What is this thing??

Post Wed Apr 17, 2013 11:53 am

Any ideas? It was rolling around loose when I bought the motor.

Post Wed Apr 17, 2013 11:57 am

It should have a 7-digit part number on, e.g., 1 356 368, which you can look up in Real OEM or on Google, but it looks like the OBC gong (beeps to warn of freezing conditions, or if you have a speed limit set, etc.) that sits under the driver's side lower dash panel to me.

Post Wed Apr 17, 2013 12:50 pm

OBC Gong

Post Wed Apr 17, 2013 1:05 pm

would the obc stop working if this was unplugged?

Post Wed Apr 17, 2013 1:19 pm

the obc on the dash doesn't work, haven't read through the wiki on it yet so..

Post Wed Apr 17, 2013 1:24 pm

No, the OBC will still work without the gong - it is just a small amplifier circuit, connected to a loudspeaker, which when triggered by an output from the OBC, will sound it's 'gong'.

See the Zone Wiki guides for more info about the OBC:

http://www.e30zone.net/e30zonewiki/index.php/OBC

http://www.e30zone.net/e30zonewiki/inde ... ction_Book

Post Wed Apr 17, 2013 1:46 pm

thanks for clearing that up speedtouch, I have lots of reading to do!

Post Wed Apr 17, 2013 1:46 pm

ThomasBellamy wrote: the obc on the dash doesn't work, haven't read through the wiki on it yet so..

Is it definitely not working or has the bulb pack died?

Post Wed Apr 17, 2013 1:53 pm

darkchild wrote:
ThomasBellamy wrote: the obc on the dash doesn't work, haven't read through the wiki on it yet so..
Is it definitely not working or has the bulb pack died?

I have no clue! I press buttons on it and nothing seems to happen.

If I plug the gong back in, can I press some buttons to get it to make some noise? At least that way I can determine if it's working or not right?

Then grab some bulbs as per the wiki and solder them in ?

Post Wed Apr 17, 2013 1:56 pm

ThomasBellamy wrote:
darkchild wrote:
ThomasBellamy wrote: the obc on the dash doesn't work, haven't read through the wiki on it yet so..
Is it definitely not working or has the bulb pack died?
I have no clue! I press buttons on it and nothing seems to happen.

If I plug the gong back in, can I press some buttons to get it to make some noise? At least that way I can determine if it's working or not right?

Then grab some bulbs as per the wiki and solder them in ?

You can normally make out very faint digits on the OBC when the bulb pack has gone, especially with the car lights on.

Soldering in new bulbs is a no brainer - the bulb pack from BMW is about £75 now

Post Wed Apr 17, 2013 2:01 pm

ok thanks, I'll do some trouble shooting tonight and see if I can't get this sorted over the weekend when my trendy new butane powered soldering iron kit comes in the post. A trip to Maplins is on the cards!

Post Wed Apr 17, 2013 2:53 pm

The only way to make the gong sound with an OBC where you can't see the screen would be to plug it all in, and bring the external temperature sensor tucked up behind the front bumper on the nearside down to around 3 degrees Celcius or below using freezer spray or similar, as that is what the OBC instruction manual says it sounds the gong at.

Post Wed Apr 17, 2013 2:58 pm

or just unplug the temperature sensor as it'll suddenly think its -37.5 degrees (or something silly)

Post Thu Apr 18, 2013 9:18 am

Plugged in the gong, was about to remove the ambient temp sensor to test when I noticed some very faint numbers on the obc display that changed when i pressed different buttons.

So it looks like it just needs some new bulbs!