Monday, June 15, 2009
Twinspotting
We went out for dinner, and when we came out of the restaurant, we found that our convertible had picked up a friend!
New seats!
Well, given the sorry state of the seats in my E30, I wanted to replace them. After investigating the options (including a $1600-$2000 quote from a local shop), I decided to get a replacement leather kit from www.leatherseats.com. $625 on eBay, shipped.
The quality of the seats was good. The installation kit left something to be desired; the hog-ring pliers broke on my 2nd ring. I was able to put a bolt in them instead of the cheap rivet and they worked out fine. Can't do the job without them -- but I wonder what sort of pneumatic tool they must use to do this at the factory. Doing them by hand is killer on the wrists.
All told it probably took about 9 hours of work, including a good scrubdown of the interior carpets while the seats were out.
Back seats - before:
Back seats - after:
Front seats - before. Note the worn-through driver's seat.
Front seats - after
Saturday, June 6, 2009
On-Board Computer (OBC)
The on- board computer / clock / etc in my E30 325 was inoperative when I bought it. Occasionally you could see some sort of flicker in the LCD, but it looked like the liquid had been broken, and the backlight wasn't working.
Now, normally, this would not be a high-priority item. For some reason, I was intrigued. I was hoping that the dodgy installer who'd done the car stereo might have done something dumb and pulled off a wire, but that wasn't the case.
To get to the OBC on an E30 - trust me, do it this way:
- Take out radio
- Pop out light controls above radio (from behind)
- Remove 2 screws above the light switches
- Remove 2 switches on the bottom of the center console, on the lip under the heater
- Pop off heater knobs, pop off the plastic face where the sliders are (my radio removal tool came in handy here)
- Remove 4 screws holding heater to panel.
My OBC was held down with 4 screws, which are still a pain to remove, but easier this way than going in through the glove box like some recommend.
The OBC then has a removable light bar on the right-hand side; these are notorious for failing, and mine was no exception. I see BavAuto has them for like $35. Ouch.
I shined a light in mine and verified that it was dead, so all I could do at that point was put it all back together and go surf eBay. I managed to win a 13-button OBC listed as an E28 525 model for the bargain of $26 with shipping. (I think since it wasn't listed as an E30 it went unnoticed; E30 OBCs seem to go for $40-$50).
Got my new-to-me OBC and noted both lightbulbs in the light bar were blown; I'm guessing this can only happen during a jumpstart, since they're wired in series.
I decided to replace mine, not with a $35 BavAuto version, and not with incandescent bulbs, but with white LEDs. Radio Shack has a few white LEDs, and I ended up using the cheaper ones ($2 each (!) x2). They have lower total brightness but a 100-degree view axis.
In order to make this all work, I needed to find out two things:
1) What voltage is applied across the terminals? I see something marked "10V max". That would be swell if I was getting +10V, then 3x 3.6V LEDs would work great.
2) Which terminal is +? Not an issue for incandescents, but it is for LEDs.
So I made a test jig to bring the leads out of the light bar to my DMM. As it turns out, I should've just tacked wires to the circuit board; I ended up damaging the white carrier trying to get it out due to space limits.
For reference, the white lead in this picture is positive -- the one nearest the edge of the carrier. I noted that this is straight "R terminal" voltage, so 13V or so when in Run position. Let's see, two 3.6V LEDs in series is 7.2V. (13V - 7.2V) / 0.02A = 290 ohms of resistance needed to drop the voltage. Huzzah! A 300-ohm resistor right here in the junk box.
In order to wire the resistor in, I cut a trace on the circuit board, then used the resistor as the connection between the two LEDs.
The completed light bar looks like this:
There's just enough room to hide the resistor under the middle of the carrier:
Get it all bundled up, and things are looking good!
Now, normally, this would not be a high-priority item. For some reason, I was intrigued. I was hoping that the dodgy installer who'd done the car stereo might have done something dumb and pulled off a wire, but that wasn't the case.
To get to the OBC on an E30 - trust me, do it this way:
- Take out radio
- Pop out light controls above radio (from behind)
- Remove 2 screws above the light switches
- Remove 2 switches on the bottom of the center console, on the lip under the heater
- Pop off heater knobs, pop off the plastic face where the sliders are (my radio removal tool came in handy here)
- Remove 4 screws holding heater to panel.
