Screens in an e30 anyone?!

[Van Westervelt]

Now that setup, I like! Well executed!

[george graves]

and the controller - iDRIVE anyone? :)

Meh...

120GB of mp3s and when I have used that up just add an extra hard drive

Good god man, 120 GB of MP3's - you must be one of those people that can't go 5 mins with out music pumping into your head!!!

I am looking at servos for the controls too

OK - so here is some help. A standard RC servo is actually comprised of 4 things. A motor, a "gear box", a circuit board, and a variable resistor. You can actually "gut" a RC servo and turn it into a axial/rotational actuator. Un-do the four screws, and rip out everything but the gears and motors, them dremel away the physical hard stop. Now you have a motor that will move the controls.

The really sexy way of doing what you are trying to do is to get an +e46 or x5 digital HVAC console and run it with microcontroler. Then you could program it for full vent, half vent, temp, ect...

But that is most likely over your head...

I still think a 1/2 din deck with a pop/fold out touch screen is the way to go.

Hope that helps.

[gjuu]

I still think a 1/2 din deck with a pop/fold out touch screen is the way to go.

You are probably right ... hahaha

but the look on ppls faces when they jump in my old bmw and see the screen setup is priceless.... :)

[franco90]

nice work

[Addissimo]

You are probably right ... hahaha

but the look on ppls faces when they jump in my old bmw and see the screen setup is priceless.... :)

Pics of armrest/center console please!

[SamE30e]

A screen would cost more than my piece of crap ETA, so no. Plus it's hard to get the screen to clear the shift knob.

QFT same with me.

[NC325iC]

The beauty of a servo is that "the sensor is built in." I've thought long and hard about computer hvac control, and if I were a programmer, I'd have it by now. There are a few hardware interfaces through which you can control a servo using a pc. The main problem for me was software integration. I'd have no clue where to start in making the software to interface with the servo controller. It would be a very simple screen, probably setup like the stock hvac panel.

You would need 4 servos to do it correctly, one for temp, then one for each vent set. Then just get a simple i/o board that turns switches on, or off with 4 outputs and you're finished.

No need for sensors what-so-ever, just software servo integration into the front end of your choice.

you guys are taking this to a whole different level, it sounds like you want e36+ climate control, i was just thinking insted of having a slide to open and close the 3 different vents just push a button and have some sort of electrical deal open it, is the temp wire controlled too?

[gjuu]

you guys are taking this to a whole different level, it sounds like you want e36+ climate control, i was just thinking insted of having a slide to open and close the 3 different vents just push a button and have some sort of electrical deal open it, is the temp wire controlled too?

Yes I was thinking of doing just this - using central locking actuators (really cheap) to push/pull the cables. Some simple brackets to mount the actuators and cables.
The temp one will still be controlled by the rotary dial.

[Addissimo]

Yes I was thinking of doing just this - using central locking actuators (really cheap) to push/pull the cables. Some simple brackets to mount the actuators and cables.
The temp one will still be controlled by the rotary dial.

If you're going to do the servo work for the temp control, you may as well do it for the vent control too. You would have to mount a pretty long arm onto the actuator to get the cables to be pulled the full distance.

I must be the only one who uses places the vent control in the middle of the defrost at all times while the heat is on.

There is a company who makes servo programmers, so you can set the sweep of any of their servos. I'm pretty sure you can even make most of them go more than 360 degrees. That would be useful for temp control, since the physical resistence is so heavy. You could use gears to lighten the load on the servo, which would also allow you to use a smaller, cheaper servo.

[gjuu]

Good god man, 120 GB of MP3's - you must be one of those people that can't go 5 mins with out music pumping into your head!!!

Not really - but when I want to listen to some music I like to have a bit of a choice.....

[gjuu]

I must be the only one who uses places the vent control in the middle of the defrost at all times while the heat is on.

I live in tropical far north Queensland - a frosty windscreen is not a problem. I have a/c on for 12 months of the year - I don't use heat at all :)

[///M42 sport]

[/QUOTE]

Whats that next to your hazard button?

[atomic]

Whats that next to your hazard button?

Thats the hidden remote mount for a V1 radar detector.

[Van Westervelt]

hidden remote mount for a V1

Yup

[NC325iC]

Yes I was thinking of doing just this - using central locking actuators (really cheap) to push/pull the cables. Some simple brackets to mount the actuators and cables.
The temp one will still be controlled by the rotary dial.

itd probably be more useful to put the actuators right on the flaps themselves, less pull and less clutter behind the mid dash