FULL OBC Conversion DIRECTIONS HOW TO

[BiMmEr JoN]

Alright. I've been getting alot of e-mails and post about how I did my OBC conversion so I guess I'll finally spend the time to write about how it was done and how to do it.

FIRST :
Everyone who says it can't be done and those people who say it will cost a lot of money are about to be proven wrong. The most expensive part for anybody doing the conversion will be the actual computer and your time.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED :
1. The 18 button full OBC

2. A crap load of wire, I suggest getting a spool, or several spools of different color wire so that if you ever have to go back to look at the wires, it will be easier to look at.

3. Wire connectors - Female and Male or just the tube like connectors

4. Wire stripper / Crimper

5. Electrical connector - READ BELOW - VERY IMPORTANT
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Here is the directions I originally recieved on how to do it. After these instructions, i will write how I actually tackled the project.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Just work accurate and check you're wiring and connections before you start (do you have all the right connections you supposed to have already, can you find the colours named in the instructions?? things like that)
and check you're connections again before connecting the battery again! Good luck.

So here it goes:

You got to have at least the clock/date/temp-module and preferable the checkcontrol or checkcontrol+temp.
Start with disconnecting the battery!!
The connectors:
X1070 = black connector on the OBC = it's the same as the clock/date/temp-module and up.
X1071 = white connector on the OBC
X17 = blue connector on you're Instrument-panel.
X16 = white connector on you're Instrument-panel.

Power:
move X1070-pin18 (+30) to X1071-pin8.
move X1070-pin17 (ground) to X1071-pin13.
Check that X1070-pin14 (+15) has power +12V with the ign. key in position 1&2! (it should be there already)
X1070-pin9 needs power with ign. key in position 2 only. Get it from X16-pin13 on you're Instrument-panel.
X1070-pin16 is for the lighting and should be there already.

The rest:
X1070-pin12 is for the Temp. sensor and already there.
X1070-pin10 & pin11 are for the gong (audible signal) and already connected.
X1070-pin4 is for the 'menu-step switch' in the turn signal handle (this ofcourse needs a handle with that option).
X1070-pin14 is for the connection to X607-pin4 (preheater-relais)
(this ofcourse only in case you have the preheater option)
X1070-pin6 needs a wire to X17-pin26 in the Instrument-panel and it lights the 'check' light wich has to be added if you did not have Check Control before. If you had Check Control before, just check it.
X1071-pin6 needs a wire to X16-pin21 on the Instrument panel.
X1070-pin13 & pin15 are wired (keep them like that).
X1071-pin9 needs a wire to X17-pin10 on the Instrument panel.
X1070-pin8 needs a wire to the fusebox in the engine compartment where you connect it to the black/green wire (Central Locking Module) and in case you have Central Body Electronics you can connect the same wire to X10182-pin12 (black connector on the CBE-module).
Connect X1071-pin7 to a white/yellow wire somewhere around the foot area on the drivers side.
Connect X1071-pin5 to a white/violette (kinda light purple) wire, also around that same drivers side area. (there should be a free connection point for both).
Connect X1071-pin1 to connector X1659-pin15 from the Electronic Car Alarm/Immobiliser (BMW name in German = EWS) (in case you don't have the ECA/I system connect X1071-pin1 to a black/violette wire on the passenger side.
If you already have Check Control, check the next connections:
X1070-pin3 (white/blue wire) to X1074-pin5 (Check Control Mod.)
X1070-pin4 (white/green wire) to X1074-pin7 (CCM).
X1070-pin5 (white/gray wire) to X1074-pin3 (CCM).

Congratulations, you're On Board Computer should work now!! and you're grass will be a lot greener too.
(if the battery is connected ofcourse)

If however, everthings works except the Check Control, you're OBC needs to be re-configured for you're car. That can be done at you're local BMW dealer.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------





WHAT I DID :

*****Very Important*****
You must go to a junkyard that has BMW’s. The most important part and I can’t stress this enough is getting the other electrical connector that the 18 button OBC uses. If you do your homework, you will see that your existing TEMP/CHECK control computer only has 1 harness going into it. The full 18 button OBC has 2 harnesses. That’s only part of the bad story. The second part is that the you have to cut wires from your original harness and re-tap them to the new harness and then run wires from different parts of the car to the new harness. (DON’T FLIP OUT YET, THAT’S NOT TO HARD). Making your own connector would be very hard and you always run the risk or shorting out something so I strongly suggest getting the harness out of another junked BMW.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Step 1 :
Don’t start taking apart your car immediately. What I did was sit down with those instructions I put up before and deciphered them. I drew an electrical diagram of of both connectors and drew wires coming from each pin and labeled where each wire went I the car. THIS HELPED A LOT. I lost a couple of the diagrams but I have no idea how I would post up these diagrams I drew. But I suggest doing that. Here is a sample of what I did. Label what the function of the wire does to incase you ever need to refer back to it later on.