My OBC was held down with 4 screws, which are still a pain to remove, but easier this way than going in through the glove box like some recommend.
The OBC then has a removable light bar on the right-hand side; these are notorious for failing, and mine was no exception. I see BavAuto has them for like $35. Ouch.
I shined a light in mine and verified that it was dead, so all I could do at that point was put it all back together and go surf eBay. I managed to win a 13-button OBC listed as an E28 525 model for the bargain of $26 with shipping. (I think since it wasn't listed as an E30 it went unnoticed; E30 OBCs seem to go for $40-$50).
Got my new-to-me OBC and noted both lightbulbs in the light bar were blown; I'm guessing this can only happen during a jumpstart, since they're wired in series.
I decided to replace mine, not with a $35 BavAuto version, and not with incandescent bulbs, but with white LEDs. Radio Shack has a few white LEDs, and I ended up using the cheaper ones ($2 each (!) x2). They have lower total brightness but a 100-degree view axis.
In order to make this all work, I needed to find out two things:
1) What voltage is applied across the terminals? I see something marked "10V max". That would be swell if I was getting +10V, then 3x 3.6V LEDs would work great.
2) Which terminal is +? Not an issue for incandescents, but it is for LEDs.
So I made a test jig to bring the leads out of the light bar to my DMM. As it turns out, I should've just tacked wires to the circuit board; I ended up damaging the white carrier trying to get it out due to space limits.
For reference, the white lead in this picture is positive -- the one nearest the edge of the carrier. I noted that this is straight "R terminal" voltage, so 13V or so when in Run position. Let's see, two 3.6V LEDs in series is 7.2V. (13V - 7.2V) / 0.02A = 290 ohms of resistance needed to drop the voltage. Huzzah! A 300-ohm resistor right here in the junk box.
In order to wire the resistor in, I cut a trace on the circuit board, then used the resistor as the connection between the two LEDs.
The completed light bar looks like this:
There's just enough room to hide the resistor under the middle of the carrier:
Get it all bundled up, and things are looking good!
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Odometer Gears 2
Well, I got my gears from www.odometergears.com and went to finish the job. Pretty easy since I'd already done the disassembly once in order to assess them.
I didn't appreciate how nasty the gears were the first time.. they were nasty, all gummy and deteriorating. I'm glad I ordered the complete set of four.
I took this as an opportunity to replace some of the cluster bulbs, and got it all back together. Now we're rolling the miles on by..
I didn't appreciate how nasty the gears were the first time.. they were nasty, all gummy and deteriorating. I'm glad I ordered the complete set of four.
I took this as an opportunity to replace some of the cluster bulbs, and got it all back together. Now we're rolling the miles on by..
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Car Stereo 2
Success!
My 325 came with the "sound system," whatever that was marketed as. Basically it means there's a Blaupunkt-manufactured amp in the trunk, and the head unit sends speaker-level signals to it. The speaker leads all appear in the trunk.
I don't know what happens to the speaker leads that appear near the head unit; there are + and - sides to each speaker, but apparently only the + sides make it to the amp unit. There's got to be another harness somewhere that routes things.
Anyway, I made an attempt to manufacture my own "amp bypass" plug using pieces of wire in the holes in the amp connector. No go. I was missing a wire for the "common speaker -" connection (which I later found, I think.)
So.. off to the local electronics retailer for an amp. I picked up a Sony 4x150W (peak) amp for a good price, and got some 12' RCA cables.
Routed the RCAs from the trunk to the head unit, removed the Blaupunkt OEM amp, and bolted in the Sony. A few wiring connections later, and we're in business. GREAT sound from small speakers. The job probably took 2 1/2 hours all told.
I found out the rear speakers are aftermarket Alpine's, and the front ones in the kick panels are original =( Better yet, they're a strange, and small, size. So I'm looking at doing some modifications if I want to put in 5 1/4's or 6 1/2's.
My 325 came with the "sound system," whatever that was marketed as. Basically it means there's a Blaupunkt-manufactured amp in the trunk, and the head unit sends speaker-level signals to it. The speaker leads all appear in the trunk.
I don't know what happens to the speaker leads that appear near the head unit; there are + and - sides to each speaker, but apparently only the + sides make it to the amp unit. There's got to be another harness somewhere that routes things.
