Ultimate DIY for 18 Button OBC Upgrade from 7 or 11 Button OBC Made Easy w/ Pictures!

[brunp]

Well, i figured out my wire differences. there was a subtle difference between the thickness of the white strip which allowed me to properly splice the connection. I also was able to pull all the cables through. One thing I noticed on my car...I had no left over wires from the black connector, so that left only one wire going to the glove box area (i.e., PIN 1 from the white connector), the one wire going to the stalk and the rest going to the Odometer, except for pins 2 and 3, which appear to be left over wires as discussed year. Everything is all cleaned up, but I didn't put anything back yet as it got a little chilly in the garage and couldn't complete it, so I will have to wait to complete for another day.

However, is it entirely possible to not have any left over whiles on the black connector? Besides routing the power to the "white" connector on the OBC, all other wires on the new connector were accounted for and used, so I presume I don't have to pull any wires into the odometer from the black connector as indicated in the DIY??

If anyone can confirmed, that would be great. BTW, I have dones of pictures which I will be posting on my BLOG in the next couple of weeks.

Paul

[ImmortalA9]

Hello guys, Im Stelios from Greece
i recently made the conversion from 7 to 18 button obc and all functions (except check control) works fine! I have 2 questions for you (i suppose im not the only one! hehe)
I have 9/97 coupe with klimatronik and i wonder about 2 connections
1) white connector - pin 14 goes to klimatronik connector pin4 or pin 20? i have connected to pin 4 but i didnt see something functional about air conditioning.what exactly is preheater option and how is getting enabled? (exists in 9/97 model?)
2) white connector - pin 2 or 3 goes to body computer system? i have read about it and i suppose is for the CODE feature but in this case at '97 model has the ZKE module (pin 15) for this.maybe the body computer system is the earlier ZKE module and simply with different connection?
i will wait for your answers

[odium]

hi, i'm planning to go from 11 to 18 conversion. (E36 328i 1995 EUROPE)

since i'll like to have the CODE feature, i have 2 doubts:

1.) about the X1071 pin1 that goes to X1659 (EWS II module) pin15 :

my car doesn't have the coded key, so this means i don't have EWS II module right ?

let's admit i have the old EWS I (located under the driver side dash board) , should i connect X1071 pin1 to the same pin15 in that EWS I module ??

2.) about the X1070 pin8 that goes to ZKE IV module pin12

is ZKE IV present in my car ? is it under the glove box like in US cars ?
does people often mistake EWS and ZKE modules ? for me it seems so ...

anyone to tell me if the descriptions on the following pics are correct ?



ews II module behind glove box , color might also be yellow ...



ZKE IV module with his 5 connectors shown ...are the Xxxxxx numbers correct ? is in X10182 pin12 that goes wire from X1070 pin8 ??


thanks in advance for any clarification !!!

cya

...

bump !!!

[delmarco]

guys,
right click on the Photobucket picture holders (where my pictures don't show up) and go to Properties and then copy and paste the Address URL link to see the pictures. sorry about that my bandwidth cannot keep up with the popularity of this thread


It should look like this. Just copy the link and paste it onto your browser address bar.

Address: http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y152/Delmarco/47b.jpg
(URL)

[brunp]

Spring is here and I revisited the DIY for converting the 11-button to 18-button OBC. I stopped after trying it out in December because I originally got the wrong wire. I had purchased a 20-gauge solid vs. 20-gauge stranded wire. Now that I have the appropriate wires, I have re-routed the wires to the odometer and glove box (i.e., to tap into the black/green).

Now, my black connector had all existing connections, so I didn't have to follow through with pulling any additional wires to the odometer or glove box. So, it is just Pin1 from the white connector which I got to get connected to the black/green.

This go around, I am replaced all my splices and following the route of soldering them. This appears to be a much better method and quite easy to do since I have a portable soldering iron (i.e., battery powered), so it appears to be workin' like a charm.

