Rich's 328 Compact Project

Members' cars information, spec & pics

Moderator: is-si

Re: Rich's 328 Compact Project

Postby mrfuzzyfelts » Tue Sep 15, 2015 11:02 am

Great news, looks good 8)
Banana BMW
mrfuzzyfelts
Site Admin
Site Admin
 
Posts: 444
Joined: Thu Feb 01, 2007 6:03 pm
Location: West Wales

Re: Rich's 328 Compact Project

Postby Nate.Vincent » Thu Oct 15, 2015 3:50 pm

Rich,

I am currently building a gravel rally car very similar to yours. It's a US spec 318ti but I'm transplanting a m52 from a 328is in it (state side we never got the compact with anything but a 1.8/1.9 four cylinder). I would love to see in more detail what you did with the wiring on the car. From the photos it looks like to kept mostly stock connectors and wiring but re routed it all to the fuse panel you constructed. I would also be interested in seeing in more detail how you reinforced the rear trailing arms.
Nate.Vincent
Newbie
Newbie
 
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri May 15, 2015 9:04 pm

Re: Rich's 328 Compact Project

Postby nick323ti » Fri Oct 16, 2015 10:52 am

"I did the loom in two stages. First I removed everything I could that was not essential including EWS, ABS, ASC, airbags, front fogs, stereo, GE module, door looms, rear wiper, rear locks, A/C, heater."

Hi Rich, in your post about doing the harness you wrote the above...

I'm trying to do the harness at the moment and I'm struggling to even know where to start. .. :oops:

When you removed the non-essential systems, I guess you started at the (device) connector and cut the associated wiring back to where the system wiring terminated in the fuse box? Is this right?

Also I have a ZKE Module (or something like that) in my car which has a bunch of wires about 2" diameter going in to it.... at the moment I'm looking at that and thinking wtf am I to do with all of that...

If I don't get my head around the wiring I'm in big trouble with my project.
I got the ecu modified by Enda ages ago and got the ews, abs, srs, etc removed and hoped that should make life easier.

Similar to you, I can't relocate the fuse box in it's original location due to the cage being triangulated.

Pls help! :roll:
nick323ti
Newbie
Newbie
 
Posts: 30
Joined: Mon Jul 22, 2013 6:36 pm
Location: UAE / Ireland

Re: Rich's 328 Compact Project

Postby rally_rich » Fri Oct 16, 2015 8:51 pm

Hi Nate / Nick

Can you please PM me your email addresses and I will email through a few things I have that may help with the electrics.

Nate, I will get some more photos of the trailing arms next time I go out to my car. It is kept on a farm away from where I live.
rally_rich
Bmw Fan
Bmw Fan
 
Posts: 61
Joined: Thu Aug 30, 2012 8:39 pm

Re: Rich's 328 Compact Project

Postby rally_rich » Fri Oct 16, 2015 10:26 pm

Wiring

The whole wiring job took 4-5 weeks or more (part time) for me before it was finished. I was no wiring expert when I started but you figure it out. Just do it slowly and step by step. It is a bit daunting to start cutting bits out. First I pedantically labeled every connector before I removed the loom out of the car. This helped a lot. The more you label the easier it is to understand. I then laid the loom out on the floor and started from the device end as you say Nick and systematically removed wire by wire that I didn't need all the way back to the fuse, relay or earth junction. I used lots of masking tape to hold the loom together as I un wrapped it and I labelled everything as I went so I always new what something was. I kept all of the original connectors at the device end as I was only thinning the loom out.

You guys may be different but I decided to remove all electrics from the doors, the heater/aircon unit, the stereo wiring, sunroof, abs, the ignition and I did away with the EWS antitheft system. I strongly recommend removing the EWS system and have Enda reprogram your ECU. It makes life so much easier. If you are doing the same as this then from memory you only need two modules left in the loom. One is for the wiper control. The other is for the engine oil level and you probably don't need this but I kept it. Find these two and label them. All other modules are not required. You can google the part numbers and figure out what they do. Also the wiring diagrams I will send you will help. Probably obvious but don't remove the speed sensor that goes to the rear diff, the gearbox reverse gear sensor, anything going to the fuel pumps and anything going to lights. There is a couple of wires that you do trim right back to the speedo and engine loom plug but I can't remember what they were. I then added a few extra things into the loom: manual overide for the radiator fan, second fuel pump, feed for spotlights, screen heater fan, rally trip meter etc.

Once I had done this I put the loom back to the car and checked every thing still worked. I was worried I was going to have to buy another Compact just for the loom and start again!! There is a yellow and black wire that comes out of the EWS module which goes to the starter motor. You will need to wire this back to a starter switch or your iginition barrel.

Once I was happy it still worked I then started tiding up the loom. There is a lot of junctions for earths and +tve feeds that you can simplify/tidy. You wont need half of the fuses anymore. If you have cut off the wire coming out you can remove it. I will send you a list of what fuses and relays I was left with. I then refitted the original relays and fuses onto my fuse board using these:
http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/product.php/664/8-way-blade-fuse-box
http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/product.php/652/4-way-relay-box
I did need to add a couple of wires into the loom but didn't need to extend things to move the relays and fuses from under the bonnet to just inside passanger foot well. It was tight though.

If I was to do it all again I would mount all the fuses, relays and switches on a panel in the centre console as you often see. It now makes sense to me why this is done. It cuts down on the wires going back and forth through the loom. The switches, relay and fuse should ideally be all together.

It really is a lot of work and the cost of solder, blade connectors, switches etc really adds up. It is worth it in the end when you get a loom you are happy with and fully understand. I hope that helps, good luck with it and feel free to ask anymore specific questions.

Rich
rally_rich
Bmw Fan
Bmw Fan
 
Posts: 61
Joined: Thu Aug 30, 2012 8:39 pm

Re: Rich's 328 Compact Project

Postby nick323ti » Sun Oct 18, 2015 5:13 pm

Rich,
Many, many thanks for your detailed post- it's a big help.
I had already made a start on the loom before your post and now reading what you've written I'm a lot more confident that I'm taking the right approach!
Thanks again,
Nick
nick323ti
Newbie
Newbie
 
Posts: 30
Joined: Mon Jul 22, 2013 6:36 pm
Location: UAE / Ireland

Previous

Return to Cars

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 3 guests