anyone interested in Alpina-like gauges?

[gpeterson]

I posted this in the regular e36 section as well, figured there may be more interest here.

There has been a lot of talk about the e36 buffered temperature gauge and I'm considering manufacturing a digital gauge set that is similar to the one made by Alpina:



I'd probably do water temp (using stock sender), voltage (no sender required), plus oil temp & pressure (VDO senders required). I imagine it would be easy to customize for people that wanted something like boost instead of voltage.

I started on a prototype and hope to have pictures soon. Is there much interest in something like this? If so, I'm still a few prototypes away from something I could sell. I'm also not to sure about pricing until I can finalize a design and get a rough idea of demand, but I'm thinking I could price them > $250 and < $500.

[ovation1000]

If you can make it as nice looking as the Alpina gauge I'd be interested.

[jaajavon]

would it be PnP? would it look like the picture?

[gpeterson]

Nice! No responses in the plain e36 forum, 2 responses in <10min here. Thanks guys.

I'll be making it look as nice as possible... prototype I'm working on for my car will be hand-built, but I'm looking into 3D printing or CNC cutting of individual pieces for production models. Making a mold & casting is also an option, but I'm still researching.

Oil pressure/temp wouldn't be plug & play since our cars don't have senders. Everything else would be just a few wire taps. There will be a small black box that drives the LED displays that would live behind the dash. Cluster removal may be required for installation, but wires would basically run down the top of the steering column.

[Langertown]

A boost gauge that looks like that. That would be amazing for forced induction guys.

[gpeterson]

A boost gauge that looks like that. That would be amazing for forced induction guys.

Yea, I figured the swapping voltage display for boost would be a good option.

[R0b0t]

I'm doing something similar by putting an lcd in where the mpg gauge is and running oilt and oilp senders to it via a microcontroller.

[Jim E.]

If it looks like the Alpina gauges then you'll do quite well.

If it looks like these: http://www.rallyroad.net/content/e36...uary-20th-2013

I doubt it would do well and not something I would be interested in. I'm just one reference point for what it's worth.

[gpeterson]

If it looks like the Alpina gauges then you'll do quite well.

If it looks like these: http://www.rallyroad.net/content/e36...uary-20th-2013

I doubt it would do well and not something I would be interested in. I'm just one reference point for what it's worth.

Yea, those rallyroad gauge pods are definitely not what I'm going for.

Feedback from you (and others) is much appreciated! I'll definitely have a prototype in my car as soon as I can. My goal on here is to gauge interest and determine if it is worth the investment (time and $$$) to make a real product.

[RatedM3]

I can vouch for this guys O2 sims (check them out, nicely priced too!). Very good quality. I'm sure these gauges will come out just as nice.

[jaajavon]

if it was full PnP minus the oil senors i might be interested

[gpeterson]

I can vouch for this guys O2 sims (check them out, nicely priced too!). Very good quality. I'm sure these gauges will come out just as nice.

Thanks!

BTW, I'm also thinking of making the individual displays blink when thresholds are met, say water temp > 215.

[nectrplnt993]

i would be interested

[gpeterson]

if it was full PnP minus the oil senors i might be interested

Should be do-able but would likely require removing the cluster for installation - kind of a PITA since you have to pull the steering wheel, make sure you don't trigger the SRS lamp, etc. I've heard rumors that it can be done without removing the wheel but I just pulled mine when I removed the cluster. Maybe it can be done if you have tilt.

The electronic part isn't yet complete and I'm trying to decide if I should use the coolant temp sender that feeds the gauge or by talking to the DME (which uses a separate sender, although physically combined with the other sender on ODBII) over the k-line.

[BMWMPow3r]

man that looks sweet. I'm running out of room for gauges and this is an awesome solution. if you can get it to look stock as the alpina with right color amber, I'de be interested if it was in fahrenheit and psi.

[MarketMaster]

If you are serious, I have resources that do this exact thing. Not only for tooling but also the gauges. PM me if you wish.

[gpeterson]

If you are serious, I have resources that do this exact thing. Not only for tooling but also the gauges. PM me if you wish.

Sending PM...

[Moron95M3]

I'd get one

[laxeric999]

Subscribed

[AliGhanizad]

I'd get one!! Especially if you make it to blind or beep once the threshold is reached for that one sensor.

[jvit27]

I'd be interested in one

[jdantuono]

Sign me up!

[UltimateAutoM3]

Im very interested in this as well, i need gauges!

[TH3 Shifty]

I'm totally in!!

[206danebmx]

I could be interested. I would like to display the following:

Oil temp, coolant temp, boost and wideband O2.

Also the blinking feature would be nice to be able to set.