Fitting an Alpina VDO?

[garthy327]

Has anyone had any experience with fitting Alpina VDO?

or anyone got any sort of paper work about one?

[e30topless]

quite simple really if your kit is complete what do you need to know ?

[Grrrmachine]

Do you mean the Alpina digital gauges? And have you got a set already?

[garthy327]

Yeah, its just come through in the post and started looking at it all. and wondered if anyone knew much about them?

[steve_k]

sorry but if it is genuine then they are pretty rare.

[ajay]

I see a complete set on ebay.de yesterday. They are quite rare exotica though.

[Grrrmachine]

You should find that the kit includes various senders, the control ECU, a loom and the cluster itself. Most of those components will hook up in a plug and play way, although I never found out where Alpina fitted their engine senders, or how they accessed differential temperature.

[ajay]

Diff sensor is fitted to the drain hole, the kit on de has the Alpina instuctions with it too. I actually prefer the awron kit because it offers more points to monitor and suitable for a variety of engines that can be swapped into your e30.No good if your car is a genuine Alpina model though.Below kit on De.

[garthy327]

Yes that is the same as mine. I spoke to Alpina and they pointed me in the direction of the Alpina forum was is of course is in german. (but saying that I am slowly working my way through it using google translator)

I did see the awron kits but i decided to keep the car as genuine as i could. I am going to try again to get hold of those documents you see on ebay.de. I will put us some pictures over the next couple of days.

[e30topless]

Yes that is the same as mine. I spoke to Alpina and they pointed me in the direction of the Alpina forum was is of course is in german. (but saying that I am slowly working my way through it using google translator)

I did see the awron kits but i decided to keep the car as genuine as i could. I am going to try again to get hold of those documents you see on ebay.de. I will put us some pictures over the next couple of days.

so what part are you stuck with ? it's a really simple retro fit !!!

[Simon13]

I've retro fitted one to my 2dr alpina, its nothing too bad. Finding a kit complete and working are another matter!

Theres 3 wires, live, earth, and the grey wire for the dimmer.

I've not go my car running yet but i appear to have power at my ECU but the digi screen isn't powering up/working.

[garthy327]

I have finally had enough time to open the box that my new toy came in and this is what I have got. The main unit is in very good condition which i am really happy with.



So it seems I have got, the main unit, ECU, what I think is the diff sensor?, inlet manifold tubing. and one other sensor and the cabling. So i think i am missing at least one sensor? or do I connect the wire to a sensor that is already to the car.

these are the two sensors i have, can anyone confirm what is for what?



then on my wiring loom i have the connectors that go to and from the main unit and ecu, then 3 trunks of cables. One of three wires which I take (from Simon post) are the 3 wires that power the unit and ecu live/earth/grey (thank you Simon) then 2 trunks of Red/brown and brown/yellow see attached. Any ideas?




Then looking at the other 2 recent ebay auctions (they seem to be coming on like buses) there are these two sensors.. any ideas?





Many thanks for you help.

Gareth

[ajay]

The large sensor with the fly lead is for the diff drain plug, make sure you fit a suitable crush washer when fitting it. Not sure about the other one.

[Simon13]

the top one circled is the oil temp sensor, looks a little different to mine and the bottom is the oil pressure

Like i say i've not got mine working yet but i can tell you how to fit it properly




I ran the loom through the rubber grommet that fits in the bulkhead, I chawed this spare grommet which is off a spare OBC/Cruise looms. Seals it up properly. Holes in bulkhead mean lots of tappet noise from M20 engines!


The 3 lengths of other wire in pairs are for the sensors. So the longest length is for the diff oil temp. The other 2 are engine bay side for the oil temp and pressure. The temp plug replaces the sump plug.

The oil pressure...... well this was my take on it after alot of research. Not entirely sure its correct but it will work ok. I can't seem to find a picture. Basically its tapped into the big 17mm bolt that holds the oil filter housing on to the block. I'll have a look as a picture explains a 100 words and all that.


The inlet manifold pressure well i slid the pipe for that through the extra gromment i had along with the loom. This connects to a little plate that bolts to the inlet. You get a double ended one as such, as the other side is used by the fuel pressure reg.





This is my 2 dr engine before i stripped it. You can see it has a red rubber blanking bung where the inlet thing goes.


hth

[e30topless]

these pics don't help much so I will try get some better one's during the week,

it all joins into the Radio loom ! wierd i know but that's how they did it,

Brown/Grey at the top here


which as usual plugs into the Accessory socket,


I will trace the wires back to see where the 2 trunks of Red/brown and brown/yellow go

[Simon13]

Maybe on a south african turd but on a B6 i've inspected the power source was tapped into the brake light switch and the dimmer wire straight off the plug for the headlamp pull/dimmer.

This was a left hooker though, that looks a bit motorsport there!