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FUSE BOX
- Thread starter nyccsi
- Start date
So i've been in the process of wiring up the holy grail fusebox. as i look at it in detail, its made / setup for the '74 model. the bridges between fuses do not agree with the '70 thru '73. there are also some male spades that are missing on the fusebox for the earlier wiring. yes, i can redo some connectors and join wires together to solve it ... but that takes a lot more work than i was prepared for ... especially the comparison / sorting it out. more soon ...
is your wiring harness a pre- or post-facelift version?
harness and fuse box need to match up.
Mine is a 2800CS. so pre-facelift. there was no option for early / late on the holy grail labs website ... but i'm about to educate them after i finish sorting this out.
Hold on - their website does have this information. The E9 page has the following info:
The HGL E9 Fuse Box is compatible with
I checked my order and for my 72 E9 I had ordered the E3 box and when I installed it the colors seemed to map correctly.
The HGL E9 Fuse Box is compatible with
- BMW E9 Models produced 10/73-11/75, including these models:
- 3.0 CS, CSA, CSi, CSiA, CSL, etc...
- 2.5 CS, CSA, etc...
- Compatible with these part numbers:
- 61131357578
- 61131351812
I checked my order and for my 72 E9 I had ordered the E3 box and when I installed it the colors seemed to map correctly.
They also have a separate page entitled "BMW Fuse Box Variants" (text below from that page with associated pictures)
BMW E9 models used two variants of the 10-fuse box. Early cars (built between 12/68 and 9/73) used part #61131354054, while late cars (built between 10/73 and 11/75) used part #61131357578.
Early BMW E3 models (built between 8/68 and 8/73) used part #61131354054.
For E9 cars, there are two ways to tell which fuse box you have. The first is to look at the sticker saying what fuse ratings to use in each position - cars with 054 fuse boxes use 5A fuses in some positions and cars with 578 fuse boxes do not. Some reproduction stickers aren't accurate, so the other method is to simply peek at the back of the fuse box: The difference is which fuses are connected together.
054 fuse boxes have 3 cross links in a row, circled in the photo below.
578 fuse boxes also have 3 cross links, but one of the links is at the end and there's a gap between it and the other two, as shown below.
BMW E9 models used two variants of the 10-fuse box. Early cars (built between 12/68 and 9/73) used part #61131354054, while late cars (built between 10/73 and 11/75) used part #61131357578.
Early BMW E3 models (built between 8/68 and 8/73) used part #61131354054.
For E9 cars, there are two ways to tell which fuse box you have. The first is to look at the sticker saying what fuse ratings to use in each position - cars with 054 fuse boxes use 5A fuses in some positions and cars with 578 fuse boxes do not. Some reproduction stickers aren't accurate, so the other method is to simply peek at the back of the fuse box: The difference is which fuses are connected together.
054 fuse boxes have 3 cross links in a row, circled in the photo below.
578 fuse boxes also have 3 cross links, but one of the links is at the end and there's a gap between it and the other two, as shown below.
- If you have a 054 fuse box, purchase the BMW E3 Blade Fuse Box
- If you have a 578 fuse box, purchase the BMW CS Coupe (E9) Blade Fuse Box
jmackro
Well-Known Member
Hmm. But one of the fuses (I think #6 on my early e9) handles the clock, so it always has current running through it. Would its LED be on all of the time? Of course, the LED probably draws << current than the clock, so I suppose that wouldn't be a big deal.
that being said, anybody with a 1974 in need of a new fusebox? new, not used. will sell in US for 300 shipped, that's 25+ bucks cheaper than you can buy it from holy grail labs.
well darn, i missed that link. their website is kind of screwy - you click on e9 and this is what you see
when you click on it, the next page (near the bottom) is this
well darn, i missed that link. their website is kind of screwy - you click on e9 and this is what you see
when you click on it, the next page (near the bottom) is this
tdgray
Well-Known Member
Sorry you missed that Scott.
I used the E3 one… works well. My only complaint is that the terminals are a bit fragile. I had to pull a couple of wires for troubleshooting and they came loose. I also lost the ground to the box… it’s broke. When this happens all the cute lights on the front don’t work.
Oh and btw… there is a switch to turn off the leds if you so wish. Pity… I liked them.