PIN 1 -------------------------------------- GOES TO PIN 23(DOES THIS)
PIN 2 -------------------------------------- GOES TO PIN 39(DOES THIS)
PIN 3 -------------------------------------- GOES TO WHEREVER (DOES THIS)
PIN 4 -------------------------------------- GOES SOMEWHERE (DOES THIS)
PIN 5 -------------------------------------- GOES HERE (DOES THIS)
PIN 6 -------------------------------------- GOES THERE (DOES THIS)
PIN 7 -------------------------------------- AND (DOES THIS)
PIN 8 -------------------------------------- YOU (DOES THIS)
PIN 9 -------------------------------------- GET THE POINT (DOES THIS)

Understand the directions :
X1070 – When you see this, it is referring to the Black connector that your car should already have. This connector should have 18 pins on it.

X1071 – When you see this, it is referring to the WHITE connector that you will need to get from a junkyard. It should also have 18 pins.

X17 – when you see this, it is referring to the BLUE connector that is attached to the instrument cluster

X16 – When you see this it is referring to the WHITE connector on the back of the instrument cluster.
Step 2 :
Print the original directions on top and then read the rest. I am going to explain how to read this guys directions .

Step 3 :
Remove your instrument cluster. This is done by removing the 2 screw at the top of the cluster and wedging it out between the steering wheel and the dash. Once this is done, disconnect all the connectors from the back of the cluster. This will make it a lot easier.

Step 4 :
Ok, I’m looking at the section that says POWER.

Its really self explanatory from here. If you followed my directions and drew a wire diagram the rest of these directions will be super easy. Just move the wires it says and attach the wires it says to wherever it says.

You have to fish wires from the instrument cluster down to the computer. They went down fairly easy for me hopefully it will for you.

GOOD LUCK.

HOPE IT WORKS. I’M NOT TAKING ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOU MESSIN UP MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF SH*T ON YOUR CAR. I’D ONLY TRY IT IF YOU HAVE SOME KNOWLEDGY IN ELECTRICAL STUFF. DON’T DO IT UNLESS YOUR CONFIDENT YOU CAN. IF YOU HAVE ANY DOUBTS, DON’T EVEN TRY.

[mkgino]

Awesome write up man. I am going to do my conversion this may:

[Thin Air]

Just a question? Does the 'code' feature work? I think the addition of that feature alone would make this swap worth it.

[BiMmEr JoN]

yes the code feature does work as long as you hook up the necessary wires as outlined in the instructions

[Bill]

I think I have both a full obc and connectors if anyone wants them

[themadhatter]

Originally posted by Bill
I think I have both a full obc and connectors if anyone wants them

Bill,

I'm interested, I shot you an e-mail already. Let me know what you want for it so we can work something out.

I've wanted to do this for a long time.

-Ron

[scottycs]

No offence, but teh conversion is a waste of money. It looks all cool when you don't have it, but when you have it, it is nothing special.

[themadhatter]

ah, but you're not the one who is a button/gadget freak like me.


oh and no offense taken.

[BiMmEr JoN]

when u do do the conversion...let me know if you got the range function to work. I've been messing with it for a while and I haven't been able to get it to work. I don't know if the directions the guy gave me just don't have them or if i wired it wrong. But if you have a chance, check it out to see if it works and get back to me, thanks.

[themadhatter]

Bimmer Jon,

you're in jersey - you could check it our in person to compare etc.

[Kamil]

Exactly what features are in full OBC vs. outside temp & clock only one?

[themadhatter]

distance to empty
timer
actual speed
avg speed
avg mpg
speed limit chime
coded starter disable

that's what I can think of for now.

[BMWg84]

I did 2 days ago with MGD it and it works! Bump for a good thread!

[Tommy R]

Looking to convert my '92 325is from an 11 button to the 18 button OBC. Should this write-up work on my car? Were '92 models available with the 18 button OBC?

Thanks!
Tommy

[Tommy R]

Hey guys,

I wired up my new-to-me 18 button OBC this evening and everything works, but the Range feature. Also, my SRS (air bag) light is flashing. I'm wondering if I need to get the dealer to reset the light? Anyone?

Jon, did you ever figure out how to get the Range feature to work?

Thanks,
Tommy

[jonsonneborn]

First of all let me say that I followed your directions and they're great! Thanks very much for your time in writing this post. Without your instructions I never could have done this successfully!

As far as the wire that needs to go to your turn signal stalk. It does come from pin 4, but not from the 1070 plug (black, existing plug), it needs to come from the 1071 plug (white, new plug) pin 4. I'm pretty sure you just made a typo.

Other than this step everything else is dead-on accurate as far as I can tell.

Thanks again,
Jon Sonneborn
'95 M3 successfully converted to 18 button

[Tommy R]

Jon, did you see any of the same issues I did, i.e. SRS light and non-working "range" feature?

Tommy

[jonsonneborn]

No SRS Light and the range feature works fine; matter of fact it immediatly recognize my fill up and reset to 317 miles left (M3 doesn't get the range of the 325is).

