Assembling a N/A m50 MS unit...

[scott_is]

Well it's the middle of winter here and I'm bored
so I was thinking about buying a MS unit to run
my M50 N/A this summer. My swap ain't done yet
and I'm still missing a few parts like an ecu witch is
going for 200$ these days so I might as well invest
a bit more and get an MS unit for fun and learning.
I want to buy everything I need to build my unit
except the sensors for now($) all I want to
do is to build and test it first then buy the sensors.

So I made a list of everything that I think I need.
(from DIYAutoTune.com)

-MS-2 PCB3.0____________________________253.00
-5xBosch Coil driver_______________________ 40.00
-Relay Control Modkit______________________ 5.00
-Internal USB/serial adaptater_______________ 31.00
-JimStim v1.4 MS Stimulator__________________ 59.00
- ________
Total 388.00$

So the question is did I forget something? Or should I
change something? Ideas?

Scott

[Miatamania]

I know nothing about MS on BMWs, but the JimStim will help when you are building it.

Only thing I can say about tuning is read the manual inside and out, and try to get a ok base map to start from if at all possible, it will make life a lot easier. Its a pain on the miata, it has been to damn cold to get anything right but its capable of a crapload of stuff.

[nando]

you need a wideband controller to tune with, unless you are doing dyno-only. that's about $200.

skip the relay board, it's junk. you can use the stock E30 relays for everything.

also, if you have a laptop with a real serial port, that will work much better than the adapter, and is more compact as well.

[scott_is]

you need a wideband controller to tune with, unless you are doing dyno-only. that's about $200.

skip the relay board, it's junk. you can use the stock E30 relays for everything.

also, if you have a laptop with a real serial port, that will work much better than the adapter, and is more compact as well.

Like I said in my op all I want to do now, is build the ms unit and test
it. I know I will need a wideband controller for tuning and other sensors
to instal it.

Its the relay control modkit that I want to buy not the relay board.
I its just a relay I want to use to activate the vanos.

Since I still don't know which laptop I'm going to be using I tought
adding the usb adaptater would be a good idea. Is it really that more
compact? it doesn't look very big on the picture...

I know nothing about MS on BMWs, but the JimStim will help when you are building it.



Only thing I can say about tuning is read the manual inside and out, and try to get a ok base map to start from if at all possible, it will make life a lot easier.

I 've been told that the JimStim is indeed agood tool to have
and for the base map I've looked quickly on the net but haven't found
anything solid yet.


thanks for your input

Scott

[nando]

it's much harder to fit in the glovebox with the USB adapter. the USB plugs also tend to vibrate and fall out.. I lost a lot of datalogs because the cable came disconnected on bumpy roads. I ditched the adapter and use a real serial cable now, it seems a little faster and it's much more reliable.

also look for goathumper's PNP board. I don't know if DIYautotune has it yet, but it's like the Motronic 1.3 adapter board only it's made for the M50. Makes hooking everything up way easier, soldering wires to a stock Motronic connector sucks. And if your stock wiring harness isn't junk, you'll save yourself a lot of wiring headaches (mostly the poor grounds that most people use).

[scott_is]

it's much harder to fit in the glovebox with the USB adapter. the USB plugs also tend to vibrate and fall out.. I lost a lot of datalogs because the cable came disconnected on bumpy roads. I ditched the adapter and use a real serial cable now, it seems a little faster and it's much more reliable.

also look for goathumper's PNP board. I don't know if DIYautotune has it yet, but it's like the Motronic 1.3 adapter board only it's made for the M50. Makes hooking everything up way easier, soldering wires to a stock Motronic connector sucks. And if your stock wiring harness isn't junk, you'll save yourself a lot of wiring headaches (mostly the poor grounds that most people use).

Since all we have here(Québec) are bumpy roads the serial cable now
makes a lot of sense to me...

And for goathumper's PNP board seems to be the way to go...

Scott

[nando]

yeah, I even tried taping the USB cable to the port, it still wiggled loose.