wires, buttons, and switches, OH MY!

[robcarync]

thanks L8, thats what i figued, that it shouldnt matter whether or not i wire the illumination ring...

i wired the brown ground, and the red power with extensions....ill have to check the power cable where i spliced it to make sure there is in fact a connection there...either way i think it turned our real well....


anyone have an insight on those white gauge faces?

[John Firestone]

Originally Posted by L84THSKY

The guage wire used in the actual cigarette lighter is thick and the illumination wire should be small. Since voltage is wired in parallel, it shouldn't make any difference if you wire the illumination ring.

Except that the cigarette lighter fuse may not be able to protect the illumination wiring against shorts and fires if it is really fine and you don't replace the fuse with something smaller. I believe the fuse is rated at 30A which probably can't protect wires smaller than roughly 1mm^2 (AWG 17?).

Remember, the car's fuses are there to protect the wiring, not its loads! (The loads are usually expected to fend for themselves.) A fuse can't protect a wire if it is much smaller than the smallest one already on the circuit -- assuming BMW choose wisely when they designed the car.

[robcarync]

the illumination wire is not plugged into anything because i did not use the stock lighter socket...so the only wires used are ground and power....so assuming that the power is actually travelling through the wires, it should work....

but the socket isnt working...im thinking maybe the connection from where i spliced the power wire together isnt solid....ill check it...but i hardly use my cell phone charger anyway...

[L84THSKY]

If you are going to do any electrical work in the future, buy a circuit tester. Either a full blown multimeter, or one of those idiot lights that you touch the hot wire to and ground. You need to be sure you have 12V across GND and the Hot wire. If you do, then be sure your spice is good.

Originally Posted by robcarync

the illumination wire is not plugged into anything because i did not use the stock lighter socket...so the only wires used are ground and power....so assuming that the power is actually travelling through the wires, it should work....

but the socket isnt working...im thinking maybe the connection from where i spliced the power wire together isnt solid....ill check it...but i hardly use my cell phone charger anyway...

[robcarync]

actually, my pops being an electrical engineer, has a circuit tester im pretty sure...but i just told him that the socket wasnt getting power last night so we havent tested it yet...

so does anyone have any insight on these gauges yet?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...category=43952

they look the same, but it doesnt specifically say 318ti...just like 225, 330, etc...but it also says "applications: all e36 3 series"...so im assuming all e36 3 series have the same gauge cluster

[John Firestone]

I did a cross reference on a 6/1996 'ti instrument cluster at http://www.realoem.com/bmw/partxref.do and it only matches various model compacts. I did another p/n search for a 6/1996 318is cluster, cross referenced it, and got matches to the 318i(s), 323i, 325i and 328i, but not a compact.

This parts catalog suggests a 'ti has a different instrument cluster.

[robcarync]

ohhh alright thanks then...

i know the TI doesnt have the MPG gauge, and the others do, but i thought maybe that would be the only difference...and i could use the other gauges and just not use the MPG gauge face...

[John Firestone]

Now that you remind, the 'ti clusters also don't connect to the RXD diagnostic bus signal. They are definitely different electrically.

[sikbrik]

I'm just daydreaming here, but why couldn't you "cut off" the actual key portion and just put a little hook to hang the head of the key near the ignition switch? Does the BMW system not work this way? Don't know much about it. I know on the Mini forums, the guys disassembled their keys, took the chip out and mounted it behind the plastic panel near the ignition switch. You could take your chip and mount it in a cool little BMW keychain or something and then just have a hook to hang it on when you get in. Heck, maybe mount it on your keyless remote. Then you could just carry around the remote, hang it on the hook, and press your "start" button. That would be sweet!

[robcarync]

yeah...i read about being able to do that somewhere...

although, i think my friend is about ready to put it all back to normal...because after doing all the buttons and switches, he realized it was more of a hassle to just start the car...plus he had to take his car in for some work...and felt like an idiot having to leave a note in the car to explain how to start the car for real...

i mean the start button was a cool idea....and it is a nifty gizmo....but it is kinda pointless, which is why i did it to my friends car...and not mine


=================

on the topic of gauge faces, does anyone know of any compact gauge faces like the ones i posted, on ebay? i know earlier the guy said you could get them for 30 bucks

[John Firestone]

What would be very cool is if you could extend the range of the transponder so that you could keep it in your pocket. Then all you would have to do is get in the car and push a button to start like on the Mercedes S-class. Perhaps a loop antenna in the seat?

[robcarync]

that was another idea i had...thought it would be cool...that way you could just have the key in your pocket or something...and just hop in and flip a switch and push a button!

anyway, i guess im gonna forget the gauge faces...dont seem like i can get any cheap ones anywhere...

[thekinwc]

what are the green red and green purple wire on the ignition electrical switch?