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Thread: Ultimate DIY for 18 Button OBC Upgrade from 7 or 11 Button OBC Made Easy w/ Pictures!

  1. #1
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    Cool Ultimate DIY for 18 Button OBC Upgrade from 7 or 11 Button OBC Made Easy w/ Pictures!

    INTRO:
    I wasn’t originally interested in this DIY because it looked monstrous (pictures of people’s dash ripped apart with yards of wiring pouring out did not seem inviting at all). Also the various DIYs on the internet all seem to say different things and tend to leave a LOT of prerequisite details out of their description (like the extra bolt under the glove box’s light that releases the glove box and is omitted in the Bentley’s Manual). So I took the time compiling lots of information from various DIYs and cross referencing them into my own complete DIY. In hindsight, this is just another monster write up for what is essentially a 3-4 hour simple DIY. So don't be scared. Do it!
    SOME BEFORE PICS:

    My old 7 Button MID/OBC Unit only displays TEMP and TIME/DATE info


    Your 11 Button MID/OBC only displays TEMP/CHECK CONTROL and TIME/DATE info


    A few key things I will add that I found whiles doing my DIY (these are helpful! If it's one thing you read here, please read these...)

    1. The DIY itself is not difficult. Here is why; 90% of the total work is cutting and splicing wires. The other 10% is removing the old 7 or 11 Button MID/OBC, Lower Driver’s Side Panel, Odometer, Glove Box and Turn Signal Stalk. The hardest part was figuring out what the other DIYs I was following were telling me to do and matching their information up with what was actually in my car. Over all it’s not Rocket Science at all. When said and done it is not even Gym Class hard.

    2. The 7 Button MID/OBC’s Black Connector and wiring is almost identical to the 11 Button MID/OBC's Black Connector and wiring. This has not been said in any DIY before, so I'm stating it now as a fact! They both have the same Black connector with the same wiring layout. Only difference is the 11 Button MID/OBC has a 5 more wires connected to its Black Connector for Check Control features. That is it. Furthermore, both the 7 Button and 11 Button MID/OBCs’ wiring is overall 50% identical to the 18 Button OBC's overall wiring. The other 50% will in the new White connector’s wiring that is necessary for powering the 18 Button OBC. So even before you begin this DIY you will discover that 50% of the work is already pre-wired and done for you.

    3. The wiring isn’t all that dramatic. DIYs that tell you to buy a mile of wiring and hundreds of splice connectors made me go out a spend money on stuff I ended up returning. I used Heat Shrink for everything and returned about 20 packets of Wire Taps that I didn’t even open.

    4. Radio Shack is a cool place. They will have everything you need for
    this DIY. Also a quick trip to Home Depot for plastic ties and a long neck Lighter for the Heat Shrink helped.

    5. The Glove Box is actually a lot easier to remove and put back than I previously thought and than most people it make out to be. It’s just that darn hidden bolt above the light that the Bentley Manual never mentions can make it seem impossible if the DIY for this project don't tell you about it.

    6. Upgrading the Turn Stalk really does make a difference. If you are using the previous DIYs you will realize that the writers of those DIY overlooked the fact that BMW made at least 3 different types of E36 Turn Signal Stalks over the years that each ground differently. So get ready for extra splicing if your new BC Stalk doesn't match the ground wire set up of your old stalk. Also as soon as I found the ease of going thru the functions whiles driving with a simple inward push of the stalk it made the entire DIY worth it. Because of that I HIGHLY RECOMMEND UPGRADING TO THE BC TURN SIGNAL STALK. Since you wouldn’t want to be playing with 18 tiny buttons whiles driving.

    7. The ZKE IV Module as a module maybe connected in various places in the Electronic Module Section behind your glove box depending on the year of your vehicle and whatever the hell the engineers at your car's factory was smoking the day they made your 3 Series BMW. As a result finding the little bugger can be confusing because every DIY tells you different. But guess what? They are all right. Your focus is not really the Module itself but the mythical Green/Black wire that actually snakes around the Modules, going in and out of places and supposedly terminating at Pin 15 in the ZKE IV. However, you can tap into the wire itself in some places OR you can splice a fat female connector pin to a wire and find Pin Slot 15 on the Module’s itself and poke the pin in. Doing it either way may or may not work for you. Even I’m still trying to get it work for me.

