Recently in Car Electronics Category

BMW Performance Steering Wheel Installation Guide

Here's the BMW Performance Steering Wheel installation guide. Thanks to MEPost user 'ihyln' for providing the PDF.

perfwheelinstructions.pdf

How to program your own vehicle

During the investigation of retrofitting the 09 iDrive into an earlier vehicle, I bought all of the programming tools necessary to do my own vehicle coding. The plan was to use the actual BMW tools and software, and not bootleg versions. It turns out that the retrofit is not really feasible, so I kind of put it on the back-burner. So now what do I do with the tools besides sell them or figure out how to program my own vehicle?

Removing and replacing the ECU

Here's instructions for removing and replacing the ECU. These instructions are specific to the E9x M3's and will be slightly different on E9x 335's.

BMW E9x M3 ECU Removal.pdf

BMW Performance Wheel Pictures

The BMW Performance Steering Wheel is offered by BMW for any E9x cars with CAN-BUS.  It should work with all 3-series and M3 models with all Transmissions variations.  In addition to providing engine and water temperatures, the steering wheel has shift indicator lights, 1/4 mile timing, lap timing, sub-lap timing, g-force meter, etc.  It's not accurate as it could be, but it's a great addition to the car.

Escort 9500ci Built-In Radar Detector Installation

Shortly after purchase I knew I needed a radar detector for the car. I already owned an Escort 9500i, so I decided to get the built-in model -- 9500ci for the BMW. I purchased the unit directly from Esort, and it was installed in Anything Wireless in Morgan Hill, California.

Configuration Settings for BMW "Premium Sound"

Early-on when I purchased my car, I noticed that the "Premium Sound" really sucked.  I started a thread at M3Post discussing the topic.  As the thread progressed, of course there were many people who disagreed with my analysis.  I have some very sophisticated recording equipment, so I brought it into my car, captured a spectrum analysis, and created some settings that "fixed" (or at least flattened out) the sound.  These settings are now widely used by other M3 owners and reposted and advertised on many different car forums and threads.

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