Seeking Sage Wisdom for 325e

[TimKninja]

you might have fried your DME. I got a spare one in case you did.Should work, worked when I yanked it from the car. Pay shipping and its yours.

Have you tried putting the old chip back in?

[dogsbark26]

So... failure.

I'm sad to report that I excitedly attempted to put my TMS chip in last night, only to discover the old one was soldered in. When I reassembled everything, put the DME back inot the car, no start. (Yes I re-connected the battery), the starter was going all day long, but no spark or fuel (that I could hear)...

I'm thinking of getting charger and trickle charging the battery, but it still bugs me... what would make my battery go like that? I didn't have the interior lights on while I was doing any of this. I disconnected the batt, took the DME inside, reassembled the DME, put it in, then splat... why would it do that?

You gotta wait till we get up.

Yer problem is with the DME, not the battery. If the "starter was going all day long" (by the way, you'll ruin a good starter by grinding too long.) and the DME is what you were messing with, it only stands to reason...

Check to ensure you reconnected properly.

[DaButt]

Haha, sorry. I got to work at 5:30 this morning and nothing to do from 630 till 9. And I didn't crank the starter too much, I know it will fuck it up. Just long enough to know that it was definitely NOT a bad starter.

Are there any common improper reconnect issues? I just noticed I didn't put that rubber bump stop inside the DME housing.

[DaButt]

Ok, so i think a new DME is going to be the fix. It's literally the only thing I pulled off the car and tampered with... so I'm assuming. If it's not the DME, then well... i'll be depressed.

Will I have any issues connecting a 021 OR 027 DME to that socket where all the wiring plugs into it? You know, the white thing that you clip and screw onto the actual metal housing...

[dogsbark26]

Just so I understand clearly, when you opened up the DME, you saw the chip was soldered in then closed it back up and reinstalled it without modification. Correct?

When troubleshooting, did you re-open the DME? Or did you just wiggle the wires/connectors or what?

What made you think the chip was soldered to the board? Are you sure you were looking at the right chip? That would be pretty strange, it seems to me.

It also seems really odd that removing and reinstalling a DME could cause failure. My guess is that you have not reattached all of the connections but it has been a while since I've done it so I don't remember how many connectors are involved.

[DaButt]

no. It was't until I tried (failed) to pry the chip off (it was the right one) that I started inspecting it more closely. There's no "socket" that the prongs of the chip go into. they were simply pushed through the circuitboard. So I thought maybe i can push the prongs back through the circuitboard. wrong.

So, i may have applied too much force to this thing trying to get the soldered chip off.... but how it fried is beyond me... should i wear rubbber gloves? i haven't re-opened the DME since I put it back in, but it's 4 screws and nothing ever came off the board, so i don't see re-opening it for shits and gigs a viable option. idk man. this blows. I'm jumping through ass to try and find a dME near ATL tomorrow... on a sunday... great

[ButtJuice]

In my opinion, as a fellow eta/diving board owner, tucking the bumpers did wonders for the aesthetics. I didn't tuck them too much or else they would have looked tacky as others say.

Paint all faded trim back to black. Tastefully lower it. Maybe some 15''. Ellipsoids or euro smileys. euro grilles. Shadow line the chrome trim. As for now.. that's my 0.02. These are all inexpensive upgrades/modifications.



Btw, I posted this without reading past post 4.

[F34R]

Just installed a UUC Evo 3/DSSR kit in my buddies e46 M3. He is in total love with it, I know it is a bit expensive but worth every penny. If you enjoy smooth mechanical shifts this is for you ;)

I love mine and now my buddy is drooling over his. Best upgrade out there besides more power...

[ANDRÜ]

I used to have a BavAuto chip in my eta (before boost :up: ). It made a huge difference, and I honestly didnt see much of a drop in mpg.

Edit: Missed the posts where you mentioned your TMS chip

[dogsbark26]

Okay. Now I'm thinking that you've probably broken one or more of the solder connections to the board (it just takes a microscopic fracture). Sounds like toast. TimKninja in post 61 says he's got one free if you pay shipping. I wonder if it's chip is soldered?

[DaButt]

So: this is less a project thread now, and more of a "problem of the day" thread. But bear with me. I WILL be doing some stuff to the car one of these days.

Update: spent most of Sunday running around to junkyards frantically searching for a DME. I went near to far with no luck, without so much as a single e30. It was frustrating (i did see an e34 touring in the junkyard), and as a final straw I went to the "import" mechanics about 3 blocks from my house. I knew they were closed on Sundays, but hey, I'm a desperate man at this point.

so there's this guy and he's got a mid-80s SL coupe up on the lift and I tell him I know they're closed, etc etc, but I'm desperate and can he help. He gets the owner and the guy lets me come to the back (the first guy I talked to has a 91 e30 vert), and scour the parts. Sure enough, he finds a reman'd DME with 027 at the end. So he gives it to me to try in the car, I slap it in, it fires right up. VICTORY! But wait...

Every time I jab the throttle, it stutters and pops and crackles and to call the acceleration jumpy would be an understatement. So I stall out, can't get it across the street to the shop... for about 5 minutes, then I finally pull it up, it dies another 3 times getting into the shop, and we get to work. He pulls out another 2 (or 3?) DMEs and we swap the TMS chip in and out. Bottom line: all the DMEs were making the engine run WAY too rich. Had to keep it floored just to get it started, idle was wonky- jumping between about 300 and 1k. It was a nightmare.

The guy who handed me all these DMEs thinks they're all bad. He doesn't think it's the car, in fact he's convinced his employees were just taking bad DMEs and putting them back on the shelve (he was pissed about that). I've got two DMEs on the way (one from ebay and one from TimKNinja, thanks man), and am hoping that with one or both the car runs fine...

He also gave the little elbow shaped air hose between the airbox and intake manifold to me for free, as mine had cracks in it. Other than that, he couldn't see anything wrong with the car. He didn't have it on the lift, but he said my o2 sensor was fine. REally hoping one of these DMEs does the trick...

But what if it doesn't? Is that 5 bad DMEs or 1 bad car?

Would a DME be the likely culprit for the car running too rich? Provided EVERYTHING worked fine with my old DME?

Oh! Feel like I should add this: I don't have a CAT, just stock until midsection, straight pipe, Ansa muffler.

[dogsbark26]

I am not familiar with the TMS chip. Many chips require higher octane fuel and higher rated injectors. Are you following the chip manufacturer's instructions?

Let's get the car running properly without the TMS chip first, then install the chip.

Check everything. Fuel pressure, spark, distributor cap... Might want to pull the plugs and take a look. I forget, did you already replace the plugs, cap and wires?

I too lean toward 5 bad DMEs but it would be nice if you could put one of them in his car to see if it works. Maybe just wait and see if either of the next two work first. I'd install them stock first, get it running properly, then switch the chip in.

Good luck.

[DaButt]

Will report back.

[Bearmw]

At this point I recommend you get a Bentley (if you don't already have one), a good basic set of tools including DVOM, and wiring schematics. Learn how things work on the E30 and then any mods you decide on will cost far less in time, money, and aggravation.

You are wise asking for advice from the beginning and there is a lot of great info on this site. I wish forums like this existed when I was getting into cars.

More specifically the odds of 5 DME's being bad are very low and I like your idea of keeping the diving boards for now.

[tonerrrr]

About your idle/other issues with any of those DME's, check if this is plugged in or if it came loose (ETA Green Relay box):



After I installed my turner chip my car would rev up to 3k and sit there, after a little investigating I noticed this thing came halfway unplugged. It should be sitting above where your DME is. Worth a try to check it out!