Beiträge von Paul_M

I have to disagree with you on this. I'm aware that there are different types of ECUs, some of which are relatively straightforward to modify (single board type), but I can assure you this type of ECU will not see a chip replacement job done in 10 minutes - at least not without throwing caution to the wind and taking a high risk of damaging the board in the process.

Splitting the two halves of the circuit board to get to the chip is a delicate operation that should be done slowly to ensure no damage is caused to the board. I am a qualified electronics engineer, and I'm no stranger to working with circuit boards and vehicle ECUs, (including more modern surface mount items) so it's not due to a lack of confidence on my behalf.

I'm not saying this is a difficult job, but to claim that with no prior experience you can pull this ECU, replace the chip, and reinstall it in ten minutes, - that I'd consider to be highly misleading!

Thanks for your input though

Hi guys

I have a type-404 ECU (as fitted to early 840, pre-EWSII) fitted with a Wokke performance chip. For anyone who doesn't know about the Wokke chip, have a search on this forum - they are renowned as a very worthwhile upgrade for the 840, improving performance and driveability without reducing fuel economy.

I bought the chip directly from Wokke, and as the 840 was my only car at the time, I didn't want to risk opening the ECU to fit it without having a spare, just in case something went wrong leaving me with no usable car. So I bought a spare ECU and fitted the chip to that, then swapped it over with my original ECU.

I've since returned the car to standard (to put the car up for sale), so I'm selling the ECU with upgrade chip installed. This will make it very easy to upgrade to the Wokke chip, without having to open your ECU and separate the circuit boards - instead of several hours, it takes only five minutes to upgrade. Your original ECU can also be easily swapped back in, should you wish to return the car to standard.

I'm looking for £200 for the upgraded ECU - this is far less than the combined cost of the replacement ECU and the Wokke chip (which will cost you around £130 on its own).

Any questions let me know. I can send a photo of the ECU if desired, although it looks pretty much like any other from the outside!

Thanks.

How much for each of the three options? Thanks!

Zitat von 8Harry8;75950

would you please be so kind to take the exact measurements of the mirror and hausing l/r and the stays, please?
No, sorry, don´t need them, but I´m curious whether the 8-RHD-CSi mirrors are as different as the LHDs.
LHD driver side - or better said - left side mirror is 7 mm bigger than the one of the right side, the stays are 18 mm longer.
Thanks in advance!

They are different - as you may expect, the right side mirror is longer than the left side in RHD mirrors. If you look up the ETK, you'll notice there are different part numbers for RHD and LHD mirrors.

Zitat von koenig dave;74011

thanks for the offer; a friend owns a breakers yard, he has a damaged set of 18's from a 5 series. will they fitt?

Yes, as long as they're at least 16" to fit over the brakes. If they're from an E39, the centre bore will be marginally too big, but it won't matter to move the car around at low speed (it puts the balance out as the wheel isn't perfectly centred, causing vibration at higher speeds).

Zitat von Danilo;73191

If you want to get the best stuff available, I would get the Castrol SAF-XJ fully synthetic 75w-140.
Approved by BMW...

That's LSD oil. By all means use it if you have a slipper (it's what I use in mine), but don't use it in a standard "one-wheel drive" diff - it's too thick. 75W90 is what you want in an open diff.

Zitat von 900ss;73229

Sounds about right
Poor phone pic (her car is left car below) and mine caught between the pair

Think its just a WRX, but don't quote me on that as I don't do Subaru



Still could be worth it, if only for a laugh

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It looks like a UK turbo - headlight washers being the giveaway that it's a UK model rather than an import. Around 220 BHP for that year I believe, but not much over 1200 Kg (depending on A/C etc) so still pretty quick.

The naming convention is rather confusing. On the first generation (up to 1999/2000) there was no UK WRX - all WRXs were imports, and the later spec models were ~280 BHP, so pretty quick. When the next generation arrived, Subaru UK decided to call the replacement for the UK Turbo "WRX" - even though it was still ~220 BHP. So the strange thing is, a 1999 UK Turbo is quicker than a 2001 WRX, due to the extra weight of the 2001 model . Of course the Japanese WRX still got the full-power engine, so continued to be significantly quicker than the UK WRX.

