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..
Thursday, May 28, 2009
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.
First impressions
I'm the proud owner of a new-to-me, 1992 BMW 325iC convertible. The 1992 is the last year of the E30 chassis style in the convertible.
Mine came with ~148k miles on it (though the odometer reads 140k, more on that later). Calypso Red exterior, light tan interior.
PO had done several mechanical upkeep items, which makes me feel good about the power plant and major systems. The cosmetics need some help, and I'll be working on that.
I've been making my list of what needs to be done:
- Interior & exterior scrubdown
- Interior leather is pretty much knackered. [New interior on order from leatherseats.com]
- Exterior is 99% rust-free, only a couple of small spots.
- Paint is starting to peel in places; someone did a "budget" paint job on it about 5 years ago it seems.
- Needs "tattoo" removal.
- Car stereo has some issues; works OK at low volume but not when cranked.
- Clock/computer is inop
- Odometer inop; gears or?
- Electric top is inop, must be done manually.
- (Auto) shifter cover is loose.
- No cupholders! (Well, that part is "factory").
Mine came with ~148k miles on it (though the odometer reads 140k, more on that later). Calypso Red exterior, light tan interior.
PO had done several mechanical upkeep items, which makes me feel good about the power plant and major systems. The cosmetics need some help, and I'll be working on that.
I've been making my list of what needs to be done:
- Interior & exterior scrubdown
- Interior leather is pretty much knackered. [New interior on order from leatherseats.com]
- Exterior is 99% rust-free, only a couple of small spots.
- Paint is starting to peel in places; someone did a "budget" paint job on it about 5 years ago it seems.
- Needs "tattoo" removal.
- Car stereo has some issues; works OK at low volume but not when cranked.
- Clock/computer is inop
- Odometer inop; gears or?
- Electric top is inop, must be done manually.
- (Auto) shifter cover is loose.
- No cupholders! (Well, that part is "factory").
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