    8. Some DIYs recommend 18 gauge wiring, others say 20 gauge wiring, most don’t tell you what wire size to buy. This turned out to be important since the Turn Stalk wire that you tap into is 18 gauge and most of the Modules behind the glove box use 18 gauge wires and pins, whiles the OBC unit and Odometer uses 20 gauge. So you will need to buy a small spool of 18 gauge wire and a larger spool of 20 gauge wire.

    DIY PREP EQUIPMENT:

    a. Everything you would need for removing the lower dash trim, Odometer, glove box, cutting wires, splicing wires, connecting wires (heat shrink worked the best for me).

    b. Small (about 25 feet) spool of 18 gauge wire; $4.99 Radio Shack. Larger (25 to 50 feet) spool of 20 gauge wire (you can buy various colors-Radio Shack sells a three color spools (red, black, green; 25 feet for each color) in one pack for $6.99.

    c. 18 Button OBC-Make sure it comes with both the White and Black connectors with pigtails on each connector.

    d. BC Turn Signal Stalk; make sure it comes with the wiring harness and white connector. NOTE: BMW made 2-3 different BC Stalks that ground differently so if you want you can look inside your steering column trim and see how your current non-BC stalk grounds and buy the BC stalk that grounds similar to that (see pictures below). Also it is good to get a BC stalk anyway because you can easily recycle the female pin connector from your old stalk harness to connect your 18 gauge wiring going to the ZKE IV module and other Check Control Modules in the glove box.

    e. Heat Shrinks, lots of them. For me these are slimmer, better, quicker and more secure that the wire taps.

    OPTIONAL THINGS TO HAVE NEARBY:

    a. Pack of 25-50 Small Tie Wraps
    b. Long neck lighter for heat shrinks
    c. White paper tape or Post-It-Notes to identify the end of the wires you splice. Important if you are using the same color wiring for your spliced extensions.
    d. Diagram of the wiring; it is best to make your own drawing (even if you are copying from another DIY) so you will KNOW what you are looking. Use color coding in your drawing if you can.
    e. Camera; Helpful if you forget where things go when it’s time to put everything back.
    f. Small Cup or Bag for keeping screws and bolts in.








    Last edited by delmarco; 08-16-2008 at 03:23 PM.

  2. #2
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    DIY:
    1. Begin by removing your current MID/OBC. There is a hole in the roof of the storage pocket, stick your finger in there, feel for the back of the MID/OBC and push it out. You can use a dull butter knife to pry it out from the front whiles pushing from the back.
    Remove lower kick panel (three star point screws), Remove Knee Bolster (three 11mm bolts) Remove the Odometer. In my car to do this I MUST REMOVE THE STEERING WHEEL. Most DIY say you do not and can simply squeeze the Odometer out behind the steering wheel. I can do that and trying means scratching the steering wheel and possibly breaking something I do not want to. Just unplug the battery and remove the air bag (two size 30 Torx head screws behind the wheel), then unplug the airbag, and remove the wheel bolt (marking it so you keep it aligned when you replace it), then slide the Odometer off and disconnect it's three connectors to release it from the dash.



    2. Cut off your original 7 or 11 Button OBC Black Connector Harness from the wiring going into the car and get ready to spend the next few minutes splicing. As you can see the original 7 or 11 button MID/OBC harness has most of the wiring on it already so all you have to do is line up the wire colors (or pin slot #s if you marked them) of the wires going into the car with the 18 Button Black Connecter and splice them with the Heat Shrinks. These are ;

    a. Pin Slot-10 and 11 (White/Blue and White/Red); Provides Chime 1 and 2 for CHECK warning, Freezing Temperature, Alarm Warnings for CODE and Door Open w/ key in Ignition.

    b. Pin Slot 12 (Brown/Grey2); Provides External Temperature data

    c. Pin Slot 13 (Black/White); Odometer-Controls the Dimming Feature on OBC so it dims in conjunction with Odometer and dash lights.

    d. Pin Slot 14 (Purple/White) ; Fuse F45- Powers the OBC

    e. Pin Slot 15 (Blue/Purple/White); X17 Pin 24 (Odometer)

    f. Pin Slot 16 (Grey/Red); X16 Pin 2 (Odometer) Powers Lights on OBC

    g. Pin Slot 3, 4 and 5 (White/Green, White/Blue, White/Grey) If you had the 11 Button OBC then this will also be prewired to the Check Control Module so just splice them here. If you had the 7 Button MID/OBC, then these wires going into the car are not present.

    h. Pin Slot 1 and 2 (Brown/Grey1 and Blue/Red) if you had the 11 Button OBC with Check Control then these are already prewired to the Brake Lights so just splice them here. If you had the 7 Button MID/OBC, then these wires going into the car are not present.