Zitat von Noggie;73226

I had a run in with an STi, blue with the full rally decals and the gold rims (guess a 2004-2006 model).
He tried his best but my E46 M3 stayed glued to his rear bumper.
it pretty much played out like this.
He floored it from 40mph and got maybe 20-30m on me due to my reaction time and downshift, once I floored it there was no change in distance and after a short time I started to catch up, and by the time we hit 90 I was on his ass.
Anyone who have driven an E46 M3 will know what I'm talking about, 0-60 in 4,8 seconds is really fast, and there is just no indication of stopping even when you pass 155mph. mine slowed down at 170mph, and at 180mph I had to stop due to traffic.... but it was still going.

Sounds like it was a newer shape, which (like all newer cars) started getting more refined and lardy. These were around 200 Kg heavier than the 1999 model.

Also on the newer shape models, they introduced a Euro version of the STi - previously the STi was only available to the Japanese domestic market. Somewhat predictably, the European STi was watered down, so it had only 260 BHP and various engine differences making them less tunable. Different centre diff too I think.

Against a 2001-on Euro STi, your M3 will be as quick or quicker from all but a standing start or in poor weather. The pre-2000 STi is significantly quicker though - an extra 40+ BHP and 200 Kg lighter.

Zitat von Noggie;73193

The STi is not as fast as my M3

But it will leave an 850 in th dust without any problems.

Depends what year of STi. If it's a 1999, the same year as the original poster's UK turbo, it will out-accelerate just about any M3 to 100 MPH, probably about even until 120 MPH, and beyond that the M3 will pull away due to better aerodynamics and less drivetrain losses.

The STi was supposedly 286 BHP as standard (exactly the same as the 99 WRX funnily enough, even with a weaker engine and smaller turbo). The reality is that almost all high performance Japanese cars of that era had a quoted power of 286 BHP due to a "gentleman's agreement" between manufacturers, but they were actually putting out more. Most standard STi are around 305-310 BHP, and some very simple tweaks of the ECU will get them to 350 BHP. They also have three limited slip differentials making them really easy to launch quickly.

With a weight of 1200-1250 Kg depending on model, they are pushing a serious power/weight ratio of 258 BHP/tonne. Even the E92 M3, with its 400 BHP V8, has a power/weight of 238 BHP/tonne due to its lardy 1680 kg kerb weight.

If that's not hardcore enough, you can buy the "Type RA" model, which is stripped out and weighs only around 1100 Kg. No creature comforts like electric windows, let alone A/C though .

Seriously quick cars from a standstill, just totally unrefined and far too easy to drive everywhere at warp speed.

Agreed. If your 850 is an automatic, forget it unless she's seriously bad at driving quickly. Even if yours is manual, you're going to have to make up the performance deficit by launching better and shifting quicker.

I had a WRX some years ago, and it would easily out-accelerate and out-handle just about any 8 series. The main reason I got rid was that I found myself doing absolutely looney speeds every time I was on a B-road, as that was the only way it became exciting to drive. It's too easy to drive quickly - great for people with too little talent to do it in a RWD car

Zitat von reinhard;72781

M for Master of diminutives

I seem to remember that the least one can say is that it is a backbreaking job I have fond memories of backaches due to living in the boot for an hour or so
Anyway - great fun!
At the time of my retrofit I had serious problems finding a well hidden plug underneath the dash going to either the extra loom or the stick (can´t remember now) - was it the same in yours?

Cheers
Reinhard

It's not too bad when you know how

The boot part is quite easy in my experience: remove a few bits of trim, and mount the ECU on the existing plate then secure with two nuts. Run that end of the loom through the existing hole behind the seats and plug it into the ECU. OK you have to run the loom alongside the car, but I didn't find anything particularly difficult, just time consuming.

It perhaps helps that I'd previously run wiring along the length of the car for audio upgrades, so know how everything comes apart and fits together

The one part that can be challenging, as you state, is getting the plug that connects the cruise control loom to the rest of the car's loom. Mainly because the instructions I had were very vague to its actual location. Being that I've now fitted and removed a cruise kit twice, I don't find it much of an issue.

It's only that one connector that needs to be found; the stalk connector is part of the cruise kit, so you just run it to the same place as the wiper stalk connector, and it clips on. You then mount the cruise control stalk (again it just clips on to the existing runners) and plug the connectors together.

