So, given that I had to return the brake master rebuild kit I bought because the seal on the secondary was deteriorated from sitting on the shelf for more than a decade, I decided to return to the interior work today. And here, at long last, is my first modified gauge test fitting. At 40 mm of depth, it fits!!! I am pumped. I still need to work up the support that will allow me to screw this in using the original attachments for the a/c plate, but now I know for sure the gauges are going to fit.
Center Console Gauges
- Thread starter Ohmess
- Start date
Cool gauge shade too
Bwana
Well-Known Member
*hijack*
Late to the party on this one. I've got the same, a 2000 540iA with the Sport package (M5 w/o the engine). I have what appears to be the same dashboard and interior, what makes it "European"? The same year M5's have some sort of ugly chrome bezel around the gauges. Steller car BTW, mine has 201,000 miles and looks almost new.
*end hijack*
The story I heard was that the e39 was downrated by the US DOT because of some type of crash test that involved overweight Americans not wearing seat belts submarining underneath the dash in the e39. Whatever the reason, BMW added about 4 inches of Styrofoam to the bottom of the dash of the US cars. If you look at the area where the dash meets the doors in your car, you will see that the dash sticks out from the door a bit. This transition is obscured in my car by the steering wheel, but if you look at the area between the steering wheel and the center console, you will notice my dash is pulled up tightly compared to the US dash, allowing substantially more leg room. The conversion also gives you a nice little cubby to the left and below the steering wheel.
About 15 years ago, a bunch of us got into comparing the European e39s to the US versions, and undertook to get rid of a bunch of the US compromises in areas where the European stuff was superior. On the Euro dash we following the path blazed by Dave Zeckhausen: https://www.zeckhausen.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=6446_6567 I also followed Dave on the clutch delay valve delete (the CDV was BMW incorporated into the clutch hydraulics to protect the drive train in the event US owners were inclined to do burnouts in their e39s and made smooth shifting impossible), installed European M5 floating rotors (which are no longer available in the US) along with the air ducts for front brake cooling, and installed the aspheric European side view mirrors, which provide far better visibility as compared to the US mirrors. And I went out and got a real limited slip dif, which was only available from BMW on the M5 (and which required changing half shafts in order to retrofit into the 540).
Alas, test fit 4 did not go as planned. In order to insert the Lucas switches I bought for this project, you need to flip the switch so that the lever extends straight out from the switch. In doing so, I managed to break the post that runs down the little plastic rocker inside the switch that actually makes and breaks the connection. What a cheap piece of junk. Needless to say, I will either need to find alternative switches (not made by Lucas!!), or scrap the dual switches.
What was I thinking...
You let the smoke out, that's what holds them together.
Looks like things are progressing well with the gauge test fits.
That looks great!
Honolulu
Well-Known Member
Hey wot?! ;
What's the world coming to when you got a nice panel of laser cut wood, then hide it in vinyl?
What's the world coming to when you got a nice panel of laser cut wood, then hide it in vinyl?
Killer!
Funny you mention this. I used the German vinyl I bought for the parcel shelf in order to match the other dash components, but I had a second panel cut and have set it aside as part of the wood refinishing project I intend to attack over the winter. I am not sure how the red oak will look, but if I can get the finishes to match, I may go that route.
Thanks Steve -- Mounting depth has been a big issue. I had to cut the mounting posts on the gauges, shorten the U shaped brackets that hold the gauges to the face to bring it in tight against the back of each gauge, cut some plastic tabs off the back of the gauges to allow the shorter U brackets to fit closer to the gauge, modify the plastic light bases that go into the back of the three VDO gauges in order to splay the terminals outward farther and get 90 degree wiring terminals for the splayed terminals on the light bases. I am also going to have to shrink wrap the wiring terminals completely because of their proximity to the fan housing.
And I am installing the top of the gauge plate against the bar along the bottom of the vents in order to move the assembly out by about 5mm (which also has the salutary effect of hiding some paint chips on the bar). Even with all of this, the nuts on the U brackets barely clear the A/C fan housing.
Looks great, what do the toggles do again?
Looks great, what's left to do?
One toggle turns off the lights in the gauges; the other was supposed to turn on and off a little light to illuminate the cubby below the panel. Alas, the fixture I purchased for this light, and both of the fixtures I had laying around, did not fit in the allotted space. I am looking at yellowish leds, but for now one is just for future expansion (as they say).
Well, actually getting the gauges to work. I daisy chained the switched power, starting with the oil temp gauge. I was thinking it doesn't take much power to run a gauge, so the voltage drop should be minimal.
It turns out the oil temp gauge actually allows some continuity from power to signal. I am guessing this has to do with the resistance range of the sensor, but in any event the downstream gauges did not work. So, I am separating the power to the oil temp gauge, and in the process playing around with some leds. The ones I have are pretty bright, but I have a "warm white" that is a pretty good color. I may try to cover it with a lens; we'll see.