[318 IS Cosmos]

After doing some research on retrofitting obc's, i decided to install one in my 318iS. I read a number of diy's before i started the retrofit, and to be honest a lot of them either contradicted each other or just didnt go into enough detail..

So here is a diy that actually works!! Firstly, i have to state that my car does not have a Check Control Module and that i still need to source a BMW Pin for the CODE function to work. In total, it took me about 6 hours to complete and i went over each connection about 4 times just to be sure

As i wanted to use most of the features, i decided to purchase a kit off another bmw forum. The kit included:

1. 18 Button OBC with black and white harnesses
2. OBC Stalk
3. External Temperature Sensor
4. Gong/Chime
5. An extra black harness also came with the kit. This allowed me to extract the pins from the harness and connect them to the blue and white plugs located behind the instrument cluster. I also purchased pins from Maplin but they were too small for the job. If you dont want to solder anything, i suggest go to a breakers and cut the white and blue plugs off the donar car and extract pins from them.

The Kit:

Tools required for the job:

1. 25-30m of assorted equipment wire
2. In-line connectors both small and medium sizes (other diy's use block connectors but the inline's are less bulky)
3. 1* Ring Connector (for temp sensor)
3. Crimp tool
4. Pliers
5. Various torx heads
6. Philips & flathead screwdrivers
7. Soldering Iron & Solder (if required)
8. Cable Ties
9. Insulation Tape
10.Pins (either from an electrical store or from bmw plugs as explained above)

Tools:

Some terms that are used:

a) X1070 (Black Harness supplied with OBC)
b) X1071 (White Harness supplied with OBC)
c) X16 (White Plug behind Instrument Cluster)
d) X17 (Blue Plug Behind Instrument Cluster)

Getting Started

1. Disconnect Battery
2. Remove glovebox and panel underneath.
3. Remove analogue clock (use a small screwdriver and it just clips out)
4. Remove airbag, steering wheel, panel underneath, and steering column trim.
Note, if you have an adjustable steering wheel, you don't need to remove airbag or wheel-just adjust it to its lowest position.
5. Remove instrument cluster (use a torx head) and disconnect the black, blue and white plugs from behind the cluster.

This is what awaits you

As some wires are missing from X16 & X17, it is necessary to remove the body of the plugs. This is achieved by pulling on the tab highlighted in the pic below:

body removed

I also removed the covers on the black and white harnesses to ensure that connections were correct.

Next comes the checklist as follows:

Black Harness (X1070):

Pin 1: Not Relevant
Pin 2: Not Relevant
Pin 3: Not Relevant
Pin 4: Not Relevant
Pin 5: Not Relevant
Pin 6: (blue/brown/yellow) Goes to ----------------------> Pin 26 of X17
Pin 7: Not Relevant
Pin 8: Not Relevant
Pin 9: (green/blue) Goes to ----------------------> Pin 4 of X17
Pin 10: (blue/white) Goes to ----------------------> Gong (blue/white)
Pin 11: (red/white) Goes to ----------------------> Gong (red/white)
Pin 12: (brown/grey) Goes to ----------------------> Temp Sensor
Pin 13: (black/white) Goes to ----------------------> Pin 2 of X17
Pin 14: (violet/white) Goes to ----------------------> violet white wire under steering wheel (pic included later)
Pin 15: (blue/violet/white) Goes to ----------------------> Pin 24 of X17
Pin 16: (grey/red) Goes to ----------------------> Old clock (also grey/red)
Pin 17: (brown) Goes to ----------------------> Old Clock (also brown)
Pin 18: (red/yellow) Goes to ----------------------> Old Clock (also red/yellow)

White Harness (X1071):

