General Modernization Thread

[Mwishlist]

Rain sensing / speed sensing wipers and the tap for three turn signals I love on my e90. Since I drive my e30 even more, I would love to add at least the tap for three turn signals (vert, don't drive it much in the rain so wipers; not so much).

You could also add a home link system for garage doors or be cheap like me. I tore apart an extra garage door opener and an unused e30 button and put them together. So I can hit a stock looking button in my dash for the garage door.

I don't go for the LED thing. I changed the dome light to LED and while it is way brighter, which is nice in the vert since I only get the one light, the white light almost seems out of character.

[nando]

I actually don't like the rain sensing wipers in the E90. They aren't sensitive enough for the PNW drizzle - i like my speed sensing wiper conversion in the e30 much better.

[Mwishlist]

Just went through your build thread Nando, pretty amazing. Yeah the speed sensing wiper mod you did is pretty cool. If I ever pick up a coupe I may do that.

[///M42 sport]

why use wipers then you have rainex? Unless you get splashed with dirt or salt in the winter, rainex beads the water off. In fact the harder it rains the better it works.

[nando]

Rainx sucks. It lasts maybe two weeks; if you use the wipers just a few times its gone. After prolonged use it leaves a nasty silicone ooze all over your car.

I actually use aquapel which lasts forever, but its not cheap. It still doesn't replace the wipers though.

[Navarone]

I just went out and bought those dorman washer nozzles, man did they suck!

First is the gloss finish, ugly. Then the gasket included was too small and didn't cover the hole in the hood or the whole base of the nozzle. To top it off, the nozzle size is so big that it wouldn't make enough pressure to spray. It was a total waste of money. Glad I bought them locally so I could return them.

I just reinstalled my old ones, cleaned them out, and adjusted them with a paper clip. Now they're 10X better!

Speaking of upgrades and VWs, I like the red leds in my buddies mk5 GTI that are pointing down at the center console. I don't know where they're hidden, but they work so well at night when you don't want to turn on the normal map lights.

[samfg92]

Currently working on designing an OBC, mainly because my euro spec 325is only has the clock unit, and a full wiring swap wouldn't be worth it for what I'm looking for. I'm basing it off the arduino platform, which in the few days I've had it has taught me quite a lot. I'm planning on having a digital read out for volts, AFR, outside temp, engine bay temp, possibly EGT, time/date, an overview screen with most of the above, and controls for auxiliary items such as electric fan.

Not really sure where to mount it, but because it isn't going to be vital stuff and it's not for a race car, I'm putting in the ash tray because I'm one of those weirdos who love the OEM look.

So far I've sorted a preview of what I want the whole lot to look like and I've configured the temp sensor.

If anyone on here has experience coding with arduinos I'd love a bit of help or advice! I'd be happy to build these up into a kit form if anyone is interested.

[burkey001]

pretty cool, I think a nicer display would be a better option, as in a full dot matrix display in a OBC size, rather than that 'calculator display'

\but i dont mean to take away from the project with that comment, very cool, well done, good job for pushing the platform !

[Navarone]

How's the viewing angle of that lcd? Daytime reading? Polarized sun glasses reading?

[rcsoundn1]

Wow that is amazing. Any idea on a price point? I love the whole idea.

[samfg92]

Reading angle seems ok from standing and looking at it on the table from different angles, which would be a similar distance as sitting, yet to try it in the car. I have toyed with the idea which another person in this thread has suggested and to replace my euro clock with a screen/touchscreen that would always display my euro looking clock but be able to also pull up a menu, but that's way out of my skill range until I learn a bit more. That or a vent gauge set up, but I don't fancy hacking my only vents apart to test that out haha.

But thanks for the feedback and I'll try keep everyone posted. If it gets any more developments or interest in the next few weeks I'll start its own thread. Oh and what other info would people want on one of these? Within reason of course, it needs to work from basic senders already on the car or easily installed ones like wideband or boost. And don't worry I would supply imperial values for you American guys haha!

[keyland]

Currently working on designing an OBC, mainly because my euro spec 325is only has the clock unit, and a full wiring swap wouldn't be worth it for what I'm looking for. I'm basing it off the arduino platform, which in the few days I've had it has taught me quite a lot. I'm planning on having a digital read out for volts, AFR, outside temp, engine bay temp, possibly EGT, time/date, an overview screen with most of the above, and controls for auxiliary items such as electric fan.

Not really sure where to mount it, but because it isn't going to be vital stuff and it's not for a race car, I'm putting in the ash tray because I'm one of those weirdos who love the OEM look.

So far I've sorted a preview of what I want the whole lot to look like and I've configured the temp sensor.

If anyone on here has experience coding with arduinos I'd love a bit of help or advice! I'd be happy to build these up into a kit form if anyone is interested.

I've done quite a few arduino projects and could probably be of use.

As far as price point, the nice thing about the arduino platform is that once you're done developing it, you can port the project to a bare bones atmega processor, and cut the price significantly by removing everything you don't need.

[samfg92]

Hey keyland! Yeah I've been looking at my options for finalising once I'm happy with the prototype and that simple processor seems the way to go! Are you on Facebook? Easier to chat on there.

[keyland]

Hey keyland! Yeah I've been looking at my options for finalising once I'm happy with the prototype and that simple processor seems the way to go! Are you on Facebook? Easier to chat on there.

Sorry, I gave up facebook due to being on the receiving end of a stalking :(

If you want, I can directly give you an email address/google chat address.

My car is originally a very early 318i, so I have the fasten seatbelt display positioned top-center on the dashboard. I was thinking about gutting that out and putting in a 16x2 character LCD. I like the amber on black variation: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007WSVELW/

Although, something like this, depending on cost would be awesome: http://www.densitron.com/Displays/Content.aspx?id=2092

For the one touch blinkers, there's a drop in blinker relay that I use on my STI which adds that functionality. As far as I can see, there isn't a BMW compatible drop in, but there is a bf.c thread with a schematic for a very simple 555 timer based circuit you can build yourself (and an updated version with a microprocessor).

Anyway, I've done a few custom PCB's with eagle cad and one with KiCad, if it gets that far...

[samfg92]

I'm not familiar with the fasten seatbelt part of the dash, but it sounds interesting? Got any photos? And yeah just pm me your email if you want.

That densitron board would be cool but I don't know where I would mount it.