At this precise moment, I am eating supper and will continue the work until sun-down. I have to re-splice/solder all the black connections properly and will check to make sure that the OBC's indeed work.

Hopefully, they will.....

Paul

[brunp]

So, having followed the instructions that delmarco provided, I figure I should carry on and finally complete the last remaining piece of the puzzle regardling the ZKE IV module which provides the check functionality for the OBC.

I won't repeat the pics that delmarco provided, but I am left with one remaining wire to be tapped (PIN 1) from the white connector.



So, I look basically for the black/green wire which delmarco had discussed and found one that goes to the Red connector in behind the glove box, right here.





Consequently, it is also in slot Pin 15....so I end up cutting the wire, like this:



I know I can always re-solder it if it doesn't work, but before permanently wiring the connection, I wanted to test it, so I did a open-ended tap on the one end:



A three way tap on the other:



and viola, after turning the car on, I get this:

[Kleefei]

As i tried to find the answer whole over the internet, i ended up here.
Last week i upgraded my 7 button obc to 18.
All went well, and i checked with this thread if i forgot something.. but except for the turn signal stalk, i havent forgot anything.

The problem i have is that the obc is stuck on: Prog 1
I can push what ever i want, whenever i want, but it wont react.
When the car starts, i have 2 sec to push 10/1000 then i see: Test -- and then i can play with some buttons, but then it jumps back to Prog 1.

Does anybody have an idea what it might be?

I dont think it is neccesary to buy a new TSS? is it?

[coolx7]

question my obc works but the clock next to it is so faded u cant see it almost like it doesnt work at all how can i fix that?

[brunp]

question my obc works but the clock next to it is so faded u cant see it almost like it doesnt work at all how can i fix that?

This is likely a bulb problem. You have to remove the OBC and use a flat-head screw driver to remove the bulb above the clock and replace it with a new one....

Paul

[coolx7]

thanks ill try that

[Silli]

Hello.
Every joint you make like you do without soldering or using crimped connectors raises that line resistance. If you keep doing this to your car electric systems, some day you end up to situation where you are surrounded with "ghost faults". Here is main reasons for this

1. There is no true mechanical protection to that joint against vibrations etc.
2. It will raise resistance and exsample leads to "tail light failure" signal in your BC some points.
3. Will not pass thru planned current to this line.
4. Will not be protected anyway to electric and natural corrosion in joint.

thats why its called "russian rullet connection" in our country.

BTW soldering is faster also that wiping those wires allaround.

No offence, just trying to help you see the point in here.

Cheers
Silli

[brunp]

Hello.
Every joint you make like you do without soldering or using crimped connectors raises that line resistance. If you keep doing this to your car electric systems, some day you end up to situation where you are surrounded with "ghost faults". Here is main reasons for this

1. There is no true mechanical protection to that joint against vibrations etc.
2. It will raise resistance and exsample leads to "tail light failure" signal in your BC some points.
3. Will not pass thru planned current to this line.
4. Will not be protected anyway to electric and natural corrosion in joint.

thats why its called "russian rullet connection" in our country.

BTW soldering is faster also that wiping those wires allaround.

No offence, just trying to help you see the point in here.

Cheers
Silli

I think this was already pointed out within this thread. That is also why I ended up soldering the connections.

Paul

[Silli]

I think this was already pointed out within this thread. That is also why I ended up soldering the connections.

Paul

Ok... sorry i didnt notice that.

[brunp]

I just did another OBC upgrade for a buddy and half the work that is listed here is really not required.

For starters, the actual black connector pinout is the same. I had a very small flat-head screw driver and was able to move the pins over to the new connector without a problem. I used the same technic to move the power/ground over to the white connector (pin locations 8/13 I believe). So, all good there. So far, no cutting/splicing as all whites are intact.

It was at this point, I began to realized that you don't need to move any pins from the old black connector beyond the power/ground to the white connector. Once that is complete, then you can pull the new wires to the cluster area and glove box and solder the 5 or 7 wires that require soldering to attain the proper signals for your 7 or 11 button upgrade.