Pin 1: (black/green) Goes to ----------------------> Pin 15 of EWS Unit
Pin 2: (purple/green) Not Relevant
Pin 3: (black/blue) Not Relevant
Pin 4: (brown/red) Goes to ----------------------> OBC Stalk (yellow/red wire)
Pin 5: (white/violet) Goes to ----------------------> Pin 12 of X16
Pin 6: (white/black) Goes to ----------------------> Pin 21 of X16
Pin 7: (white/yellow) Goes to ----------------------> Pin 11 of X16
Pin 8: (red/yellow) Goes to ----------------------> Pin 18 of X1070
Pin 9: (white/grey) Goes to ----------------------> Pin 10 of X17
Pin 10: Not Relevant
Pin 11: Not Relevant
Pin 12: Not Relevant
Pin 13: (brown) Goes to ----------------------> Pin 17 of X1070
Pin 14: Not Relevant
Pin 15: Not Relevant
Pin 16: Not Relevant
Pin 17: Not Relevant
Pin 18: Not Relevant

 

[318 IS Cosmos]

OBC Retrofit Contd

OBC Stalk Installation:

The old stalk just unclips from the steering wheel as outlined below:

When installing the new obc stalk, splice the red/yellow wire on the stalk connector (this goes to pin 4 on X1071).

External Temp Sensor Installation & EWS CODE function:

With the glovebox removed, you can now access the EWS unit and locate the rubber grommet that will allow you to feed the wire from the OBC to the Temp Sensor. The EWS connector is purple and you will need to locate pin 15 on it for the CODE function to work.

Access to the engine compartment is located behind the blue connector. I used a hanger to feed the wire through. The temp sensor is located on the passenger side brake duct (for RHD cars) and it uses 2 wires- one that goes back to the OBC and an earth that connects to one of the ground connections in the engine compartment. I used a ground located just beside the headlamp. A ring connector was used to connect it as outlined below.

X1070 Pin 14

There has been some confusion regarding this pin- the white/violet wire connects to a thicker white/violet wire under the steering column. This wire comes from a distribution box as shown below:

Gong/Chime

There are 5 wires on the gong.
1.(blue/white wire) Goes to ----------------------> Pin 10 of X1070
2.(red/white wire) Goes to ----------------------> Pin 11 of X1070
3.(black/red wire) Goes to ----------------------> Pin 9 of X17
4.(brown wire) Goes to ----------------------> any earth wire under steering column
5.(Red/yellow wire) Goes to ----------------------> red/yellow wire from analogue clock

X16 plug completed

And job completed

However, if your car doesnt have a Check Control Module, you will get this error message on startup and when you switch the car off...

So this is what you do:

press 1000 and 10 and at the TEST prompt enter 19 .. press SET/RES.. you should see LOCK:ON...
press the DATE key..(today you would see 10.25 ( Oct 25th)) and add the 2 numbers together (date 25 + Month 10 =35)

Now enter the number you've just calculated (35) and press SET/RES... you should now have unlocked the secret functions...

So now you do the following:

1) Hold down 1000 and 10 to get access to the hidden menus. [TEST --]
2) Enter 11, and press Set/Reset. [EINHEIT 1: xx] (xx will be a number)
3) Change the EINHEIT 1 value to 75, using the 10 and 1 buttons. Press Set/Reset. [EINHEIT 1: 75]
4) Press 1000/100 to switch between EINHEIT 1 and EINHEIT 2. [EINHEIT 2: xx] (xx will be a number)
5) EINHEIT 2 needs to be FF. Change using 10/1 buttons and press Set/Reset when done. [EINHEIT 2: FF]

And now, when you press check, this will happen:

Some functions:

Thanks for looking and i hope this guide is beneficial! Feel free to ask any Q's...

Shane

 

[Fiona]

Juat a quick note if your camera has a macro function (flower symbol) use that setting for your close up pics, allows you to capture more detail

 

[318 IS Cosmos]

Juat a quick note if your camera has a macro function (flower symbol) use that setting for your close up pics, allows you to capture more detail

I have no idea where my camera is so had to use the iphone

 

[Ford 2]

Fucking hell lad. serious work there

 

[318 IS Cosmos]

Fucking hell lad. serious work there

Cheers Jason...its not as bad as it looks. I did it in the space of 2 days (worked out circa 7 hours in total) and a lot of it was prep work which i did in the house and not in a freezing cold car Its a good idea to label every wire too as it makes life much easier when splicing etc!