I've also noticed: If you hold in the button on the turn signal stalk for a few seconds it will allow you to pick which features you want in your scroll and will allow you to pick some more than once; ie Fuel Consumption 1 and Fuel Consumption 2 which can be reset independently of each other.

I'm really liking my 18 button and my 11 button is currently on ebay and up to $56 already!

[alireid]

Bringing this thread back to life! Call me nieve but i'm assuming this guide dosn't work for a e36 bmw 318is (1992) as i've only got the analogue clock. Is there a guide for complete fitment or would that be way to much of a job???? Cheers

[bonecrusher]

anybody wanna do my conversion.? ill give ya like 20-30 bucks and lunch!

let me know! hehe

thanks,
mike

[natro]

alireid

Bringing this thread back to life! Call me nieve but i'm assuming this guide dosn't work for a e36 bmw 318is (1992) as i've only got the analogue clock. Is there a guide for complete fitment or would that be way to much of a job????

Hi there alireid, seeing your post with no replies, I had to add my 2 cents worth. Don't know if you've done your OBC upgrade by now (posted 09-06-2004).

I own a '91 320i (earlier than yours) and I hated that "crappy" analogue clock with a passion! So after surfing the net I stumbled accross this website http://www.pelicanparts.com/bmw/tech...BD_Convert.htm with many many thanks to Lars Staack...your'e the man!

Used it as a guide and hey presto!

I only wanted the external temp (which I had to source out BMW p/n 65818350779) and "digital" clock to work (sourced black plug only X1070) not really interested in the white plug functions - boring IMO - but I'm sure if you connect them as described I don't see why they shouldn't work - provided that you've got all the external components to connect to ie ZKE Control Module, turn control stalk with that function equipped etc)

This mod is not difficult and can be done with relative ease... have fun!

Note: please solder all your joins and tape up well - don't want a short to cause a fire then do we...check all connections before connecting battery up!

Don't u just hate it - when u join the back of a queue and when u get to the counter....you're still the back of the queue...sigh!

[jkr]

I just have the temp. and clock obc, if i do the conversion 18 obc, do i get any troble with the check control. is the CC going to light all the time
Do anyone know this

[coolcarlski]

I just have the temp. and clock obc, if i do the conversion 18 obc, do i get any troble with the check control. is the CC going to light all the time
Do anyone know this

18 button obc!

[natro]

Hi Ali,

Thanks for the PM and I decided to reply u via the forums so that anybody else with the same questions/reservations can see my answer.

Did your black connector plug X1070 have any wiring attached to it? If it has you're okay.

If not then you need to get the full wiring harness (with connectors attached) from your local BMW dealer p/n 61119401605. Cut away the black connector plug X1070 leaving about 200mm of wiring left attached.

Disconnect your battery negative terminal and secure out of the way or you could blow fuse 31. Now you will need to remove the clock and (MC) Mini Compartment, just clip it out and remove the 3 wire connector at the rear. Mine had brown as your ground wire, grey/red from the interior lighting supply and red/yellow was power supply - you will be needing these wires to connect to the black connector plug X1070 wiring. If your colours do not match up with mine, get a 12v test light and find out which of your three do what. But I think the colour coding is all the same.

Now you should be left with a rectangular hole where the clock and MC used to be.

Cut the the three wires away from the clock connector block and join (not yet solder) and tape up to the corresponding wires of the black connector plug X1070 as per diagram at http://www.pelicanparts.com/bmw/tech...BD_Convert.htm

I.E the power supply red/yellow joins to red/yellow of the connector
the brown goes to brown and grey/red goes to well you guessed it..easy!

Now you should have three wires connected to the black connector plug X1070. Don't worry about the rest of the wires - they are not needed unless you want to do other mods. Tape up all their ends

Go connect the battery up and plug the X1070 into the back of the OBC.

The clock should come on and you should get a screen msg saying "input time". If not push the button marked CLOCK and see what happens.

If all is working undo ONE AT A TIME each of the 3 taped up joins and solder them and tape them up securely. Fit the OBC into place.

Mine worked and because I connected an external temp sensor as per diagram, I just press TEMP and it is also displayed! Oh yes and switch on your lights and all the buttons will illuminate - nice!

However if yours doesn't work - disconnect the battery, undo the three wires, tape them up, connect your battery back and take your car to an Auto Electrician who knows BMW's or even to a BMW dealer to get it going for you. Your OBC might require more input feeds like pins 9 and 14 coming from designated fuses. They should'nt charge you heaps to get it connected for you.

I hope it all comes right for you.

Regds
natro

[95e36]

hi,
I have the 8 button obc and had recently have been installing the 18 button obc, but i am having problems with it. first of all i don't know which connector is for the zke IV, i practically check every connection and there is no connection with a missing pin or a balck/green wire in pin 15 or which connector it is. the other problem is i don't know where thr check control module is located. and my final problem is the article states that i need to put a pin on the white connector pin 21 but there is already a wire there and it is stating that there is a white/grey wire coming from pin 10 from the blue harness for the speedometer, but there is no wire coming from that empty slot. please help i am almost done the rest works. picture would help allot
-Thanks