    3. Now Splice the 18 Button White Connector to the remaining wiring going into the car that were on the old 7 or 11 Button MID/OBC’s Black Connector. These are;
    a. Formally Pin Slot 17 on old Black Connector now Pin 8 on White Connector (Red/Yellow); This powers the 18 Button OBC.
    b. Formally Pin Slot 18 on old Black Connector now Pin 13 on White Connector (Brown); This grounds the 18 Button OBC.



    That is about 60% to 70% of all the wiring and 50% of the DIY. You are almost done and now its time to finish off splicing the remaining pigtails on the new White and Black Connectors of the 18 Button OBC.


  3. #3
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    4. Splice the remaining wiring. Start with the White OBC Connector since most of these go to the Odometer side of the dash board. I used Heat Shrink for all my splicing and connecting. To Splice: I stripped about ½ an inch off the ends of the two wires I wanted to connect together and hooked the copper strands together in a joint and heat shrink the joint. To Connect or Tap Into: I cut the wire I want to tap into and strip about ½ inch off each end then I take the wire that is tapping into that wire strip ½ inch off that and join the three ends in a joint and heat shrinks the joint. So you will understand what I mean when I say “Splice” and when I say “Tap Into/Connect To”.

    I. For the White OBC Connector these are;

    a. White OBC Connecter Pin Slot 4 (Brown/Red); Splice with 3 feet of 18 Gauge Wire and run it towards the space beneath the steering wheel. This wire will serve two purposes; because the 18 gauge wire is stiff like a coat hanger you will use it to pull thru the smaller, softer 20 gauge wiring going to the Odometer. This makes that task a lot easier. Second, this will serve to tap into the BC Stalk’s Pin 10 Yellow/Red wire.

    b. White OBC Connector Pin Slot 5 (White/Purple); Splice with 3 feet of 20 gauge wire, run to the Odometer and tap into to the White/Purple wire going into Pin Slot 12 on the White Odometer (X16) Connector. This provides computer data for the OBC.

    c. White OBC Connector Pin Slot 6 (White/Black); Splice with 3 feet of 20 gauge wire, run to the Odometer and extract a female pin w/ pig tail attached from your old 7 or 11 Button MID/OBC Black Connecter and splice this pin’s pig tail wire to the other end of the 3 feet of 20 gauge wire. This female pin will be inserted into Pin Slot 21 on the White Odometer (X16) Connector. The pin is slightly bigger than the hole so you can either file down the edges some and push it in or push it in sideways like I did. Also be sure to check before hand to see that the Pin Slot 21 on X16 is indeed empty and doesn’t already have a wire going into it. If it does have a wire you can just tap into that wire. This provides all your Gas data (refill, consumption rate, etc…) for the OBC.

    d. White OBC Connector Pin Slot 7 (White/Yellow); Splice with 3 feet of 20 gauge wire, run to the Odometer and tap into to the White/Yellow wire going into Pin Slot 11 on the White Odometer (X16) Connector. This provides computer data for the OBC.

    e. White OBC Connector Pin Slot 9 (White/Grey); Splice with 3 feet of 20 gauge wire, run to the Odometer and extract a female pin w/ pig tail attached from your old 7 or 11 Button MID/OBC Black Connecter and splice this pin’s pig tail wire to the other end of the 3 feet of 20 gauge wire. This female pin will be inserted into Pin Slot 10 on the Blue Odometer (X17) Connector. Be sure to check before hand to see that the Pin Slot 21 on X16 is indeed empty and doesn’t already have a wire going into it. If it does have a wire you can just tap into that wire. This provides all the Speedometer data (average speed, distances, etc…) for the OBC.

    f. White OBC Connector Pin Slot 1 (Black/Green); Splice with 4 feet of 18 gauge wire and if you have removed the glove box already you can poke this thru to that area and leave it there for now. If not you can just set it aside for now. This has to do with the CODE feature. This connects to the Car’s Alarm for the OBC’s CODE feature to work in conjunction with the Central Alarm Brain.



    Just pull the pins out. I broke my old OBC Black Connector with a hammer to loosen the pins up some and pulled the ones I wanted to use out.











  4. #4
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    Part 4 Continued...

