Extra guages?

[Spaz]

If my findings are correct idle should be 0.5bar and tops about 4.0bar.

Also found this nice little thing for hooking up oil temp + oil press + stock warning sensor
http://www.harrisonmotorsports.com/s...products_id=93

Nice find, i might have invest in that.

[e30trooper]

Rice unless you put them to use!

[SS350]

oil press and oil temp are a must. I could have saved my engine if i had oil pressure.. I came in at 137mph into turn 10 of PBIR ~ 6800rpm and lost oil pressure (oil pump nut) w/o knowing.. a couple turns later good bye.

If your dash water temp is not hooked up then hook it up or get one too. Some things are good to have redundancy on, water temp is not one if your stock on works imo. I plan to stick the oil senders onto a UUC "oil center" or IE oil cap so i can also add an oil cooler. Man, i can't wait to get this thing running again!!

goodluck on getting that engine back together... im going to take your advice and have all the gauges in the car ready to go before i start really using it. Will be checking sender thread sizes next... and finding a pod for the dash top, a pillar, or where the ash tray is.

only problem is the ash tray is nice storage! along with the space in front of it! Guess its time for a E46 console too! ha...

[flyboyx]

goodluck on getting that engine back together... im going to take your advice and have all the gauges in the car ready to go before i start really using it. Will be checking sender thread sizes next... and finding a pod for the dash top, a pillar, or where the ash tray is.

only problem is the ash tray is nice storage! along with the space in front of it! Guess its time for a E46 console too! ha...

i think the thread size for the oil housing is m12x1.5. can someone verify this? also, if you are looking for a pod to put your gauges in, i bought the factory looking trapezoidal pod that mounts in the console just below the hvac panel. i will update this with a pic of it when i find my damn camera. i think i paid 30 bucks plus shipping and it looks factory. pm zmbluedevel. he sells it on his web site. i really think it is the best option for e30's. you can go with an A pillar gauge pod if you like. they will be in better view there. i personally want my car to look as factory as possible and am of the opinion that gauges in that position look kind of gay.

i am a really big fan of vdo's vision series 2 1/16" gauges. since i have an e30 m3 dash cluster with orange needles and chrome trim rings, i really like the gauges that have chrome bezels. they look very close to the vdo's that came in the later version mz3(and will sit in the same location with the gauge pod i mentioned above) unfortunately, i need the boost vacuum gauge and they don't make that one in the chrome bezel. so for me it looks like i am stuck with the black trim ring type. there is a company out there called egauges.com that has good prices, a great web site and in my experience good customer service. forget about doing research on vdo's company web site. it is beyond terrible to the point where it sucks sweaty ball sack.

[Fusion]

Finally, almost done.



FAQ

Q: Wow, are you going to leave the gauges like that?
A: Yes, I'm a lazy bastard and this will do the job. Maybe I'll pimp it in the future.

Q: Doesn't it look like crap?
A: Yes

Q: Will the air flow work?
A: Yes, I decided to leave the back flaps for hot days. Wires will be run through the corners.

Q: Did you screw anything up?
A: Yes, I broke the oil temp sensor because I'm a lazy bastard.

Info wrapup:
Really think this through before buying the sensors. M12 means that the sensor thread is 12mm wide, x1.5 is the spacing between the threads.

VDO gauge sensors needed for Oil Temp, Oil Pressure, Coolant Temp

OT = M14x1.5 placed in the plugged hole on the filter housing. Not sure what it's intended for or if all filter housings have it. I got the short sensor, just in case, lady told me there are 3 sensor lengths. You could also place it on an oil dist. block (see next paragraph).

OP = M10x1.0 can either be put in place of the oem oil pressure sensor or devided with a distribution block. If deleting the oem OPS, I would recommend getting M12x1.5 so its a direct swap without adapters. I got a Y adapter M12x1.5 to M12x1.5 + M10x1.0, mainly because I bought the gauges and sensors second hand and M10 is what the guy had. To my understanding, the oem oil pressure sensor is only for the cluster warning light.

CT = If you're going to delete the TB heater hoses and use that spot, you should get an M10x1.5 threaded sensor (someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but M10x1.0 wouldn't screw in and it's smaller than M12). Second option is to delete the oem temp sensor for the cluster (black connector), in that case get M12x1.5. GET THE SHORT ONE, it's not very deep in there. Leave the blue oem sensor alone, that's for the ECU.

I haven't wired mine yet, will be doing that in the coming days, but the VDO manual that came with the gauges is pretty straight forward, just need the wire from the sensor, find a + source on key in second position and + for the lighting, then ground the correct pins.

[etxxz]

^^ i think that about sums it up.

Since my car is stripped. I dremeled out a bit from the circle left after you remove the blower resistor knob and put a gauge there. I then made a rectangle out of black ABS plastic to replace the whole section where the sliders for the ducts are and put two switches and a second gauge there. Looks awesome... just throwing more ideas out there.

[Fusion]

Take a pic!

[etxxz]

I'm sure i posted this somewhere.... otherwise i wouldn't have had the pic. The gauges are not bolted up yet (in the pic) as i added an gauge angler thing to point more towards the driver. They are electric gauges pretty nice and cheap ebay mookeeh gauges.