E30 Zone

Anyone fitted these? Was just wondering how they wired them up and what oil pressure sender they used and how\where they mounted it?

Here`s a pic

I have a set of these i was gonna fit too. Was going to put them in place of the front ashtray, voltmeter is obviosly easy to wire in, i believe you can get an oil temp sender unit which also acts as a sump plug?

oil temp sender unit which also acts as a sump plug?

Yes the m3 one but will it work with the audi gauges ?

As said the volts were easy. I believe for the oil pressure you need to make a tpiece of some sorts. I planned to use a mini pressure switch and to get a thread adapter made up and do it that way but have never got around to it also. The oil temperature can go in place of the sump plug; i think the m3 switch is the same thread as the m20 sump plug thread but dont quote me on that. in the m42 there is a provision in the back of the head for an oil temp. gauge sensor.

Adam, the mini pressure unit thing is no good to me so if you want it i will send it to ya

I already have the oil temp sender in teh sump plug for my M3 instrument cluster and as you say the volts are easy.

It's the oil pressure I was wondering about.

Dan: If you don't need the pressure unit then it would be a big help to me. I'll PM you my address dude.

I wonder where I could get a t-piece made up? Would the t-piece fit into the sump plug? I don't want to overcrowd this area. I know there's a bolt in the block up near the oil filter somewhere but I think there have been problems trying to directly fit the senders here because of the location.

what temp sender can bve used in the m42 in the hole in the back???

I've just had a look at a picture of my block when I was building the engine and it seems that there's the oil level sensor in there which sits at quight a tight angle against the block. Some sort of adapter would definately need to be made if the two were to use the same hole in the block?

Sorry this place is in the US but it might give you some ideas to research on the net ?

http://www.egauges.com/vdo_agrp.asp?SNa ... s&Manf=All

E30Adam wrote:
Dan: If you don't need the pressure unit then it would be a big help to me. I'll PM you my address dude.

I wonder where I could get a t-piece made up? Would the t-piece fit into the sump plug? I don't want to overcrowd this area. I know there's a bolt in the block up near the oil filter somewhere but I think there have been problems trying to directly fit the senders here because of the location.

I also remember reading about someone fitting a pressure switch near the filter housing somewhere but im not all to familier with m20s as im still in four pot poverty person. Pm me your address and when i go home il send it to ya mate.

darren318is wrote:what temp sender can bve used in the m42 in the hole in the back???

There is an alum key bolt in the back of the head near the bolthead which can be removed; and an m3 oil temp. sender threads straight in but you need to use three washers to space out the sensor so you do not block the oilway.

Adam, have you tried Hypehose on the Nuffield?
They make all kinds of hoses, and I believe they do all sorts of bracketry stuff too. If you can tell em what you want, what threads, lengths etc, they can custom it for you too.
They're on Witney Road by the Post Office depot. Tel 673 333
If they can't help they should know a man who can...

The place must of the turbo boys run theirs as far as i know, and i also ran mine was off a T-piece made up off the oil pressure switch. You remove the oil pressure switch, make up a T piece that will go onto the block, with the correct size fitting for you gauge tapped into it and also one to retain your oil pressure switch. The oil pressure switch size is m12 x 1.5mm thread. A real pain in the arse basically, not a size really used in the UK tbh.

So basically you will need both a 12x1.5 mm tap and die, or someone that can make such an item up for you.

This is the location dan is talking about.

im not sure about the thread being foreign dude; its the same thread used on the small case diffs ( and probably medium case ones too) at the back to hold them into the subframe; m12 x 1.5 x 25. I grant you though i dont think iv ever seen a die that size. A machine shop should be able to knock it up though. What pressure switch did you use fela?

If i had the mini one here adam i would tell you the thread of that (well, try), but i dont

E30Adam wrote: Would the t-piece fit into the sump plug?

the oil in the sump isn't under pressure.

Adam,
Now then mate.I told you how to do this ages ago,cant believe you still haven't fitted them

You can tap into the wiring for the temp sender as i have for the m3 cluster.
for the pressure sender i used the Audi one.A t peice needs fitting where the original oil pressure switch goes.The audi unit has the oil light switch on it aswell as the pressure sender, so you can do away with the original bmw pressure light switch.If you leave the oil temp sender in the sump then you can block the end of the t peice with a sump plug.But if you fit the temp sender at the t peice then you need an extension fitting which i made from brass.
Pictures below explain more.






For those wondering ,why fit the t piece if using the temp sender in the sump ? Its because where the original oil pressure switch goes its in a recess and the audi sender wont fit,and its a different thread.





You can buy the t peice's for deemon tweeks for less than a tenner.

cheers
andy

The bottom piece ini the first picture is exactly like the one i have adam; except maybe a different thread?

Were is the pressure switch on an m20 out of interest?

By the oil filter housing, where you were getting at earlier dan

Cheers guys, and thanks again Andy for the piccies.

You did tell me how to do it ages ago and I saved all the info but do you think I could find it anywhere!!!!

Remember my car got hit now 17 months ago. Well it's FINALLY been repaired and the other guys insurance have coughed up. This is the reason I haven't been about much on the forum and haven't bothered with the car. Now it's time to get this bad boy back on the road!!!

This time I've saved it all where I won't loose it!!

Strong sterling to dollar you could try this site.

http://www.flyingbrickperformance.com/c ... page=index

Works for us in the US at www.e30tech.com

Jon_Bmw wrote:By the oil filter housing, where you were getting at earlier dan

Dannke.

buster your motor looks sweet.

Adam, when is the repair date? Good 2 c u back.

E30Adam wrote:Cheers guys, and thanks again Andy for the piccies.

You did tell me how to do it ages ago and I saved all the info but do you think I could find it anywhere!!!!

