Rewiring the Chassis

[Maeda]

Has anybody done a full 8 or 12 circuit painless wiring kit on their e30?

How many circuits do you think i'd need?

Is the chassis electrical as simple as japanese cars with just ground and 12v to control everything? No funny switching grounds or anything weird right?

[StereoInstaller1]

My question is why would you want to?

Luke

[Maeda]

Rerouting, shortning, ease of repair are all good reasons to me. Also refreshing an old electrical system with new stuff gives me piece of mind I won't have a bad fire in the event of an accident or failure of somekind.

I can reroute the fuse box the way I want, as well as remove all the components on the system I won't need(AC, cruise, dome lights, sunroof, etc etc etc.)

[mattdk318i]

track car?

[StereoInstaller1]

Rerouting, shortning, ease of repair are all good reasons to me. Also refreshing an old electrical system with new stuff gives me piece of mind I won't have a bad fire in the event of an accident or failure of somekind.

I can reroute the fuse box the way I want, as well as remove all the components on the system I won't need(AC, cruise, dome lights, sunroof, etc etc etc.)

Makes sense, expecially since the BMW harness is so complex.

I have done 3 Painless kits in domestics. All easy, top quality.

Luke

[Bimmerfanatik]

Hopping on to hear more about this - car's getting stripped and painted, may as well rewire if it's not that bad...passenger side window won't open or close now, pretty sure the old wire fried and shorted.

[Mike325]

Painless does not make a wiring kit for the e30 or any BMW. Looks like your rewiring is going to hurt lol:drink: J/K:)

[AndrewBird]

Painless does not make a wiring kit for the e30 or any BMW. Looks like your rewiring is going to hurt lol:drink: J/K:)

He knows that. That's why he asked about either the 8 or 12 circuit kits. And rewiring a car from scratch is WAY easier then modifying an existing harness. Ends up much cleaner and hassle free.

[NC325iC]

ive really wanted to do this but dont want to go through the questions from my dad "what are you doing?" "rewiring the car" "why?" "i dont know"

you know that stuff, itd be nice to get rid of the excess wiring in the car though

[Maeda]

Anybody can lend some general e30 eletrical knowledge?

I've done a painless and it is PAINLESS. All the wires have what they're supposed to be wired to written on the sheath.

So everything works on a 12v and ground simple as pie kind of deal like japanese cars right?

This is all the potential circuits I can think of right now
Windows
Brakelights
Signals
Headlights
Starter
Fuel Pump, ECU, ignition etc.
Accessories(radio, gauges, etc. etc.)

[Maeda]

He knows that. That's why he asked about either the 8 or 12 circuit kits. And rewiring a car from scratch is WAY easier then modifying an existing harness. Ends up much cleaner and hassle free.

EXACTLY! I've redone stock harnesses and its NO FUN. The wiring of a painless kit and the bosche relays are also very very high quality. A lot higher then oem wiring thats for sure.

Hopping on to hear more about this - car's getting stripped and painted, may as well rewire if it's not that bad...passenger side window won't open or close now, pretty sure the old wire fried and shorted.

You should do this now! Guinea pig for us! I'll help you figure some stuff out.

[Justin B]

This is exactly what I have been thinking about doing, except on a different car and ADDING functions (central or at least power door locks perhaps). Ive been thinking about rewiring my 2002 with a painless fusebox in the glovebox but I dont know how much of a pita it will be to tie in with the original gauges, heater box controls, hazard lights, and function relays like signals, horn, etc. Those are probably are replaced though? Maybe I'm just being paranoid?? Would it still be easy to use the original turn stalks, wiper stalks etc? The car will have an M20 or S14 swap (M20 most likely) too. It has really been quite a while since I have looked into the idea.

Basically, if an E30 can be rewired, an 02 should be way easier -- except when I look at all the stock wiring in my 02 and even it is a mess. Ideas?

[Bimmerfanatik]

Anybody can lend some general e30 eletrical knowledge?

I've done a painless and it is PAINLESS. All the wires have what they're supposed to be wired to written on the sheath.

So everything works on a 12v and ground simple as pie kind of deal like japanese cars right?

This is all the potential circuits I can think of right now
Windows
Brakelights
Signals
Headlights
Starter
Fuel Pump, ECU, ignition etc.
Accessories(radio, gauges, etc. etc.)

There's more to your list (central locking, mirrors, check panel, OBC, cruise) but there's not an exorbitant amount. I'd really like to get something figured out - the car comes down to nothing in two months, so rewiring is a realistic and attractive option. I'd like to beef up the wiring to the windows, if at all possible - thicker gauge wiring should send more amps to the motor, thus making it more efficient, and work more fluidly. 20 year old arguably sub-par wiring should be replaced anyways...

[Maeda]

We're making this the official project painless kit thread then.

This is all the potential circuits I can think of right now
Windows
Brakelights
Signals
Headlights
Starter
Fuel Pump, ECU, ignition etc.
Accessories(radio, gauges, locks, mirrors)
Check panel, OBC (run with ecu?)

Im guessing the obc wont work if im changing the motor for something with a different ecu right? Same goes for the check panel too I suppose...

Ok now what can go on what circuit? I'm going to try and use an 8 circuit kit.

[StereoInstaller1]

If you are gonna rewire, you really don't need to worry about what the stock stuff has...just make it the way you want.

All switching is completely normal. Door pins are neg. switch, everything else is positive, windows are voltage reversal, as are the locks.

Why not pull all the OBC/DIC/OE ECU and go MS w/ Speed density tuning? Save yourself an assload of hassle now and later!

Luke