do 98-99's have an oil temp sensor factory installed?

[RS]

I'm a day late on helping Cindy with her ignition hot wire for the gauge install, but in evaluating the Bentley manual, it splits the '98 (and presumably the 99 e36 M3..not explicitly written in book though and in 99 the rest were e46) off on their own page (ELE-168) and shows a oil temp sensor with a BRN/RED wire heading to some "X271 Conn C" connector (??). Is it true that the 98s have an oil temp sensor installed already that I can tap into somehow with a gauge?.........thanks

[BMWguy206]

Our M3s do come with an oil temp. sensor from the factory.
This Schematic is probably a world version and taken right off from BMWs own ETM (Electronic Troubleshooting Manual).

Best way to find out though is to remove the connector and find the associated pin and wires.

[fourfa]

it's most likely a thermostat switch, not a true sensor. Much cheaper that way. Probably tells the computer to switch out of cold-start mode.

It's easy enough to hook up a DVM to that pin on the wiring harness and watch the voltage as the car heats up. Probably goes from 0 to 12 V somewhere about five minutes after start, rather than smoothly ramping up.