E36 custom center vent digital boost/wideband

[Inicent Child]

I recently made this, didn't want to throw much money at it.

At first I had my eyes on the rallyroad steering wheel pods but decided I wouldn't be happy with anything that gets in the way of the speedo and didn't want to clutter it up.

Made this turned out much better than I thought. Completely perfect gaps it slides right in and absolutely no gaps anywhere. No screws necessary to mount. Can put more gauges in and any custom switches if needed. Could also replicate more of them if anyone was interested.

20140805_205902.jpg

[e36ALPINE]

I've been trying to figure out a good place to mount my gauges. Right now I just have boost and A/f on the pillar. I don't really like the fact that they're there but then again they are pretty much in line of site and still tricky to look at when you're really hammering down. I don't like taking my eyes off the road haha. Anyone ever seen the "heads up display" on the old Pontiacs? I wish I could do something that just reflected little numbers onto my windshield.

[Inicent Child]

For me the pillar mount makes a blind spot. Plus law enforcement will think im a racer if I do something stupid lol. Away from plain sight but visible is my preference.

[bry195]

I've been trying to figure out a good place to mount my gauges. Right now I just have boost and A/f on the pillar. I don't really like the fact that they're there but then again they are pretty much in line of site and still tricky to look at when you're really hammering down. I don't like taking my eyes off the road haha. Anyone ever seen the "heads up display" on the old Pontiacs? I wish I could do something that just reflected little numbers onto my windshield.

look up "heads up display" on ebay. I was considering it too. they are there.

[e36ALPINE]

I haven't found anything that will do boost and air fuel ratio. Especially at the same time.

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[daandaman]

I seriously dont get why you all are still considering gauge pods, ebay huds, center vent bodge jobs, light switch fuckups and sunglass holder clusterfucks whilst the people of this forum, bimmerforums that is, have R&D'd and reverse engineered the shit out of the OEM obc and created the beauty that is the openobc. A DIRECT replacement pcb for inside your obc that took me 15 minutes to get operational.
You would be contributing to the development, you would be motivators to code the damn thing to show EVERY THING youd ever want to see, you would probably spend LESS than for instance 3 analog gauges or 1 programmable lcd gauge, you wouldnt rice your cars interior and it would be stealthy and OEM+

SO I GUESS Y'ALL LIKE JDM HONDA TUNING! :p

I haven't found anything that will do boost and air fuel ratio. Especially at the same time.

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Openobc could.

[Butters Stoch]

PLX devices will do a bunch all on 1 gauge. Buy 4 modules, 1 gauge and put it where the factory temp gauge is.

I like gauges, lots of them. If I didn't have other priorities, id have them everywhere. In the mirrors, in the sunvisors, hell id put gauges on the pedals.

I kid. I would like to do the PLX idea tho.

[e36ALPINE]

I seriously dont get why you all are still considering gauge pods, ebay huds, center vent bodge jobs, light switch fuckups and sunglass holder clusterfucks whilst the people of this forum, bimmerforums that is, have R&D'd and reverse engineered the shit out of the OEM obc and created the beauty that is the openobc. A DIRECT replacement pcb for inside your obc that took me 15 minutes to get operational.
You would be contributing to the development, you would be motivators to code the damn thing to show EVERY THING youd ever want to see, you would probably spend LESS than for instance 3 analog gauges or 1 programmable lcd gauge, you wouldnt rice your cars interior and it would be stealthy and OEM+

SO I GUESS Y'ALL LIKE JDM HONDA TUNING! :p






Openobc could.

LOL, yeeeeaahhh... I want to rice out my car. That's it, I'm going to start figuring out my fast n furious paint scheme now..... Actually if you've ever been in a fast M3 , not a slow vert, you would realize there is no way in hell you are willing to look DOWN at the OBC. I am actually intrigued at the idea as far as wiring it for oil and coolant temps etc. That would be great. When I'm tearing ass down the road the last thing I want to do is look down at my pixelated OBC. Are you serious?????

[Butters Stoch]

LOL, yeeeeaahhh... I want to rice out my car. That's it, I'm going to start figuring out my fast n furious paint scheme now..... Actually if you've ever been in a fast M3 , not a slow vert, you would realize there is no way in hell you are willing to look DOWN at the OBC. I am actually intrigued at the idea as far as wiring it for oil and coolant temps etc. That would be great. When I'm tearing ass down the road the last thing I want to do is look down at my pixelated OBC. Are you serious?????

Very true.
In fact, wide open highway pulls are for testing and watching gauges. Once you hit the track, you watch the tach, and hopefully all else is same.

[daandaman]

You can program it to sound alarms or even trigger failsafe devices.
Btw a stock euro m3 vert is still faster than a stock usa m3 coupe trololololol

[e36ALPINE]

You can program it to sound alarms or even trigger failsafe devices. Btw a stock euro m3 vert is still faster than a stock usa m3 coupe trololololol

Haha. I know. Imagine if we started off with them in the USA !! Haha

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[e36ALPINE]

You can program it to sound alarms or even trigger failsafe devices. Btw a stock euro m3 vert is still faster than a stock usa m3 coupe trololololol

I will be looking into what the OBC can do though so thanks for the heads up

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[bry195]

Open obc is nice but its not for everyone.

as far as the hud goes it probably takes pulses or an analog value. couple bucks and a little help and you can get it to do what you want but its one of those things you have to decide you really want. If you need help when and if you want to get into it I'll help and there is allot of other guys who usually chip in to.

But since you are ricing out I might need some help. I want a boost gauge that a euro m3 can see from way back behind me. I'll mount it next to the 318 badge on my trunk!

[e36blur]

I like gauges like you guys, but more oem flavor. Like a mini cooper speedometer retrofit....

[cpalella]

Ohhhh myyyyyy this is going off topic fast..... Was just trying to make something very common in the boosted world look a little more oem...

Yes openobc seems really nice, but as others have mentioned, I can't look down while I am wot... suicide. Further, what if I want to be able to see boost, afr, water temp, oil temp, oil pressure all at the same time? Idk, if I can mount a couple more aux gauges without compromising the look/feel of the interior (aka no ricer pillar mounts, no offense) then I will do it.

Perhaps I am not understanding openobc entirely, but it seemed pretty sketchy in terms of open box usage. I can't program (wish I could) which sucks, also from what I read I literally have no idea where to start with it.

And honestly, I don't think "cost" really should be point...... I mean you don't get into FI because its economical...

- - - Updated - - -

So I do have a tiny update in the interest of producing something...

It seems the LED display module should fit snugly with the two bottom slats removed.





Sorry for so little progress, I have been busy.

[daandaman]

Open obc is nice but its not for everyone.

as far as the hud goes it probably takes pulses or an analog value. couple bucks and a little help and you can get it to do what you want but its one of those things you have to decide you really want. If you need help when and if you want to get into it I'll help and there is allot of other guys who usually chip in to.

But since you are ricing out I might need some help. I want a boost gauge that a euro m3 can see from way back behind me. I'll mount it next to the 318 badge on my trunk!

You made me lol

And cpalella im curious for the resulting look

[Randy Forbes]

PLX devices will do a bunch all on 1 gauge. Buy 4 modules, 1 gauge and put it where the factory temp gauge is.

I like gauges, lots of them. If I didn't have other priorities, id have them everywhere. In the mirrors, in the sunvisors, hell id put gauges on the pedals.

I kid. I would like to do the PLX idea tho.

By request, I put one in a customer's car__'00///M Coupe w/Vortech SC. Getting them to read what you want is a convoluted process, but doable (somehow, it defaulted to white lettering on a white background... ). I bought a duplicate set to do the same thing in my '99///M Rdstr w/ES/TS, when I get the time...

A few pics from the Coupe's install; finding room for all the modules (AFR, boost/vacuum, oil press & primary OBD-II) was a challenge in the Coupe, but in the big ol' ass M3, might be easier...











The car's owner now has the gauge configured to display alpha-numeric RPM, AFR, Oil Press & Boost (only), but ANY parameter that the OBD-II sees can be called up for a fixed or scrolled display__there are even ///M backgrounds available to download from their website!.