    II. For the Black OBC Connector these are;

    a. Black OBC Connector Pin Slot 6 (Blue/Brown/Yellow); Splice with 3 feet of 20 gauge wire, run to the Odometer and tap into the Blue/Brown/Yellow wire going into Pin Slot 26 on the Blue Odometer (X17) Connector .

    b. Black OBC Connector Pin Slot 8 (Black/Green); Splice with 4 feet of 18 gauge wire, run to the Glove Box area or set aside. This wire goes to Pin 12 of the ZKE Module or Pin 12 the CBE Module X10182. This has to do with the CODE feature.

    c. Black OBC Connector Pin Slot 9 (Green/Blue); Splice with 3 feet of 20 gauge wire, run to the Odometer and tap into the Green/Blue wire going into Pin Slot 4 on the Blue Odometer (X17) Connector or the Green/Blue wire going to Pin Slot 13 of the White Odometer (X16) Connector. I think this has to do with powering the OBC so either Pin Slot on the odometer connectors is okay. I choose Pin Slot 4 on X16.

    d. If you have a 7 Button OBC and you want to install the Check Control then you will need to Splice 4 feet of 18 gauge wire each to the wires coming out of Pin Slot 3, 4 and 5 (White/Green, White/Blue and White/Grey) and run them towards the glove box area. Also Pin Slot 1 and 2 (Brown/Grey1 and Blue/Red) will have to be connected to your Brake Light wiring to activate the Check Control for the Brake Lights. I did not bother splicing these two wires with extensions since I didn’t know where to connect them and no DIY currently tells you how to wire them to the Brake Lights for Check Control. I will add info about this at a later date if I figure it out.







    5. Open up your Glove Box and remove it, via a set of star point screws along the edges (two are hidden in the vents) and bottom and the 11mm Bolt hidden above the glove box light (not the flashlight the light). When you release that 11mm bolt the Glove Box will just come out.



    6. Now if you had the 7 Button OBC you should have about 5 newly spliced 18 gauge wires coming thru from your new 18 Button OB’s White and Black Connector. Three wires go to the Check Control Module (if you have it, if not you can just seal off the ends and leave the wires in there in case you want to add the Check Control at a later date)-for the folks with the 11 Button OBC your Check Control should already be pre-wired if you had Check Control and you should only have only 2 newly spliced wires, instead of 5 newly spliced wires, coming thru to the glove box. These other two wires go to the ZKE IV Module (More specifically the Black/Green wire that snakes between the modules and have to do with the CODE feature. If you had the 11 Button OBC, then you just have the two CODE feature wires to connect to the ZKE IV Pin 15 and Pin 12 or wherever you find the Black/Green wire. So far I haven’t any luck in this. I think I found the ZKE IV module and connected a fat female connector pin to the end of the Black/Green Pin 1 wire from White OBC Connecter and pushed it into Pin slot 15 on what I think should be the ZKE IV Module and my CODE feature has not worked. Also I have an aftermarket Alarm wired to my car so I’m not sure if that even effects it. At any rate, you can also tap into any Black and Green wire you see snaking thru there and see what happens. Although all the various DIYs all disagree on where the ZKE IV module is, what color it is and what to do with it once you find it, they all agree that the target tap in is a Black/Green wire. The Bentley Manual also backs that up. So that is my next step towards getting the CODE feature to work. If you find you ZKE IV module for sure then you can extract two Fat Female Connector Pins w/ pigtails from your old Turn Signal Stalk, splice on the wire coming from Pin 1 on the White OBC Connector and Pin 8 from the Black OBC Connector to the pigtails and push them into Empty Pin Slots 15 and 12 respectively on that module. Some DIYs also claim that Pin 15 and/or Pin 12 on the ZKE IV already had wires coming out of them. If any of those wires are Black/Green then your work is a lot easier because all you have to do is tap into them and you are done.








  5. #5
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    7. Once you get done with the Glove Box Area Modules. Then you can finish up the DIY by attaching the new remote BC Stalk. Your 18 Gauge wire that you spliced to the Yellow/Red wire coming out of Pin 4 on the White OBC Connector should still be there hanging out under the steering wheel. I did this part of the DIY the following day, only because I installed E36 Modular Cup Holder & Console LED Lights earlier in the day and I ran out of sunlight. For me the installing the BC Stalk was tricky since all the previous DIY omitted that BMW made 3 different Stalks that each ground differently.



