OBC into E30 318is

Dunno.

This is a simple setting on every OBC since 1982. Indeed you can usually set some parameters in km (e.g. range, speed, temprature etc.) and consumption in mpg, however be aware that since the USA left UK jurisdiction in 1776 some of their units are not "Imperial", in particular the gallon, which is 20% short.

I took an easier path on mine :-)

I fitted the six button digital clock / outside temperature unit. I had to run a wire to the back of the dashboard and another to the temp sensor in the brake duct. Not a hard job at all. Much easier than fitting the full OBC.

You will need thew harness that goes from the back of the instrument cluster to the OBC. These usually come with the OBC on Ebay but check to make sure. There is a second harness if you want the code feature to work (as well as a relay box) and the turn signal stalk can be changed if you want to be able to cycle through the OBC displays that way. None of the extra stuff is critical. There is NO splicing required and it's all plug and play.

Answered above.

You will have to remove the speedometer display and the heater / AC control panel enough to swap the OBC into the clock place. Mounts are the same.

Actually, it defaults to KPH and Litres (German car). If you need Imperial gallons, there's an option for that as well.

No problem :)

Are you serious???

Michael Yeager pretended :

Serious about the smallness of the American gallon?

Yes, sadly. American pints have considerably less beer in them.

That said, I am wondering why the original poster wants an OBC. I have never found it very useful.... the temperature display and time are occasionally handy, but the timer functions aren't sufficient for rallies these days (and the passenger can't easily use the thing).

--scott

"> That said, I am wondering why the original poster wants an OBC. I have

The practical reason is that it shows average fuel consumption. It would be great if it showed instantaneous consumption, but I can't have everything.

The main reason is that it's a cool gadget that wasn't standard on my model - and it's now cheap enough to try without breaking the bank.

James

I'll buy that. I warn you that I have found the derived numbers on the OBC to be less than accurate; I have run out of gas while the OBC indicated I had 20 miles of gas left in the tank. So I don't know how much I trust it.

I am suspicious of cool gadgets, but the OBC should not be a difficult retrofit because there are only a limited number of inputs. I suggest you avoid connecting the horn and the ignition disabler.

--scott

I'll second the horn and ignition cutout unless you just want to have it all working. I installed it all and disconnected the horn. Have never used the code feature as I installed an alarm and it does the ignition cutout for me (as well as remote start).

I am aware that the US gallon and the Imperial gallon are different but the original poster made it sound like the OBC was useless if you needed Imperial gallons. I can see that this topic is going to go way off course as most discussions seem to do on this forum these days but I was a bit baffled by the original posters comment...

I thought he was saying precisely the opposite, that in the very unlikely event you wanted to see values in imperial gallons the OBC actually had a mode for it.

--scott

Possibly, I may have read it wrong. I don't think so but it's not important enough to go find the original text :)