M3_Power

Done

More progress tonight ... half way there!! Not the best of my work, but function over form right? haha!!! I didn't bother gluing or double side taping the fabric down as I wasn't too sure how well it would turn out, so wanted to make sure it was reversible. My sewing machine's stitch spacing was a little odd so I ended up changing the stitching to suit ... looks okay-ish. If I did this again, I probably wouldn't bother with the M stitching (pain in the backside to do and it isn't that easy to pull tight - I'd do the "X" stitching method with two lines, much tighter and better looking).

Well .. this must be the longest project ever ... LOL Had time this week to actually pop into Spotlight to grab a few things ... and made some progress. Looking good so far and the pattern seems to have worked properly as the seams all line up : )

Fairly sure I've seen two button keys being sold at Mister Minutes at shopping malls and the likes of Armstrong - I do believe they carry both infrared and 433Mhz versions - Then it's just a matter of programming your key to the central locking GM5 module for remote locking and unlock and then get a tool to make yourself a transponder for the EWS.

No amount of welding or plates will fix that as it's an inherent design flaw. Interestingly when I was browsing at diecast cars I came across this photo - now I don't know how accurate these diecasts are, but if it is at all accurate (you'd think so as it was an official BMW dealer version), it seems that BMW knew about the issue and decided to reinforce it in the M3 GTR Road Version (which never actually made it into official production). Now I know a few companies make aftermarket version of these ... some better than others. But in my opinoin, these are the best ones I've seen (diff rear bolts are bolted straight to the bar in boot instead of the floor): http://www.masonengineering.net/Subpages/E46.htm

Software numbers 7837778 for 6 speed and 7837792 for SMG both EU4 compliant - or you could flash the car with LEV US version software. Will need to be a MSS54HP DME to work. Easily done.

Or near offer considered and most definitely cheaper without the Reacro seats which I wouldn't mind keeping. Need this gone to start my racecar build : P

Fedex dropped off the new stuff this morning, so these REALLY need to be gone!! Take them away PLEASE!! Otherwise Trademe it is I guess : \

Can someone in the know enlighten me about what's so special about these "special" editions?? I understand the rarity of it and that it was produced as a celebration of the drivers of that era, but to me they are just a run of the mill E30 M3 in a special colour with a much less desirable interior colour, a few badges and a plaque with a signature on it. It seems to me that the EVO, EVO2 and the Sports Evolutions make much more sense as an "investment" E30 M3.

Photo of the new better soldering on the heat sunken H-Bridge for creating the MSS54HP CSL DME clone and the additional capacitors needed Next up ... socketing the DME and turning a MSS54 into a MSS52 : ) Just waiting for the parts to arrive

Oh I agree totally Josh ... my reply was meant to illustrate that the factory setting was probably quite aggressive, personally I think you would have to be nuts to turn off knock control and to be honest I can't see any benefits in doing so.

No I didn't. The adapter cable fitted right over the chip itself - you get a pop up warning to say not to put 12V power through it however as it'll corrupt data. I must get Ray to give me the firmware version of that module too actually.

I know a few guys are now turning knock detection off completely ... So it would make sense to say the standard factory knock control is fairly intrusive.

Ray has reported back and confirms the EWS2 kit functions perfectly. So looks like my tool will be fine for the 2D47J chip.

Buy me!! Have new wheels coming and I need the room : P

Didn't even know!! Thanks!! Now fixed Also have now successfully practiced taking the EPROM chip off the board with hot air and Kapton tape without damage ... will now attempt to upgrade a standard MSS54 into a MSS54HP

I think majority owners would prefer to keep their original DME?? Just so the vin ect match on the cover. I am quite happy to do DME swaps if that's what owners prefer as I have quite a few already and have done so with Ray on one or two cars. Usually we just courierr DMEs across town LOL. I am hoping I will be able to flash MSS50s soon also. There's been a bit of progress made on this overseas ... so should be interesting.

Here you go: Basically all have marks .. 2 minor, 1 average and 1 quite a bit.