Remember my car got hit now 17 months ago. Well it's FINALLY been repaired and the other guys insurance have coughed up. This is the reason I haven't been about much on the forum and haven't bothered with the car. Now it's time to get this bad boy back on the road!!!

This time I've saved it all where I won't loose it!!

no probs mate. glad to help.
What happened to your car ? I didnt realise it had ben smashed into.Was it bad ? I never seen it with the keskins on neither.
Do you have any of it,also the crash damage ?

Dan.
cheers fella

Some 17 months ago now on the "off chance" I took this car to work (usually use my banger) I was on my way back home waiting at the back of a queue at some red lights and the moron behind failed to notice the traffic waiting at the red light in front of him and he went straight into the back of me.

Damage wasn't that bad thankfully, needed new rear bumper and back pannel and one of my new flared arches had a small crease. Because the car looked crap, the tax, then MOT ran out, I kept it off the road and haven't used it since.

The car came back from the bodyshop last weekend and it's all repaired and looks great. I even managed to get some other small bits done in on the price as they quoted for a new bumper but I saved some money and got one from jon_b. Now all I've got to do is save up for the tax and mot and get my insurance upgraded from "fire and theft" which is different to third part fire and theft as you can't drive it, it's the minimal insurance used for storing cars. The trouble is that I'm buying a house so am frantically saving every penny for that.

Anyway, Andy, I got rid of the keskins a long time ago and it now has some BBS RC's like Ian332i's. Here's some pics of the car when it had Keskins before the accident.

gutted for ya mate.I didnt realise that had happened.
Your car looks really really good on those keskins.How come you changed them ?
I also am a after a new set of wheels ,alpina type wheels look good but everyones got them and im after something different.I love the RC's but now that ive done my conversion,and i have a black sport, i feel RC's on mine would look like a Ian332 duplicate !!! Not that thats bad ,just dont want to be a copy cat Does that make sense ? same engine,same colour,same wheels, so im thinking of going 5 stud just because i want some 17" bbs split rims.
I didnt realise you could get just fire and theft insurance,mines not insured at all at the moment,sat on the drive.

I'm actually starting to wish I'd kept the Keskins now looking at those pictures. I changed them because I prefer the way a 17 inch wheel fills the arches more, especially on the front. A second hand set of RC's came up for a good price, they might as well have been brand new, they were perfect so I snapped them up.

I know what you mean about having the same an Ian's car. I'd probably opt for a different wheel too if I was in your position. There are some nice sets out there and I think that a nice set of splitties would suit your car really well. I was going to make a start on the guage fitting today but it's absolutely pi55ing down outside.

Fire and theft insurance is definately worth having especially if your car's off the road as mine was. People tend to notice a nice car that doesn't move and the pikeys will get to know about it and have a go at robbing anything they can off it so I always make sure it's covered if that ever happened. It's quite cheap too because you aren't actually on the road which is where most claims are from.

hi adam,
Good advice about the insurance,although it has a lot of security I think i will get it insured for fire and theft.
I know what you mean by the rain.I started fitting a new rear diff to my range rover at 8 and it was nice and dry,by 10 it was pi55ing down.Just got in now and im soaked
Good luck with the fitting

cheers
andy

Well I bought all the parts indoors and made a start on it. I don't have the correct size hole saw so I'm going to take my centre console into work and cut the holes on Monday. How did you fix the guages in once you'd put them through the holes. I might just use some silicone to hole them in then if they need to be removed it can be peeled away unless you have any better ideas?

adam the car looks the nuts i think you should of stuck with the keskins

have you seen the VDO gauge holders that covers up the small gap just above the front ashtray surround?

think thats the proper way to do it well rare though;

The way i was going to do it was to remove the two centre air vents, make a temtaplate to fit the gauges in there and then bolt them in that way but never got around to it.

Pic of the VDO gauge thing:

i actually used the audi facia pannel as i dont like the boggle eyed type look when the gauges are fitted by themselves.So basically ,i just cut a rectangular hole and fastend the panel back using the audi fixings.
Silicone would probably be ok,infact if you make the holes really tight you may not need anything on them.Cant beat a nice tight hole

buster wrote:i actually used the audi facia pannel as i dont like the boggle eyed type look when the gauges are fitted by themselves.So basically ,i just cut a rectangular hole and fastend the panel back using the audi fixings.
Silicone would probably be ok,infact if you make the holes really tight you may not need anything on them.Cant beat a nice tight hole

Good thinking, I think the tight option should work ok.

I've put a couple of pics up in the photo gallery of the car with RC's on!!

Just to get this right in my thick skull,the tee piece needed to fit an oil pressure gauge is a stock item from Demon Tweaks?I presume that the oil pressure light switch is just an on/off switch?

daimlerman wrote:Just to get this right in my thick skull,the tee piece needed to fit an oil pressure gauge is a stock item from Demon Tweaks?I presume that the oil pressure light switch is just an on/off switch?

Apparently so, I can't find it on there. Has anyone got a part number or a link so that I can order it?

You wont find the T peice on the their web site.
The part number is: TP6 £8.06

so to clarify - for some reason i fond it confusing;
i need a t-piece which is basicly m12 x 1.5mm thread to screw into the block, and again it must be bored out to accept m12 x 1.5mm thread as thats what the bmw unit is, now what m and mm should i bore out of the side of the t-piece for the audio pressure sensor? does anyone know its size?

the side hole for the audi sender is 1/8 NPT

Sorry to drag this thread back up, but it just proves the power of the search function!!! I was looking for the right fitting for my VDO gauges (thanks Buster^).

The right 'Mocal' fitting is available from Demon Tweeks Part number MOCTP6. What a right old ballavhe it was finding it! Demon Tweeks' website isn't the most informative