
Quote from: dude8383
how much did you pay for that coding plug? i need to order mine cause i just bought a full obc for my car as well. Also what p/n is the coding plug...i wanna make sure that i will be ordering the same thing :)



Part number is 65 81 1 394 111.  Bavarian Autosport got it for me for... I can't remember exactly, but it was either $23 or $32.

dude8383

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« Reply #7 on: March 13, 2006, 11:07:57 AM »
wow that much for a little tiny chip?! lol i thought i'd be like $5 bucks..w/e ill order mine sometime this week.

thanks!
« Last Edit: March 14, 2006, 07:51:28 AM by Zoso »


///Motorsport

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DIY Full OBC Retrofit
« Reply #8 on: April 01, 2006, 07:34:24 PM »
awesome write up!- the car i hope to buy has the OBC hanging out by a few wires so i assume i will need to do this..
thanks again

Vladi

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DIY Full OBC Retrofit
« Reply #9 on: April 04, 2006, 02:49:55 AM »
I've fitted an OBC to my 316i about one year ago. My only problem is the AVMPG+RANGE which isn't correct because the codeplug is for a 325i, but i'm waiting for my M42 swap to order the iS codeplug.
I\'m here to kick ass and chew bubblegum...i\'m all outta gum :D http://www.e30.ro!


 

christophbmw

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« Reply #10 on: April 04, 2006, 07:48:40 PM »
Check out my OBC.....I'll do a writeup if anyone wants to know how to install one:

......got it off ebay for $12.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

Zoso

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DIY Full OBC Retrofit
« Reply #11 on: April 04, 2006, 10:34:51 PM »
It takes me too long to read that clock.  I'd crash the car before I figured out the time.

christophbmw

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« Reply #12 on: April 05, 2006, 05:24:07 PM »
Quote from: Zoso
It takes me too long to read that clock.  I'd crash the car before I figured out the time.

......but it looks cool (you get used to it).
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

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« Reply #13 on: April 16, 2006, 09:24:40 PM »
Well, I finally got this one done this weekend.  Went just like Mike's writeups said.  I excersised my better judgement and decided to forgo the code junk.  Just a couple of observations:
1)  I screwed up.  While I was in there, I replaced all of the small bulbs in the cluster (including adding one for my now-present foglights).  I didn't have the right bulbs for the two big amber ones that backlight the cluster at night.  Well, you can guess what happened.  I'll be going back in there sometime in the next month or so to put those bulbs in.  Thankfully only the one on the tach side is out--for now.

2)  If you don't have a 21mm socket when you go to take off the wheel, an O2 sensor socket will work.

3)  When I took the car out for a test trive this afternoon, I noticed something interesting.  The values the OBC was giving me don't quite match up with what the cluster is telling me.  Example:  I'll set the max speed function to 50 mph.  the alarm will not go off till the speedo reads ~55 mph.  Same at 30 mph.  In addition, the mpg function was showing that I'm getting 27-28 mpg with 90% non highway driving.  By hand, I have been calculating 22-23 mpg. --Note:  I do have the correct coding plug installed.-- I'm going to assume that the OBC is giving me the correct info, and that the cluster is just off due to age or something like that unless someone on here has any better ideas.

Comments?  Questions?

BTW, thanks for all the help with the write up, Mike.
Brian

Febi Guibo

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DIY Full OBC Retrofit
« Reply #14 on: April 17, 2006, 03:13:45 PM »
Hey, as the E30 world's resident non-expert OBC go-to-guy... I added a link below zoso's writeup with some interesting tidbits about the obc...

I guess that tiny wheel... it's used to sync the OBC with exactly how much gas you have left in the tank. Kinda cool... who knew (obviously not me).
« Last Edit: April 17, 2006, 03:16:35 PM by Febi Guibo »
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