Northern's Sterlingsilber M52 Turbo 325is

[Northern]

Well MVI went great, I've been to this shop before run by some experienced BMW/Porsche guys. New 911 turbo on the other hoist with the engine pulled. They have an S54 swapped E36 M3 GT3(I think?) racecar that we ended up watching qualifying videos of. An S54 revving to 8k+ sounds pretty godly.

Anyway, the bad news is that on the way there, the car threw the cyl 1 misfire code again. I cleared it with INPA when I got there, but as they brought it in they told me that the car is definitely misfiring. As soon as I pulled back onto the street afterward, it threw the code again.

I reached home, swapped Cyl1's coil to Cyl4, reset the codes and went for a spin. Car felt the same for 5 minutes or so before it threw the code again, so I went home and swapped the injector.

While putting it back together, I noticed the injector harness case was riding on the bent fuel rail tab. I don't think the original injector was even plugged in all the way.

Started it up and idled for a bit. Idle was noticeably smoother this time. Let it sit and kept checking for codes, but it didn't throw any (yet...)

Also while idling, the electric fan kicked in. I guess the switch isn't bad after all. The cluster does seem to read high though. The needle sits between 1/2 and 3/4, but INPA reads <80 degrees, so maybe the brown top sensor I have is just junk.

Current issues/wants:
M42 ECU bracket
2 Throttle cable end clips (How do new throttle cables not come with these???)
3 new guibo bolts (mine are mismatched, afraid of vibration/guibo life)
318 firewall cover
Trim engine bay wiring because it's hella long/everywhere
Idle is set at 700(I think) and I think it maybe should be higher with this flywheel.
iS lip clips... I broke like 3 putting it back on. I don't even know what to say, they were like a year old and OEM.
Make mount for cruise module in the engine bay.
Make mount for ricer cone/MAF. It's just zip tied now.


Also going to mess with MS41.2 tonight (M3 software) if I get a chance, just for launch control/VSS correction. This DME seems to work great, so I'll try this out on my spare.

[Sh3rpak!ng]

how are you modifying the ECU coding? I want to learn this stuff... it'd be nice to be able to code out emissions/ews or raise idle rpm etc.

also curious about the "launch control/VSS correction" - school me?

[Northern]

how are you modifying the ECU coding? I want to learn this stuff... it'd be nice to be able to code out emissions/ews or raise idle rpm etc.

I'm using one of these:

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/20-Pin-to-OBD-OBD2-OBDII-16-Pin-Car-Diagnostic-Adapter-Converter-Cable-for-BMW-/171038692168?hash=item27d2b35348

connected to one of these:

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/BMW-INPA-K-CAN-USB-OBD2-Interface-Diagnostic-Cable-With-FT232RL-Chip-/381105593326?hash=item58bba9dbee

I also made a bench harness out of an old E36 DME connector, 20 pin connector, and an Xbox power brick, but you could just do this in the car with a charger on the battery like turner does for the shark injector.

I use Chipster's MS41 flash tool to read/write:

http://chipster.no/software?product_id=99

and Romraider(Free) to edit:

http://www.romraider.com/

+ Their forum for ECU definitions and loads of information:

http://www.romraider.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=42

I also learned a lot from the OpenMS41 wiki, but the guys who run it are now on the romraider forum and don't really update the wiki. The info for the bench flasher on this site is what I used for mine, (also bridged TXD1 and 2 on the 20 pin connector so INPA will work to pull codes, but that doesn't matter for flashing)

http://www.openms41.org/

[Northern]

also curious about the "launch control/VSS correction" - school me?

The 328i ECU MS41.1 has a single rev limiter built in, but the late E36 M3's MS41.2 software has a load vs speed rev limiter with multiple values.



If you modify the tables from the upper M3 row to the lower M3 row, you'll lower the rev limiter for all speeds under 4kph to 3488 RPM

The MS41 ecu will interpolate, so you need to change the next value to 5 so you don't end up with some weird rev limit between 3488 and 7008 until 40kph.

The issue with this, is the VSS signal the E30 diff spits out is like 5.3x lower than what the DME is expecting from the E36 chassis (I think it takes signal from the abs sensor) so that can cause issues with the rev limit if it changes based on speed, and issues with vanos activation (also speed/load based)

There's a value in the ECU that acts as a modifier for the incoming speed signal, but until recently it either wasn't known where it was (as far as romraider goes.) changing this value should correct for the different VSS the E30 wants to send to the DME. For the latest ECU definitions, this value is only mapped out on the M3 ECU.

[Sh3rpak!ng]

Holy shit man, thanks for the detailed answers! Much more than I was expecting! I didn't know there were individuals who've gotten this far into modifying code in the ECU. I know there are one or two other forum members who'd probably like to pick your brain or at least grab some tips from you.

I think there really needs to be a subforum added somewhere on r3v or bimmerforums for DIY ecu code modification

Edit: doesn't the e36 also grab speed signal from the diff like the e30 does? I literally just split open an e30 and e36 diff - same speed sensor ring on the diff gear. Or is it not that simple? I thought the sensors in the wheels where exclusively for traction control/abs giving individual wheel speeds so the traction/abs module can see if a wheel is rotating faster/slower in relation to the other wheels

[Northern]

Holy shit man, thanks for the detailed answers! Much more than I was expecting! I didn't know there were individuals who've gotten this far into modifying code in the ECU. I know there are one or two other forum members who'd probably like to pick your brain or at least grab some tips from you.

Dave Markert (328ijunkie) from Markert Motor Works is the guy who figured a lot of this stuff out. I've got a good sized email thread back and forth with him about this stuff and he's always got an answer for me. I literally only know how to use the program put in front of me to turn some switches or do what someone tells me, whereas he's the one who figured a lot of stuff out himself, and actually tunes these cars. I'll glady answer what I can though.

