Ultra Gauge to watch cooling temperatures on E46

[kilotango]

Hi fellas,

i recently had a bit of a scare when my E46 cracked a bleed screw on the cooling system. been doing ALOT of research into this cars cooling system, and it seems that an overheat, even briefly, sometimes can end up in major repairs.

while browsing the net, i came across this http://www.ultra-gauge.com/ultragauge/ from another BMW forum.

it basically fits into your OBD2 socket, and can draw up all sorts of graphs on the little screen to help monitor your car. they are going quite cheap online, so i've ordered one. will put up some pics once it lands.

others have modded their temp gauges on the ECU, to remove the high buffer zone on the standard E46 gauge... apparently can help with potential overheats as it give you more time. since im not willing to mess with EEPROM's.. i'm going to install an ultragauge and watch the live temperature rather.

just thought i'd share this, as it seems like a bloody good idea. will be nice to setup an audible alarm when temperatures start moving to above normal.

 

[Nikhil]

looks awesome, i shall await your feedback :rollsmile:

 

[Dewald Basson]

looks awesome, i shall await your feedback :rollsmile:

:fencelook:


Ditto

 

[Iceman007]

What was the Total cost?

 

[kilotango]

What was the Total cost?

shipping to Zim from the US costed about USD$90 in total. the actual item is being sold online for 69.99. should get here next week sometime. will organise some pics and maybe a video once i get it

 

[kilotango]

so the item arrived yesterday afternoon, and i hooked it up quickly to the car last night.

so far, seems pretty good!

you can setup alarms to go with whatever gauges you choose to display... so in my case, setup an alarm at 110C for coolant temperature.

i mounted it on the visor as i keep it down 24/7 anyway... but definitely impressed so far. (car at 72C because its been parked for a few hours). to install, you just plug it into the obd2 port, and you're done. i've routed the wires quite crudely inside the trim running down the door to the obd2 port.

i've setup the following on page 1 (have up to 8 pages with 8 gauges on each... you switch the pages with the buttons on the back)

1 - engine coolant temp
2 - intake air temp
3 - run time
4 - battery voltage
5 - distance till tank empty
6 - gauge internal temperature

i've just changed 3 - runtime to show HP in KW instead.

 

[rodga]

Looks like a pretty nifty device.
Would be better if the screen was in orange though :coolShake:

 

[kilotango]

Looks like a pretty nifty device.
Would be better if the screen was in orange though :coolShake:

i thought so too... would match the rest of the interior lighting. i've seen guys use coloured cellophane sheets to "make" it orange

 

[Dewald Basson]

I like it.



Must not buy indulgences :hammerhead: