OBC from another country

[myles]

I have that job on my list of things to do too, but it doesnt smell bad though. I am surprised that my exhaust hasn't fallen off the car though.

Let me know what you are thinking about doing. I considering bringing in some parts from the usa and getting a local shop to fit it. But i've got to check to see what the local guys can supply.

[RobE34]

from Charles at C-C Automotive in the UK. perfect condition and easy to reprogram Give him a go.
charles.collins711@btinternet.com.
I followed the instructions on the E34 website and it worked perfectly.
Mine's an E34 1900 525i

[rob101]

from Charles at C-C Automotive in the UK. perfect condition and easy to reprogram Give him a go.
charles.collins711@btinternet.com.
I followed the instructions on the E34 website and it worked perfectly.
Mine's an E34 1900 525i

more brisbanite's coming out of the woodwork..... good stuff!
i vote for 2007 bimmer.info australian meet to be in brisbane!

[Yiorgos]

I'll come, as long as someone foots the petrol bill

[rob101]

I'll come, as long as someone foots the petrol bill

don't laugh i flew down for the last meet in sydney.
me and big kriss got lost in suburbia the night before the meet coming home from the city at 2 am hehe

[VentoGT]

Depending on how your country calculates MPG it may be different. There is a thread over on m5board right now about incorrect MPG figures and it's because there were different fuel tanks for different markets--apparently there was an 80l and a 90l tank, and if your OBC thinks you have the 80l but you have 90l your readings will be out of whack with respect to MPG readings...

[Qube]

Depending on how your country calculates MPG it may be different. There is a thread over on m5board right now about incorrect MPG figures and it's because there were different fuel tanks for different markets--apparently there was an 80l and a 90l tank, and if your OBC thinks you have the 80l but you have 90l your readings will be out of whack with respect to MPG readings...

Exactly My OBC is right (80L), but my cluster gauge goes to 90L

[Yiorgos]

Is this the same relay that controls the horn for a factory-fitted alarm? I have a factory-fitted alarm, I'm hoping an OBC BC4 would be just plug-and-play.

The relay lives under the rear seat. It's part number is 65 81 1 378 027.


It's part 12 on the realoem diagram.

The relay operates the horn when you enter the wrong code multiple times on the OBC. It also supplies power to the OBC and the OBC won't operate without it.

Bruno's site calls it the "auxiliary horn relay" and suggests that you bridge pin 17 to pin 9 to bypass the need for it, but I prefer not to cut into the wiring loom and it was cheap and easy to get the relay and install it.

[myles]

I dont know because I haven't seen an E34 with a factory alarm. You can test to see if you need the relay by checking if there is 12+ supplied to pin 17(i think) on the obc connector. If you have 12volts at that pin you probably already have the relay installed.

[Yiorgos]

Hey guys,

Sorry to bring up an old thread, but I just wanted to let you all know that I have finally swapped my old digital clock/temp gauge device for the OBC that I bought from the UK via eBay. I haven't done a write-up yet, and unfortunately I didn't take photos, however the procedure is pretty much the same as other documentation available on the net for this swap-over.

The biggest hurdle I found when doing the swap over was the cage. The cage is the plastic cradle that is in the dash that holds the radio, the OBC and the air conditioning/heating/venting controls. The cage is too short for an OBC IV, you can either replace this with a cage that fits (from a 535i or a 540i I would assume) or cut out the back so that it can accommodate the OBC. My dad and I actually filed the whole back off (about 45 mins of filing), after using a soldering iron to remove half of the back off -- the bits that hold the clock plug in the centre so that it can mate with the plug on the back of the digital clock.

Make sure that you test the OBC before plugging it into the cage -- these devices are bitches to get out, even though the lever there is supposed to assist, it needs A LOT of pressure to pop these out.

Mine powered on as soon as I plugged it in, so I didn't have a missing relay like myles did. I figured as much, since my E34 comes with alarm standard from the factory.

I did occasionally get PPPP errors, however for some reason I don't get them anymore. I found out the PPPP means that the OBC display doesn't know what car it's plugged into, but I can't explain why it doesn't show up anymore.

I also tested the CODE functionality, and can confirm that the car is immobilised and cannot start unless the correct code is entered. It's cool when it does that