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It's been a wintery weekend here and as I'm waiting on parts from Schmiedmann (they're on their summer break now - boo) I've been limited to more theoretical planning for future projects. While my main parts order from Schmiedmann is waiting on a few bits to come in they did manage to ship out my order with the CSL secondary air rail and SMG expansion tank in it. RockAuto have also shipped the *101 Map Sensor which means that by next week I should be able to get underway with prototyping for 2 of my little CAD projects. CAD Project 1: SMG Expansion Tank bracket The CSL has a mounting bracket that you rivet to the shock tower. Given one of my key goals with my build is to be able to reverse out my changes in the future I don't really want to drill holes in my shock tower. I therefore plan to adopt the same approach as others which is to fabricate a bracket to attach to the threaded stud on the shock down (which is a bit inboard and further back than where the SMG reservoir sits). Others have made a simple bracket out of aluminium which they attach the CSL bracket to. I plan to go one step further and create a 3D-printable piece that is moulded to the shock tower and incorporates the little bracket for the reservoir into it (to save having to purchase the little bracket and keep things nicely fitting and more streamlined. This of course won't look completely original as it will be somewhat visible in the engine bay, but I'm happy to accept this compromise to save mutilating my shock tower. I intend to use the faceID scanner on my phone to capture a mesh of the shock tower with which to design against. I had a play last night with the faceID scanner and it is very impressively accurate - looking forward to challenging my CAD skills a bit more (I used to know how to do this 15 years ago, so hopefully I can figure it out again). CAD Project 2: Adapter for Bosch *101 MAP sensor As I mentioned above I plan to design an adapter for the Bosch *101 Map sensor to space it out from the air rail appropriately and add on the second mounting point. With the rail and sensor due in my hands next weekend I should be able to measure up and have everything I need to prove out this idea. Looking forward to seeing if this will work. The other think I've been doing is some deep dive research into the "tune" side of things for my future CSL airbox conversion. I studied engineering at university, majoring in embedded systems engineering, however haven't really dived into the engine management world at all previously. It's an interesting area though and something that would be fun to figure out. I mentioned this somewhere previously but I've always thought that it's a shame for the CSL airbox conversion that there isn't a standard tune that can be applied for those who are swapping in just the airbox. If you think about it fundamentally BMW had standard tunes for the M3 and the CSL (well, actually more variants, US vs Euro, etc. etc.) but they were standard tunes that they applied for each difference vehicle configuration. The same thing should be possible for those swapping out the airbox, a standard tune that suits the specific configuration of the car. This would then save the hassle of getting your car tuned (which as we know really only focuses on WOT mappings anyway, so isn't really getting to the root of the problem anyway. Well, anyway, since I had those thoughts Bry5on has made breakthrough strides in this area with his Mullet Tune, which combines the VANOS and ignition tables from the standard M3 tune and the CSL tune together to get the best of both worlds. When applied along with the fuel map tuning process described here the outcome is all of the high end boisterousness of the CSL map along with the round-town refinement of the standard tune. For what I want this is ideal. I don't need to eke out a few more HP at the top end, or push timing to the max. I want a reliable OE-like tune that handles the CSL airbox on an engine with standard M3 internals. I spent some time this weekend with TunerPro and the CSL tune and the actual tune from my car currently, getting a handle on the various tables involved and looking at some of the differences between the two tunes - it's really very interesting looking at the VANOS tables and seeing just how much adjustment is made in the mappings for different conditions. Fascinating stuff. One thing I haven't figured out yet is the WOT tuning side of things. I need to work out the best place/way to install a Wideband sensor. I really only need this during the tuning process, so just need to figure out for a Euro-spec car where to put it while I'm datalogging. My presumption is that the standard CSL map is probably conservative enough anyway that running too lean wouldn't be a major concern in my case anyway, but will need to validate this. Beyond those specifics I'm just working through the significant amounts of documentation on the process in general, and documenting my planned workflow/steps to prepare the tune. Good fun.

On the car stereo front the amplifier manufacturer Mobridge did a remote session into my amp. I’d asked if it was possible to code the Mobridge amp ( and dsp products ) to use four of the Idrive 6 B&W menu items.The Mobridge Amp has four dsp profiles that can be used , but on BMW F series B&O and Harman Kardon only uses two. The diagnostic on the amp is great. I just needed to press each of the Idrive sound profile options and the engineer was able to see what the Idrive sends to trigger the DSP settings. Within a few working days Mobridge was able to code the extra sound profiles and send back new Amplifier software to test. So I now have four DSP slots which are controlled by the BMW idrive 6 B&W menus. So I’ve done the following Profile 1 , Drivers seat position with appropriate time alignment running an Audio Frog / Harman house curve. Would call this an audiophile style tune with the front audio stage stilling above the bonnet with good width. ( I’m not and audiophile though , have been curved of that level of obsession 😀 ) Profile 2 , All seat tune , time alignment so bass is still forward of front passengers , centred at ear hight between driver and passenger front set. Profile 3 , like Profile 1 , but more bass between 15 -80 hz Profile 4 , at this stage , speakers only level matched, no time alignment or eq. Used as reference for evolution of system. But will probably use it for further map development of Profile 1 BMW B&W menu for context.

It's a relatively straightforward job, no coding required, just 3 wires to run - 1 to the DME and 2 to splice into the LCM wiring. So long as that's done correctly it will just work. This guide is probably the most detailed one out there. I've got a spare set of Msport sway bars (24mm F & 19mm R) but yeah, down in Christchurch unfortunately. Happy to pass them along if you know of anyone heading up your way.