Time consuming, but not difficult. It was certainly easier than changing the alternator in my experience -- BMW helpfully put the terminals at the back of the unit, then give you very little free play in the wiring. The result is that you have to somehow get your hand round the back of the alternator and connect the wiring (entirely by feel as you can't see anything) in a rather cramped space .

There are a few jobs I'd loathe to take on in the E31, but this one's not too bad

Cheers
Paul

Zitat von mattsimis;72731

From reading up on the E46 M3 Diff, the "M Variable Diff" is fully mechanical, it utilises an internal sheer pump (non serviceable). Its a Viscious Fluid based diff.
Ive read about at least one guy putting it into an E36 M3. Apparently its considerably better than a locked LSD in the Wet and Snow (and Mud etc), which would be very much appreciated here as you can imagine!

Interesting. Presumably it'd only fit in an M3 Evo, as the 3.0 M3 had the medium case diff. Saying that, you can change the entire subframe to that of the Evo, and use the larger diff...

I wonder if there are any other mods required to fit, or if it just fits right into any large case diff.

Hi Jaap

No worries - I'm happy to take you at your word, so I'll put it aside for you, and we can sort out payment once you're happy with it fitted into your car. I'll mark the thread as "sold".

Drop me a PM once you know your availability.

Cheers
Paul

Zitat von Argonaut;72739

Short answer would be yes, he would need new seals, crush washers and if you're doing the job properly you might want to look at new bearings. If it were me though I would prefer to get it done by a specialist, setting up the diff preload properly is crucial and if not done properly the diff will wear rapidly. I would recommend Bird's, they fitted my Quaife unit last year and the workmanship is first class - also not exorbitantly expensive.

Good point regarding the preload, although note that it's only necessary to do this if the input drive (pinion) is removed. When I fitted mine to the 3-series, I was happy with the original gearing, so I just swapped my original crown wheel onto the LSD unit, which meant I could leave the pinion in place.

I replaced the output shaft bearings on mine, cost me about £20 for the pair I think, although I know someone in the trade. Bank on double that if you buy them from BMW.

Propane is around 110 octane, so if the engine is tuned for it you can actually get more power running on it. The proper way to optimise for it is raising the compression ratio, which improves power and efficiency. But then of course you can't run on petrol as it'll ping due to crappy 98 octane fuel

The reality is that a modern engine (like the BMW V8s, not sure if the V12s do this) will automatically advance the ignition to just before the point of knock, which will mean more advance on propane. The lower calorific value of the fuel means you'll burn more per mile (by usually 10-15% if it's running properly), but it doesn't necessarily mean less power - bear in mind that diesel has significantly higher calorific value than petrol, but it produces very little power without the help of forced induction, due to slow burn!

Engines often show less wear too, as you don't get oil dilution and bore wash to the extent that you do with petrol. Combustion temperatures are slightly higher, which has proven to be problematic with some chocolate engines (Ford Zetec valve seats anyone? ) but on a decent engine with good margins, there's no issue at all.

I considered it for mine a few years back, but quite simply it would have been madness as I have a second car and do very few miles in the 8. Hence still paying 30-35p/mile in fuel

Hi Jaap

Yes I can help you out fitting (I'm assuming you'd be happy to get involved as well).

Much of the work is just removing bits of trim to fit everything, so with two of us doing it things will be much quicker. It's all plug and play, there's no drilling, cutting, soldering or anything like that involved. All the mounts and connections are already there. It's just a little time consuming doing it all carefully.

Let me know ASAP if you're expecting to be around in February, and if you definitely want the kit. I'll hold it for you if you do.

Cheers
Paul

How does the variable diff work? I thought there was some electronics in there, but maybe it's fully mechanical?

If the unit inside is the same physical size and has the same layout as all other large case diffs, you can simply swap it into your case. I swapped the diff internals from an E36 M3 Evo into my mate's E34 540i, as it was less hassle than changing the input etc on the E36 unit (he wanted to keep same gearing, so I just swapped the crown wheel from his open unit onto the LSD).

Some pictures in case anyone is interested:



Packed into a box, ready to go:

Pic is working fine for me (Firefox, Mac OS X). Beautiful looking car!

I still have this for sale. Very nearly sold it but I kind of forgot to get back to the seller until several months later :O I've since removed the kit and returned the car to standard, as I never used it on the roads I drive. So it's ready to go.