Anyway, I made an attempt to manufacture my own "amp bypass" plug using pieces of wire in the holes in the amp connector. No go. I was missing a wire for the "common speaker -" connection (which I later found, I think.)
So.. off to the local electronics retailer for an amp. I picked up a Sony 4x150W (peak) amp for a good price, and got some 12' RCA cables.
Routed the RCAs from the trunk to the head unit, removed the Blaupunkt OEM amp, and bolted in the Sony. A few wiring connections later, and we're in business. GREAT sound from small speakers. The job probably took 2 1/2 hours all told.
I found out the rear speakers are aftermarket Alpine's, and the front ones in the kick panels are original =( Better yet, they're a strange, and small, size. So I'm looking at doing some modifications if I want to put in 5 1/4's or 6 1/2's.
Car Stereo
The PO had installed a decent Pioneer car stereo. Silver faceplate, which I'm not as big a fan of (would prefer an older style Blaupunkt or something with a flush, black face..)
Anyway.. at fairly normal volumes, things sound OK. Crank it up, though, and it starts to sound like the speakers are blown. I can think of a few possibilities here:
- blown speakers (are they still factory paper cones?)
- bad head unit amp
- poorly wired head unit can't source enough current?
- some other major chassis electrical problem.
I noticed while fiddling that if I only have one speaker running, things sound fine. Each speaker sounds OK on its own, so they're not blown. Taking off the back speaker panels shows some newer poly speakers, so my original fear of 17-year old paper cones didn't pan out.
The electrical system is throwing a strong 12.6V on battery, 13.8 on alternator, so I discard that possibility for now. Down to bad head unit or bad wiring.
Removing the head unit revealed a nasty mass of wiring, with some fairly dodgy things sticking out. All four "ground" leads from the head unit are commoned together, to each other (!)
Took the head unit out and swapped it into another car (luckily I have a Pioneer in my daily driver and it's a direct swap) -- crank it up, and it sounds great.
Now to troubleshoot the wiring in the 325. I see from my PDF of the electrical diagrams that I may have a car with a "sound system" (includes amplifier in the trunk), or just a plain head unit. The standard stereo option will certainly be easier to troubleshoot, but having amp wiring in the trunk may be useful as well.
Off to investigate.
Anyway.. at fairly normal volumes, things sound OK. Crank it up, though, and it starts to sound like the speakers are blown. I can think of a few possibilities here:
- blown speakers (are they still factory paper cones?)
- bad head unit amp
- poorly wired head unit can't source enough current?
- some other major chassis electrical problem.
I noticed while fiddling that if I only have one speaker running, things sound fine. Each speaker sounds OK on its own, so they're not blown. Taking off the back speaker panels shows some newer poly speakers, so my original fear of 17-year old paper cones didn't pan out.
The electrical system is throwing a strong 12.6V on battery, 13.8 on alternator, so I discard that possibility for now. Down to bad head unit or bad wiring.
Removing the head unit revealed a nasty mass of wiring, with some fairly dodgy things sticking out. All four "ground" leads from the head unit are commoned together, to each other (!)
Took the head unit out and swapped it into another car (luckily I have a Pioneer in my daily driver and it's a direct swap) -- crank it up, and it sounds great.
Now to troubleshoot the wiring in the 325. I see from my PDF of the electrical diagrams that I may have a car with a "sound system" (includes amplifier in the trunk), or just a plain head unit. The standard stereo option will certainly be easier to troubleshoot, but having amp wiring in the trunk may be useful as well.
Off to investigate.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Odometer Gears
Well, the odometer is inop due to the gears. This is pretty typical, but I had to pull the cluster just to make sure before ordering the $85 gear set from odometergears.com
Indeed, at least two of the gears are shredded, so I'll just get the whole set and renew them.
The odometer is one of those things that's not really a necessity, but I feel like I ought to have an accurate way of marking out wear & tear and maintenance intervals. So I think it's money well spent.
Indeed, at least two of the gears are shredded, so I'll just get the whole set and renew them.
The odometer is one of those things that's not really a necessity, but I feel like I ought to have an accurate way of marking out wear & tear and maintenance intervals. So I think it's money well spent.
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