 

[Ford 2]

If there's one thing I hate its wire's. I'll change a engine before I'll even wire up a headunit !! does the trip work too ? I got caught out a few time's on the empty light before and always wanted a range yoke Me next IS better have one standard or I'm comming too you lad. How much ?

 

[318 IS Cosmos]

If there's one thing I hate its wire's. I'll change a engine before I'll even wire up a headunit !! does the trip work too ? I got caught out a few time's on the empty light before and always wanted a range yoke Me next IS better have one standard or I'm comming too you lad. How much ?

If im being honest- that was my first experience involving rewiring/splicing etc so it can be done I doubt your next one will have one as standard- it was a very expensive option back in the day! Yeah the range function is pretty good although i have only managed to drive the car around the block since doing the job, hence the 10 mpg

 

[Ford 2]

I'd say it was sideways around the block with that mpg sound lad. sure if it dont have one I'm comming your way

 

[Gar]

fair play to you man looks great and great write up too

 

[318 IS Cosmos]

Excellent write up Shane!

Was only talking aobut getting this done the other day.

Where did you source the parts?

MG

Cheers Mike! I got the kit from a lad on e36coupe.com.. £50 incl P+P

 

[reyns187]

Hero

Great work mate,
I'm about to approach my local auto-electrician to see if he wants to take on the job as I think it's a little over my head.

I've got a 99 Reg 323i with the analogue clock. Can I just check a few things with you before I begin?

Do all 18 of your buttons now work/everything in full order?
What is the 'code' for?
What does the stalk control and is it essential?

And... for a pretty competent guy - done a lot of good work in the past - any idea how long this should take him (I will be printing your guide and wiring diagram obviously!!!)

Thanks V Much

Reyn, Wolves, UK

 

[318 IS Cosmos]

Cheers! All the buttons are functional bar the code function as i still havent sourced the pin from bmw Regarding the 'code' function- its basically an additional security feature...press code button then input a 4 digit code..lock car! Next time you try to start the car with the key, the car will not start unless the correct code is entered! its easily bypassed though..disconnect battery for 5 mins..reconnect and it will allow you 15 mins to start the car without entering the code..

The stalk control allows you to scroll through all the functions instead of pressing the buttons on the OBC! Pretty handy when driving but is not essential!

I would say 4-5 hours max!

 

[Fiona]

Shane would that be the same for the E30? I have the whole kit to do the change over but i kinda like my clock! Do u regret doing it all all, any benefits? Pitfalls?

 

[318 IS Cosmos]

Shane would that be the same for the E30? I have the whole kit to do the change over but i kinda like my clock! Do u regret doing it all all, any benefits? Pitfalls?

Well you have to have an immobiliser for the code function to work! i liked the clock but prefer the obc! But then again i do like gadgets well only pitfalls could be blowing the arse out of modules if you splice the wrong wires etc Basically the same functions as what you have on the e46

 

[Fiona]

So it has a guilt meter? Aka mpg reader? Not sure i want it, one is enough!

 

[318 IS Cosmos]

So it has a guilt meter? Aka mpg reader? Not sure i want it, one is enough!

It has 2Also, average speed, outside temp, estimated time of arrival, fuel range, time and date and a load of different test functions (how many litres you consume per hour, voltage readings, how many litres you have left in your tank etc etc etc) currently getting 35 mpg over the last 300 miles

 

[Fiona]

Estimated time of arrival to what? The next drive thru?!! Hum let me see yours next week ill make my decision then. I might sell the parts and put the money towards the paint correction instead.

 

[318 IS Cosmos]

Estimated time of arrival to what? The next drive thru?!! Hum let me see yours next week ill make my decision then. I might sell the parts and put the money towards the paint correction instead.

If you have a rough estimate of the distance, just enter in the miles and it will give you ETA you prob wont get much..maybe 100 max?

 

[Fiona]

Ah I will see how I feel after I have been driving it for a while before I decide to sell it or fit it.