    My BC Stalk was Type 1 and had a terminal loop on one ground and a black clip in connector on the second ground. My car’s original Stalk was Type 3 and had both the ground wires firmly connected inside a square, flat connecter that grounded behind the steering wheel's slip ring adjacent to the horn’s wiring. It took me a while to figure out what to do. But I ended up cutting the tip of both grounds off the BC Stalk wires and cutting the wiring in my car and spliced the ends of the new ground wires to the wiring of the grounds going to the square connector in my car. It was extra unplanned for splicing but it worked. Now you will remove the old stalk and insert the new stalk. My old stalk was plastic tie wrapped with a lot of other wires to what looked like the steering column brace. I clipped the tie wrapped and released the old stalk, wires and all. Now insert the new stalk body into the socket and find the Yellow/Red (NOT Brown/Red like other DIYs say) wire and tap into that. If you are confused as to what wire you need to tap into, just hold your old stalk next to the new BC Stalk and you will clearly see that the new BC has an extra pin slot and wire coming out of it. That is your target wire. Depending on which BC Stalk you pick up there may be and extra brown wire coming out a Pin Slot or rather there may be a Pin Slot that have two brown wires (Brown and Brown/Red) coming out of it. These are the ground. If your airbag and steering wheel are back in place, then you can plug back in your car’s battery and test the BC Stalk it should work immediately.














  6. #6
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    Part 7 Continued...


















  7. #7
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    8. Tie Wrap all the wiring that you need to or that was previously Tie Wrapped. Replace everything (make sure you plug back in your Gong that connects under the Driver’s side kick panel), clean up and plug back in the car’s battery (if you previously unplugged it for the air bag removal). Turn on your car and your new OBC will light up in two sections; the OBC INFORMATION side and the CLOCK/DATE side. If one side is darker than the other then check and replace the bulbs. You can use the bulbs from your old 7 or 11 Button MID/OBC since they are the same size. If your Temp reading is stuck on -35 F and the F is flashing, it usually would mean that the temperature sensor is not working, but I found out that it was just the wiring on the Black Connector was loose, (I.E the Black Connector was loose and not all the way in on the OBC.) Just turn off the car and unplug and re-plug both Connectors. If your sensor is fine, TEMP should now work along with everything else.



    9. CHECK Light. As soon as you start your car, if you didn’t connect your new 18 Button OBC to a Check Control Module, then the CHECK light will momentarily display on your Odometer for a few minutes before going out. This is good, because it lets you know your wiring going to the Odometer is working and your OBC is functioning as it should. Your OBC may also give off a chime to let you know that Check Control is not connected.









    10. Fuel Consumption & Range features may need to be calibrated as my numbers were way off during the first week or until I filled up my gas tank. The Range was super low and Consumption was between 6 and 9 MPG. When I refilled the gas tank my Range went up as it should, but because Consumption data is the Rate that affects the Range data the Range went down really quickly after fill up. I’m not sure if I have to manually calibrate the Consumption data, but my Consumption data has improved on its own over the week of driving to 10 to 12 MPG which is still not even close to my normal 20 to 30 MPG consumption. I’m still reading up on it to see if t will automatically adjust or if I have to calibrate it. There are a few websites that show the secret codes for unlocking, calibrating, resetting and testing all the data and computations on the 18 Button OBC. Also the Speed feature is not your current instantaneous speed (that is what your Speedometer needle is for) it is your average speed for all the driving you do until you reset it back to 0.







    Everything else on your new 18 Button OBC should be common sense or can be easily Googled. Even I'm still trying to figure out all the secret Calibration and Test Data stuff. I will add more info to this DIY later on as I progress with the ZKE IV CODE Feature hook up. Like I said, I have an aftermakrket alarm in my car and none of the other previous DIY say whether that affects what wire you need to hook into whether it be the wires on your Aftermarket Alarm or the infamous Black/Green wire.

    Also I will try to find out if I already have a Check Control Module in my car, or if I don't I will see if I can connect one (if it is not too hard) and make the CHECK features work. So look out for those additions coming in the near or far future.

    Until then, enjoy your new OBC!
    Cheers,
    Delmarco


    VISIT MY GARAGE TO SEE ALL MY MODS:

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  8. #8
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    awesome write up!! : )

    hmmm how much for you to do the conversion for me? .... it still looks complicated LOL!

    thanks for the detailed write up tho -- will look into this soon , thats for sure : )

    My toy project - 97 e36 328i -SC-

  9. #9
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    Actually, I forgot to finish mentioning in the INTRO section. The main reason I became interested in this OBC upgrade project recently is my new HU that I ordered a few weeks ago will be the Clarion DXZ845MC (seen below) and I wanted the amber text dash to all match up in both color and font style.
    Since the 18 Button OBC Font is much more amber and pixellated than the Pocket Calulator font styles used on the lesser 7 and 11 Button OBCs.



