Aftermarket Gauges : Plan of Attack

[TimeMachinE30]

M30B35.


Water temp (120C) which sender and where? Do i need to tap the thermostat housing or can I get a dual output VDO sender???

Oil temp (150C) drain plug yes? Dont want to go sandwich plate....
Just trying to hash it out before i drop another 100 bucks.

[CorvallisBMW]

I've got full details in my build thread (see sig) but for water temp I drilled+tapped one of the unused plugs in the thermostat housing, and for oil temp I used the port that normally houses the factory "idiot light" for oil pressure. If you're also using a VDO oil pressure sender, it has two outputs; one for the gauge and one for the factory idiot light, so you maintain that functionality.

[TimeMachinE30]

Yes, yave the oil pressure sender with dual oit installed already. Partially wired...


Looking for oil temp. I am thinking oil pan drain plug.

Ill need to remove the thermostat housing and go from there.

And thank you. Ill read your build.

[TimeMachinE30]

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?p=4370840&highlight=water#post4370840

That is exactly what I had planned. Thank you kindly for that. I am even using metric units like you chose. A gentleman and a scholar, I appreciate it.

[reelizmpro]

Oil temp sensors need flow to be accurate. Oil drain plug sensors are convenient but there's little flow on the bottom of the pan and the wind underneath is cooling it as well. My turbo M20 has two temp sensors, one in the pan (installed by PO) and one installed on my oil filter housing. The temp on the oil filter housing is the most accurate. I have an oil thermostat that opens at 185F. With the sensor in the pan, I was only seeing 155F which wasn't right because that would mean that the oil wasn't heating up to temp and subsequently not flowing into the cooler...but it was. This led me to install the 2nd sensor in the oil filter housing and that one read about 25-30F higher, which is more in line with what I'd expect. Also note that BMW installed the oil temp sensor in the oil filter housing on the M3.

[TimeMachinE30]

I understand the temps will vary for different locations and can see arguments for them all.

I will see about the OFH location.

[TimeMachinE30]

http://www.bmpdesign.com/product-exec/product_id/7059

Raul sente this earlier... wonder do i just tap my own OFH or use this?

[TimeMachinE30]

So... good news..spent some money and got it figured out.

I had a machinist lined up to assist for beer. Then started dreading dissassembly and concerned about tapping the OFH; would it restrict flow, capture data well,what if.

To solve oil temp I purchased the BMP oil fiter cap. BMP charges 17 bucks to UPS it. F them. I ordered the 1/8 sender and 150C gauge. Done.

Some M30 thermostat housings have a third tapped hole depending on installed equipment. I happen to have that. I ordered the M14x1.5 sender and 120C gauge. Done.

No new machining. All senders are in excellent locations.

All in gauges and senders are about 250.

I cut several feet of body harness from an E46 at the yard recently. That was 14 bucks.

Just need more terminal connectors.

Thanks guys for talking to me, thinking out loud.

[CorvallisBMW]

Nice! Sounds like you've got it figured out then :up:

[TimeMachinE30]

Seems the 150C oil temp is a rare bird. Egauges out. Jegs, too. I found a small online presence with two (now one) in stock.

Pretty stoked. Closer to the ACS catalog..


Thanks folks.

[gotaloveRWD]

I used this and it worked really well, thought I should share another option

http://www.trmtuning.com/product/trm-oil-distribution-block/

[TimeMachinE30]

Using the VDO dual output sender for the back of the block.