I used the E3 one… works well. My only complaint is that the terminals are a bit fragile. I had to pull a couple of wires for troubleshooting and they came loose. I also lost the ground to the box… it’s broke. When this happens all the cute lights on the front don’t work.
Oh and btw… there is a switch to turn off the leds if you so wish. Pity… I liked them.
Scott - maybe reach out to the shop owner and see if they can replace yours with the right one? I agree, the website doesn’t make it very clear. I was enough of a novice (it was one of the first things I did) that I was extra-anal about reading EVERY SINGLE WORD on that webpage convinced I would mess something up.
they note on the website 30 days for returns. i bought it earlier in the year, it was my christmas present to myself. i have already ordered the correct one as its holding me up on completing the wiring. the last of the wiring work to be done on the car is right there. shift the wires to the new fusebox and remove the few wires that need to be taken out due to other changes ... tape the remainder up and push everything into place. was hoping to have that done this weekend ... oh well, time to work on something else.
I was an early stage tester for Galahad and have happily installed the early-style box for about 2 years. I agree that the website is not ideally built, as it should point out the options more clearly. I would suggest you reach out to Galahad directly (he is also on the forum).
while i had a few minutes, i did a little drawing of the fusebox (2800cs thru 1973 3.0cs) - showing what wires go where according to the wiring diagram. this diagram shows color, wire size and what they control. this could be helpful when swapping wires over from one fusebox to another. i will probably draw the 1974 - 75 diagram as well and put both of them in the FAQ
Hi - as others have noted (and you experienced), our website layout isn't the best. Do you have any changes you would suggest?
Reach out to support @ hgl.com and we can get this sorted out.
There's a switch, you can turn off the LEDs if you don't want them.
Similarly, email our support account and we'll take care of you.
---
I'll note this on the main product thread as well, but we have color cards built into the boxes now (and stronger ground cables). I've updated the product photos on the website.
jmackro
Well-Known Member
Wow, thank you - that looks useful. I am contemplating installing a HGL fusebox, but the "bundle of snakes" around my existing fusebox seems intimidating.
I knew - and can see from your diagram - that many of the positions on the fusebox accept multiple wires. From your diagram it appears that when there are multiple wires going to the same point, they are all the same color. For example, at the output side of fuse #1, both the lead to the LR parking light and the one to the LF parking light + hood light, are both green/yellow. Was BMW really that well-organized? If so, it would make the job of converting somewhat easier.
Galahad said:
I also see a page with installation steps, which I believe was recently posted. That looks quite helpful as well:
https://www.holygraillabs.com/pages/e9-blade-fuse-box-upgrade-installation-manual
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Yes, all the wires are color coded. The HGL fuse box has matching colors on the back to make plugging it all back in easier
Jay, it took me about 10 minutes to swap all of the wires from one fusebox to the other. everything is loose down there on my car due to painting so i had more room to pull. the challenge will be in getting everything back to the proper location.
i honestly didn't pay attention to the color coded back - too hard to see while attaching wires. i had the pdf printed, took the wire(s) off from one section and put them into place. the battery side connectors all have black insulated covers and the distribution side all have clear / white connectors. that makes it much easier than anything.
that being said, i found another green wire with a black cover that wouldn't make it to the fusebox, so i have to find out if it goes to a relay or something.
i honestly didn't pay attention to the color coded back - too hard to see while attaching wires. i had the pdf printed, took the wire(s) off from one section and put them into place. the battery side connectors all have black insulated covers and the distribution side all have clear / white connectors. that makes it much easier than anything.
that being said, i found another green wire with a black cover that wouldn't make it to the fusebox, so i have to find out if it goes to a relay or something.
WHen I switched my fusebox over late last year using the Holy Grail box, the switchover was easier than I thought it would be. I just moved from left to right and moved over terminal by terminal. Although it's tight down there, I was able to unscrew old fusebox and angle it downwards enough to see the backside. Not a full-on view but enough to disconnect and then just detach connectors and put onto the new backside. I do like the lights a lot - when I've blown a fuse and see a red light it's a good tell!
Have one as well and it is fantastic, highly recommended. Its been very helpful as I put the care back together. Side note, for anyone that wants to connect it all and then put in place, you can squeeze it through with all wires attached from the bottom at an angle rather than having to connect it fully in place. Going this route, most if not all wires will go down and out versus some going down through the bracket and some coming from above.