    Quote Originally Posted by Top Dogxxx View Post
    awesome write up!! : )

    hmmm how much for you to do the conversion for me? .... it still looks complicated LOL!

    thanks for the detailed write up tho -- will look into this soon , thats for sure : )
    Take both your friend's or gfriends hands now take both of their index fingers and put the fingers together at the tips now wrap some ducktape around their fingers so their index fingers stay together.
    Not too hard...eh? That is about 90% of what this DIY is. The other 10% is removing screws and bolts to get the dash panel off.
    Last edited by delmarco; 08-14-2008 at 01:21 AM.


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  10. #10
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    i respect u bro

  11. #11
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    Nice write up... I think I saw your car driving down Lexington Avenue yesterday around 68th Street.

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by gekko16 View Post
    Nice write up... I think I saw your car driving down Lexington Avenue yesterday around 68th Street.

    Yeah, That was me! I was driving to my friend Coffee Shop in Soho after work yesterday. There was a jam on the FDR South bound side and 2nd Ave had jams as well going to the Queensboro Bridge so I ended up driving down on Lexington Ave from 68th Street by my old school Hunter College.


    I also got some more DIYs coming for the Cabin and Door Open LEDs Upgrade, DIY for Speakers Upgrade, and since the 18 Button OBC upgrade went easier than I planned
    I will see if I can buy and attempt to wire the Electric Power Folding M5 style mirrors for E36 or if I can somehow insert the power folding motor into our regular OEM mirrors.
    Last edited by delmarco; 08-14-2008 at 09:57 AM.


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  13. #13
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    Looks like a thorough write-up, but boy am I glad my car already has the 18-button. What are those 2 amber lights shining into your sunglass cubby? I've never seen that before.
    '14 Evora S - Chrome Orange/Ebony
    '02 M5 - Carbon Black/Silverstone
    '15 M235i xDrive - Mineral Grey/Black

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by roarf View Post
    Looks like a thorough write-up, but boy am I glad my car already has the 18-button. What are those 2 amber lights shining into your sunglass cubby? I've never seen that before.
    They are from my previous BMW Cup Holder & Console Area LED Lights DIY Project.

    http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1059197

    I went back and installed two more LEDs in the holder.







    VISIT MY GARAGE TO SEE ALL MY MODS:

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  15. #15
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    I wish to applaud you and your mad scientist attitude. Kudos for real!

  16. #16
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    Calibrating and Re-Coding Your 18 Button OBC to your specific car

    DIY Part 2: Calibrating and Re-Coding your 18 Button OBC to your specific car!

    So I have a lot of new information for everyone following this DIY since installing my own 18 Button OBC.

    The little bugger is actually really smart and holds TONS of relevant information about your car. For the 1st week or so I noticed my MPG Consumption was way way off (between 8 MPG per city and 12 MPG for Highway). Also the Range would recognize my fill ups and reset to about 350 to 390 Miles, but quickly decend down to double digits (90 miles) before my fuel guage reached the half way mark.

    So I went ahead and unlocked it and realized I had a plethora of new information about my car (sadly most of the units in unlock mode is in Kilometers and Liters).

    So if you read the long list of what the TEST #s all mean and still felt confused about what to do next, well here I will break it down for you.


    A. IF YOUR CONSUMPTION AND RANGE VALUE IS OFF DO THIS:

    1. Unlock the unit. Google this or Search it-I'm not going to repeat it here.

    2. Run Test #5 and write the number you see down. It will be your RANGE to empty in Kilometers based on the two information values stored in the OBC. These are CONSUMPTION RATE and REMAINDER OF FUEL IN TANK. If your Consumption Rate is off then this number will be off as well.

    3. Run Test #7 and write the number you see down. It will be your exact FUEL in your gas tank in Liters based on information directly from your Fuel Level Sensors. This number is always correct.

    4. Run Test #20 and write the number you see. It should be 1000 or a number close to that value. This is the OBC's default or previously set Correction Factor value.

    5. Go to http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/findacar.htm and find your Car, get your New EPA MPG Estimate for Combined MPG (for example a 1995 318i is 18 City-26 Highway and 21 Combined-You will only use the Combined Value) and write number down.