Awesome to hear Ray!! Was a little anxious changing stuff in the MSS52 as I obviously didn't have a spare DME lying around just in case in went wrong LOL !!!! Glad to hear it all fired up and works as expected!! I also cleared the flash counter for you there as it had quite a few flashes already (most I've seen on a DME I must say!! - somebody's been busy modifying the maps there!!). From what I can tell on a very brief look into the Superchip tune, most of the modifications were done to the knock control and vanos maps the rest were a hybrid fuel map out of the early MSS54 and later MSS54HP maps (basically a hybrid of the two) - quite interesting actually. I must try and import this tune into the MSS54. I guess time to trial manipulating ignition timing for the infamous burble and pops that Evolve does on their MSS54 tune - who wants to be guinea pig? Have also acquired some engine wiring loom that I am going to modify into a CSL wiring loom for plug and play purposes - time to buy a donor E46 M3 me thinks : )

There's world wide shortage of airbags ... If you can imagine how many E46s were produced and how almost every single one has to be recalled, it doesn't just happen over night. BMW NZ knows as much as what they are supplied with in terms of recall notices from Germany, who in turn must rely on Takata Japan to say which batches were affected. They don't just miraculously get shipped 20,000 airbags overnight. My understanding is they get about 100 at a time if that. So it's a slow process and the most litigious countries with the highest possible legal ramifications get priority as you can expect.

I thought it looked familiar! Fantastic car!!

I can report that my tool does seems to read 2D47J chip okay on the EWS2 kit Ray@HellBM supplied (E36 323 coupe I believe) - I have manipulated the EWS2 file on this module by opening up two more key slots and re-wrote the 2D47J chip. This is now going back to Ray@HellBM for testing to confirm results. Will keep you all updated.

I suspected it was going to be ... it's okay, we have a way to test it first now before we proceed. Special mention out to Ray at Hellbm who has come on board to assist with this - he has kindly lent out a DME kit with an EWS2 unit with the said troubled 2D47J chip for me to test out with - I am going to test read this and flash back new contents and Ray is going to test to see if it fires up - if it does, then we know it'll be fine to read with my tool - which we believe it is.

Now selling the wheels also ... I bought these from a forum member thinking they would clear the big brakes on my car as the catalogue said they would, turns out they don't : ( So letting these go for what I bought them for ... $800 firm (wheels and tyres) Original for sale thread from said member: http://bimmersport.co.nz/topic/49286-e46-m3-18-wheels-tyres/?hl=%2Bm3+%2Bwheels

Can you open the EWS box and have a look at the main chip on there and see whether it has 2D47J laser-etched on there in the middle of the chip like this? The reason I am a little cautious is because I came across a post of an owner in the USA with an E36 M3 with that particular chip in his EWS unit and he did a read on the EWS unit with the AK90 to get data off it so he could flash the key transponders and for some reason his EWS became in-operable after that despite the fact that the whole operation went perfectly as one would expect - all the keys turned the starter on and cranked = EWS recognising the new transponder chips, but it wouldn't provide fuel which means the DME was no longer sync'd with the EWS's ISN. It isn't clear whether he attempted to resync the EWS with the DME but in the end he couldn't get it to work and had to get an EWS bypass done. Another thread I came across also had the same 2D47J EWS2 module and that was in an E39 and the owner reported everything went smoothly and he was able to code a new key to the unit without issue. So whether the above two are just an operator error or a tooling issue I am not 100% certain. But the last thing I want to do is to take a reading from the 2D47J and have it lose all ISN data to the EWS (which technically speaking it shouldn't as the chip isn't powered with 12V to read as per picture above). I am aware however if you power the 2D47J up with 12V then it will erase certain parts of the chip (like a reset) and it will no longer be sync'd. The AK90 tool however is advertised as the only tool that will do the 2D47J chip without erasing it - and if you look at earlier tools you'll see it requires de-soldering of the 2D47J to do a full read and write - the AK90 has a chip adaptor that fits over the chip to do a reading just like the earlier tools without the desoldering, so technically speaking it's only when you read it over K-Line that causes issues. So my best solution so far is to find an EWS2 module with that chip and take a reading and see if anything looks amiss and buy an E36 M3 MSS50 unit with its EWS and do a clone and see if it works first. I hope that explains it properly !!