I think there really needs to be a subforum added somewhere on r3v or bimmerforums for DIY ecu code modification

The tuning section as it is is pretty slow. If more people are doing this, then it would definitely be cool, but I think most people are still sending their ECU's out for deletes/tunes.

Edit: doesn't the e36 also grab speed signal from the diff like the e30 does? I literally just split open an e30 and e36 diff - same speed sensor ring on the diff gear. Or is it not that simple? I thought the sensors in the wheels where exclusively for traction control/abs giving individual wheel speeds so the traction/abs module can see if a wheel is rotating faster/slower in relation to the other wheels

I think the diff speed signal is just for the cluster. I think the ECU takes abs signal from one of the wheels. I don't know why, just that its ~5.3x off what it should be when the E30 diff signal is used.

[Sh3rpak!ng]

Dave Markert (328ijunkie) from Markert Motor Works is the guy who figured a lot of this stuff out. I've got a good sized email thread back and forth with him about this stuff and he's always got an answer for me. I literally only know how to use the program put in front of me to turn some switches or do what someone tells me, whereas he's the one who figured a lot of stuff out himself, and actually tunes these cars. I'll glady answer what I can though.

Ah yes, Dave knows his stuff! Would you mind forwarding me the email chain? At this point, I'm just compiling information. Don't have time to spend on really digging into the coding etc. quite yet since I'm still working on optimizing mechanicals and cosmetics :D I'll PM you my email if its cool with you

The tuning section as it is is pretty slow. If more people are doing this, then it would definitely be cool, but I think most people are still sending their ECU's out for deletes/tunes.

Hmm, I didn't even know there was one :-P You might be right on that though it doesn't really make sense to me considering the amount of time most people spend on DIY everything mechanical I kinda feel like more people would get into it if the info was more accessible?

I think the diff speed signal is just for the cluster. I think the ECU takes abs signal from one of the wheels. I don't know why, just that its ~5.3x off what it should be when the E30 diff signal is used.

Hmm I didn't know that although it would make sense. When I was studying the ETMs before I did my swap I saw a couple "speed" input signals mapped on the wiring but I just dismissed it as me not being adept enough to properly read the diagram!

[Northern]

Ah yes, Dave knows his stuff! Would you mind forwarding me the email chain? At this point, I'm just compiling information. Don't have time to spend on really digging into the coding etc. quite yet since I'm still working on optimizing mechanicals and cosmetics :D I'll PM you my email if its cool with you

Yeah for sure! I think cosmetic/bodywork is going to be coming up soon. fenders/quarter panel trunk pocket/sunroof are all in rough shape right now.

Hmm, I didn't even know there was one :-P You might be right on that though it doesn't really make sense to me considering the amount of time most people spend on DIY everything mechanical I kinda feel like more people would get into it if the info was more accessible?

If people knew, then yeah for sure. r3v seems to be stuck in the mid 2000's when converting to OBD1 was the way to go, money wise and power wise, but its pretty much the opposite now. People just don't seem to get it.

Hmm I didn't know that although it would make sense. When I was studying the ETMs before I did my swap I saw a couple "speed" input signals mapped on the wiring but I just dismissed it as me not being adept enough to properly read the diagram!

I'm not 100% sure it's an abs signal, but I remember reading it somewhere. Also the 5.333 * the 9 tooth diff wheel on the e30 = 48, which is also the abs ring count for the donor car.

[Northern]

I think This Thread was the one I was thinking of. Some stuff on the first page isn't really correct, but it gets to the point eventually.

[spiDmang]

wow, alot of good info in here as well as an amazing journey with your car! :up: much respect!

[Northern]

^ Thanks!

[Sh3rpak!ng]

Yeah for sure! I think cosmetic/bodywork is going to be coming up soon. fenders/quarter panel trunk pocket/sunroof are all in rough shape right now.

Yikes, sounds like fun! Though, even if it's a lot of work, cosmetic work gives a lot of satisfaction when done right

If people knew, then yeah for sure. r3v seems to be stuck in the mid 2000's when converting to OBD1 was the way to go, money wise and power wise, but its pretty much the opposite now. People just don't seem to get it.

LOL I agree and truly don't understand this OBD2 was a piece of cake with all the stuff deleted from the DME - probably winds up easier than OBD1 conversion since there's less modification

I'm not 100% sure it's an abs signal, but I remember reading it somewhere. Also the 5.333 * the 9 tooth diff wheel on the e30 = 48, which is also the abs ring count for the donor car.

Hmmm that's very interesting. So you could potentially substitute the vss signal from the diff for the vss signal that the e36 uses from the wheel sensor? or am I again over simplifying? (are they the same signal type etc?)

I think This Thread was the one I was thinking of. Some stuff on the first page isn't really correct, but it gets to the point eventually.

Thanks, I'll check it out

wow, alot of good info in here as well as an amazing journey with your car! :up: much respect!

Agreed! I'm loving the information sharing. This is why I love r3v and the whole e30 community. Looking forward to updates!

[2mAn]

I am a fan of OBD2 except that here in California my swap will be impossible to make street legal if I stay with OBD2, hence why I converted back to OBD1.

[spiDmang]

I am a fan of OBD2 except that here in California my swap will be impossible to make street legal if I stay with OBD2, hence why I converted back to OBD1.

you're the exception, Simon. Otherwise OBD2 > OBD1

[Northern]

^ that definitely makes sense to me. I feel lucky to have suck slack emissions laws. All they do is look to see if the cat looks like it's there, and that's only if the car is 1991 or newer.