    6. Now get out a pencil and a calculator. You will now compute the Correction Factor for your OBC. Basically you will use the actual MPG for your car to change the Value of 1000 that is stored in your OBC.

    7. Find your the OBC's incorrect MPG Value; Start by multiplying your Fuel Remaining in your Tank from TEST #7 by 0.26 to get the Fuel in Gallons. Then multiply your Range Value that you got from TEST #4 by 0.62 to get your Range in Miles. Now Divide the Range (miles) by the Fuel left in your tank (gallons) to get your OBC's MPG which should be incorrect. Now divide this MPG by your car's actual MPG-The Combined Value you got from the EPA website. You should get a low number like 0.590 or thereabouts. Now multiply this number by the Correction Factor Value that you got from TEST# 20. The number you end up with is your new Correction Factor Value.


    8. Return to TEST #20 and use your 1000/100/10/1 Keys to reset the value to your new Correction Factor Value* that you just calculated. Hit Set/Reset and there you go. Your Range and Consumption should be fixed.

    NOTE: If you find that your Correction Factor is not allowing you to input a number less than 750 then your OBC needsto be recoded at the dealership.

    B. IF YOU HAD THE 7 BUTTON OBC or YOUR CAR DOES NOT HAVE CHECK CONTROL and YOU GET THE CHECK CONTROL ERROR MESSAGE AT START UP DO THIS:

    1. Run TEST #11. You will see EINHEIT 1 [XX]. Whatever code you see in [XX] write it down and store it. It may be a B6 of BC or some combination of letter and number. If your car is a Europe Model change this figure to BC if your car is a USA model change this figure to B7. Hit Set/Reset. Before exiting the TEST hit 1000 or 100 to see the value for EINHEIT 2 [XX]. It should be set to FF or a similar configuration of letters/numbers. Write that down and store it.

    2. Exit the TEST and Turn off and the Turn on your car you CHECK Light on the Odometer and Check Control Error messages on your OBC should be gone. The OBC will now be blank at start up (only the time/date section will be on) until you select an option.

    3. If the B7 FF/BC FF codes don't work try other configurations of the EINHEIT 1. The configurations either deletes the Check Control Error Message or changes around your units from USA to Euro. I'm not sure about EINHEIT 2, so leave it alone. If you run into problems just restore the original values of EINHEIT 1 and 2 that you wrote down.


    OTHER USEFUL TESTS:

    TEST #8 will give you your current speed in digits. Only your speed will be in Kilometers.

    TEST #9 Will give you Alternators/Battery output voltage at Terminal R. Good to have if you have a bad battery or alternator and don't want to pay a mechanic to test the voltage.
    Last edited by delmarco; 08-16-2008 at 11:46 PM.


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  17. #17
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Victoria, BC / Edmonton, AB
    Posts
    1,157
    My Cars
    '97 328is M-Sport
    Awesome DIY.

    Having worked on the car electronics stuff for awhile, though, I would recommend that anyone attempting to do this conversion use a solder connection with the heat shrink, rather than just a straight link connection. It will reduce flexibility a bit but will maintain itself better in the long run.
    1997 328is M-Sport
    Body: DEPO headlights, Prolumen HID (low beams and fogs)
    Performance: Sparco strut bar, H&R Touring Cup Kit, GC RSM's, Powerflex bushings, M3 diff
    Sound: Pioneer Premier, Focal, Connection Audison, Scosche, Alpine

  18. #18
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    cairns, Australia
    Posts
    52
    My Cars
    94 318is
    nice write up

    i assume this doesn't this work the same for those who don't have the 7 OR 11 button OBC already installed.

    what needs to be done differently for there to be complete install from nothing?
    Q: Will this car get me laid?
    A: You? of course!

  19. #19
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Ayr, ND
    Posts
    1,521
    My Cars
    2001 330i
    Quote Originally Posted by frilock View Post
    nice write up

    i assume this doesn't this work the same for those who don't have the 7 OR 11 button OBC already installed.

    what needs to be done differently for there to be complete install from nothing?
    If you have the analogue clock and empty space where the OBC should be I've no clue how to do that. I remember an Italian guy with a convertible 3 series did the upgrade from one of those Analogue Units to an 18 Button OBC.
    I think he even managed to install Check Control as well


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  20. #20
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Shirley, New York
    Posts
    620
    My Cars
    1997 328i
    I was ( probably am still ) going to do this diy tomorrow, and pull up the several threads of it to get the info. Well yeah awesome, clean clean. Few questions.