I also purchased a new tool that would have made my life simpler. A wire-sheath seperator. So instead of actually cutting/stripping the sheath and soldering, it was used to spread the sheath covering to allow me to tap into a specific wire and solder....

All in all, I was able to get all the work done in about 4 hours or so with using this thread as a reference for the pin out locations. A much, much cleaner install compared to my initial attempt on my car.

Paul

[Manihi]

I have done 11-button to full OBC conversion today. Seems like it went OK. All functions are working perfectly. But I got one problem.

After the installation, I started the engine...everything worked fine, BUT when I turned on the headlights, "CHECK ENGINE" light came on suddenly!!

What went worng?

Dose anyone have any idea?

[brunp]

I have done 11-button to full OBC conversion today. Seems like it went OK. All functions are working perfectly. But I got one problem.

After the installation, I started the engine...everything worked fine, BUT when I turned on the headlights, "CHECK ENGINE" light came on suddenly!!

What went wrong?

Does anyone have any idea?

This could be a result of the a wire not properly being tapped or the "CODE" feature not hooked up correctly to the correct wire in the glove box. However, this is a first for me...CHECK ENGINE when the headlights are turned on. :-)

Paul

[Manihi]

This could be a result of the a wire not properly being tapped or the "CODE" feature not hooked up correctly to the correct wire in the glove box. However, this is a first for me...CHECK ENGINE when the headlights are turned on. :-)

Paul

Thanks, Paul! I guess I have to double check the wire that goes from "X1071 Pin1" to "EWS II Pin15".

By the way, do I creat any problems if I keep driving with this "CHECK ENGINE" light on?

[brunp]

Thanks, Paul! I guess I have to double check the wire that goes from "X1071 Pin1" to "EWS II Pin15".

By the way, do I creat any problems if I keep driving with this "CHECK ENGINE" light on?

I think if it is flashing, then I would be concerned. A solid check engine light ("I think" and someone has to confirm here), is just indicated that a code was registered in the system and an OBD II scanner would likely clear it....

Paul

[Manihi]

I think if it is flashing, then I would be concerned. A solid check engine light ("I think" and someone has to confirm here), is just indicated that a code was registered in the system and an OBD II scanner would likely clear it....

Paul

It is a SOLID check engine light. So if the wire is properly connected, can I just clear it with OBD II scanner?

[Bartk]

DIY Part 2: Calibrating and Re-Coding your 18 Button OBC to your specific car!

5. Go to fueleconomy.gov/feg/findacar and find your Car,

I have a small problem in a sense that I installed the OBC in a 318tds, and naturally these value's are not listed on that webpage (You American's really don't like diesel engines )
Anybody that can help me there?

thanks

[twiggy114]

I did this today and like he said its really not that bad. But what can I do for it not to show break light failure, low water, etc. since I dont ahev the check control in my car?

[SQ Bimmer]

I have a couple OBC conversion kits in stock. In fact, I sold brunp his kit.

I also have just the harness pigtails and turn signal stalks available for sale separately of the kit in case you bought an OBC without these parts. I will sell just the pair of black and white harnesses for $15 plus shipping. Turn signal stalks for $25 + shipping. PM or email for details.

[ImmortalA9]

hello there! i have and obc disfunction! the average fuel consumption is not the right one.when i reset it i starts with 39.5 l/100km and if i get it much lower (when i already moving) in about 13.5 l/100km it stays there for 1 or 2 secs and then says random numbers! when i stop the car it goes step by step (about 0.2-0.3 l/100km) to 39.5 again.its an obc reprogramming subject or wrong at wiring? i believe is the first because i've recently changed my obc to another because the old one had died someday :P i have 4 cylinder car and i also wonder about ENHEIT settings...the old obc has a dead screen and i cant see the settings! any help could be useful
thanks!

Stelios

[andershhDK]

This is awsome - you're the man !!

[ImmortalA9]

any answers??