Incidentally, if anyone is interested in some used gauges, I have a dual SPA unit in an A-pillar pod, and a 3-gauge panel (and gauges) that fits the radio opening that I took out of the "Buy a Eurosport Twinscrew and get a Free M3" E-36 car. Make me an offer! I'll see if I can dig up some pictures of them (though installed in the cockpit, NONE of the sending units were ever connected__talk about your Love of Bling...! ).

Kind of shows the SPA gauge...



Center gauge stack:



[/highjack-derailment]

[bry195]

You made me lol And cpalella im curious for the resulting look

:wink

[cdmbmw]

But since you are ricing out I might need some help. I want a boost gauge that a euro m3 can see from way back behind me. I'll mount it next to the 318 badge on my trunk!

Lol I'll make an appearance!....on that o.t. subject, wish I had the budget to turbo my euro coupe






Taking donations!

[cpalella]

By request, I put one in a customer's car__'00///M Coupe w/Vortech SC. Getting them to read what you want is a convoluted process, but doable (somehow, it defaulted to white lettering on a white background... ). I bought a duplicate set to do the same thing in my '99///M Rdstr w/ES/TS, when I get the time...

A few pics from the Coupe's install; finding room for all the modules (AFR, boost/vacuum, oil press & primary OBD-II) was a challenge in the Coupe, but in the big ol' ass M3, might be easier...

[/highjack-derailment]

huh. it looked way more plug and play. good to know

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You made me lol

And cpalella im curious for the resulting look

me too haha

[bry195]

Lol I'll make an appearance!....on that o.t. subject, wish I had the budget to turbo my euro coupe Taking donations!

I guess I had the price of boosting euro on my side. but yea! I'd take a knee if you make it happen.

[2002330i]

Here is my plx dm100 setup in my boosted 99 M3 that I just completed. Love this thing.

image-2358484195.jpg

Installing rings and plx gauge

image-2023274007.jpg

4 button remote fitted in center console

image-3190193950.jpg

Done cluster

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[pbonsalb]

Looks good. I would love to have 4 or 5 gauges in one, but don't have the money to spend right now. I'll add this to the long list of projects.

[Pixis5]

Nice work!
I've done something similar using Arduino and a double din head unit AV input. Getting AFR from a Spartan wideband controller and boost from a bosch MAP sensor.
For my car I'll use two small 1.8" TFT displays to show the results because AV support is only in black and white so far.

[cpalella]

Here is my plx dm100 setup in my boosted 99 M3 that I just completed. Love this thing.
Installing rings and plx gauge
4 button remote fitted in center console
Done cluster

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Yea I have seen this, I like it. Cool way to mount it.

Nice work!
I've done something similar using Arduino and a double din head unit AV input. Getting AFR from a Spartan wideband controller and boost from a bosch MAP sensor.
For my car I'll use two small 1.8" TFT displays to show the results because AV support is only in black and white so far.

That sounds interesting

- - - Updated - - -

It is finished. Turned out better than I expected. I could have done a better job I think if I had taken more time to measure and cut the lexan, probably could have gotten the fitment a little tighter... gotten rid of some tiny gaps but that is just me being very picky. I also couldnt find my caliper to get some really precise measurements so I used a combination of the eyeball and an old plastic middle school geometry ruler

Here is the back half after trimming to allow space for the gauge and wires



Assembled





Installed



Daytime mode
note - wideband is not connected yet



Night time mode (display dimmed)



I mounted the momentary switch (button) in this convenient little spot next to the dimmer... fits right in and is accessible



I love it. Sooooo easy to see.

- - - Updated - - -

It is finished. Turned out better than I expected. I could have done a better job I think if I had taken more time to measure and cut the lexan, probably could have gotten the fitment a little tighter... gotten rid of some tiny gaps but that is just me being very picky. I also couldnt find my caliper to get some really precise measurements so I used a combination of the eyeball and an old plastic middle school geometry ruler

Here is the back half after trimming to allow space for the gauge and wires



Assembled





Installed



Daytime mode
note - wideband is not connected yet



Night time mode (display dimmed)



I mounted the momentary switch (button) in this convenient little spot next to the dimmer... fits right in and is accessible



I love it. Sooooo easy to see.