    How much of the wire approx did you use/need? How many of the splice connecters did you use/need, or couldve used. Was it a pain getting to the wires behind the dash ( coat hanger? ) Also considering the proper planning you did before you started, minus the stalk, how long did it take?

    I just recently did a full interior swap, so I know how it looks back there (was going to do this at the same time but ending up not, due to time constraints). Just want to know how it is working while everythings sort of out of view there.

  21. #21
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Ayr, ND
    Posts
    1,521
    My Cars
    2001 330i
    Quote Originally Posted by TOMNGAI View Post
    I was ( probably am still ) going to do this diy tomorrow, and pull up the several threads of it to get the info. Well yeah awesome, clean clean. Few questions.

    How much of the wire approx did you use/need?
    I used about 3 feet each for the five 18 gauge wires going to the glove box and another 3 feet going to the stalk (15 to 20 feet of 18 gauge wire). I also used about 2.5to 3 feet for the 20 gauge wires going to the odometer area (25-35 feet of 18 gauge wire)

    Quote Originally Posted by TOMNGAI View Post
    How many of the splice connecters did you use/need, or couldve used. Was it a pain getting to the wires behind the dash ( coat hanger? )
    I used heat shrinks for everything about 2 bags from Radioshack. If you have an 18 gauge wire going thru to the Stalk, you can use that to get the smaller 20 gauge wires thru to the odometer since 18 gauge is stiff like a coat hanger wire. That was easy.

    Quote Originally Posted by TOMNGAI View Post
    Also considering the proper planning you did before you started, minus the stalk, how long did it take?
    About 2 to 3 hours total of work and give yourself another 2 hrs of planning and figuring out what goes where. My DIY covers that with the pictures so you know what to look for. Also if you already opened up you dash and know what is back there and know how to remove your odometer and kick panels quickly then I would give you about 2-3 hours tops to do everything

    Quote Originally Posted by TOMNGAI View Post
    I just recently did a full interior swap, so I know how it looks back there (was going to do this at the same time but ending up not, due to time constraints). Just want to know how it is working while everythings sort of out of view there.
    Everything is working perfectly! Too perfectly!


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  22. #22
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    Boston, Massachusetts
    Posts
    586
    My Cars
    1993 318is 2008 535xi
    too much work for me :X . nice write up though.
    WTB: 17" M3 rims with tires

  23. #23
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Shirley, New York
    Posts
    620
    My Cars
    1997 328i


    This is where the ZKE IV X1659 is located. Black plug in the back of that box to the right.

    Picture from a 97 328i. Airbag, then the box witht eh white connector then the zke. Gotta remove the two plugs on the right then pull down the plastic anchors on the right and left, and pull while watching out for the airbag connector.

    In my car there was basically no room to work with. I was able to get just enough room when I took off the first white connector on the left. The black connector with the blk/grn wire shown getting tap spliced (yeah I know) on the right.
    Last edited by TOMNGAI; 08-25-2008 at 02:52 PM.

  24. #24
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    Luxembourg
    Posts
    10
    My Cars
    E36 325tds Touring
    Dude! You are my hero!
    I was thinking about it, but it looked way too complicated for me, but you explained it in a way that even my grandma could do it if she wanted... Now I'll have to give it a go!

    Thanks for all your effort.. This must have taken you days to document!

  25. #25
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Ayr, ND
    Posts
    1,521
    My Cars
    2001 330i
    Quote Originally Posted by JGe View Post
    Dude! You are my hero!
    I was thinking about it, but it looked way too complicated for me, but you explained it in a way that even my grandma could do it if she wanted... Now I'll have to give it a go!

    Thanks for all your effort.. This must have taken you days to document!
    You're welcome! Thanks for the comments everyone.

    Yeah it took about a month to prepare this DIY. Which was time basically spent gathering and making sense of DIY intel and building up the courage to go ahead with it. But in hindsight, it was a lot more easy that I thought it would be.

    Sadly, after all that work a drunk idiot drove into my car like 2 weeks or so after this DIY was completed on my car...so my car is totalled and no more. My next car will most likely be an E46 but I will be sure to check back in here if you guys have questions or ideas. Otherwise, you'll find me over in the E46 section.

    Last edited by delmarco; 09-23-2008 at 12:22 PM.


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