99. Installing rear sunblind in a BMW E36 sedan

Original BMW rear sun blinds are quite rare, especially in sedans. I was hunting for one for almost a year. And, in the end, I got one for free, from a forum member here in Slovenia. It's almost a month now, and I still can't believe it. He really made my day nicer - no, not day - probably the whole year. And, the rear rolo is now probably my favorite part in the car.

Well, the rear blind came together with the rear shelf, but without the small pins that hold it open. I ordered those from BMW, and I paid about $20 for pair. Here are the part numbers: (found on bmwfans.info)

• Hook left: 51 16 1 977 027
• Hook right: 51 16 1 977 028
• Supplementary set sun blind: 82 11 9 400 664

P.S. You can still buy the whole thing at your dealer. They don't have the retrofit set any more, but it's still available as separate parts.

If you don't buy it with a pre-cut rear shelf, you can cut your own shelf, and install the rear sun screen rolo without any trouble.

So, here's how my installation went...

I got my hooks and some plastic clips from BMW:

Then, I had to remove my rear bench and rear headrests. If you need more info on removing rear headrests, check out my last post! After that, remove the rear reading lights, c-pillar covers and the plastic trim around the seatbelts. Using a 16mm socket wrench, unbolt the seat belts at the bottom of the seat. Take care how things were assembled, so you'll put everything back in the way it was. Here's how everything looks when you take it all apart:

To fit a shelf with a sun blind rolo, you'll have to take out the foam that was under your regular shelf. Install everything the same way you took things out. Reverse order, naturally. In the end, you have to put those little hooks that will hold the sunscreen open. I couldn't find any instruction on how to mount them, and they really look weird... I thought I would have to take the roof lining off or something. But, no - they just slide in onto their spots... Between the roof lining and the roof, there are small grooves, or small metal slots or something. You can feel them with your fingers. And you just slide the hooks in between the roof and lining. Hopefully, you'll get the idea from the pictures:

And that's it. Put everything back in, and you have a nice piece of OEM equipment that's quite rare and hard to find. Here's two more shots of the completed project:

96. BMW E36 18 Button OBC Retrofit

18 button on board computer (18 button OBC) is a great toy that you can easily install into your BMW E36. It doesn't really matter if you've already got another OBC, or you have the analog clock. As well, it really doesn't matter if you have a 4 cylinder or 6 cylinder engine. First thing's first - what kind of BMW on board computers are available?

Note: Click on the image for a larger view

1: 18 button on board computer (OBC)
 

2: Check control module with outside temperature and clock:
 

3: Check control module with digital clock:


4: Outside temperature and clock display:


All of the above listed units use special connectors. Units with less functionality have one connector. 18 button OBC has two connectors. Hopefully, you've bought these connectors (with some wire) together with the big OBC. If you don't have the connectors, you can build your own. (More on this later.)

Warning!

Read the whole article before starting any work on your car.

Before working on your car, disconnect your battery. Wait for about 30 minutes for the system to discharge. You don't want your airbag light to go on, or even worse, the airbag itself. All information provided here worked for me, on my own car - 1996 316i sedan. Wire colors and component locations may vary according to model year and car specification. I do not take any responsibility for damages to your car and/or injuries you suffered following this DIY. Do It Yourself at your own risk.

List of components needed for 18 button OBC retrofit:

• 18 button OBC unit
• 2 connectors with some wire (one black, one white)
• External temperature sensor
• Gong (buzzer, chime)
• Turn signal leaver with BC button (OBC Stalk)
• Wires - a lot of them

Note, that only the actual 18 button display unit is really necessary. Everything else is optional.
If you need additional reference, original BMW parts are listed at the end of the article.

List of tools needed for the job:

• Shrinking thermo tubes
• Wire cutters
• Wire strippers
• Insulation tape
• Screwdrivers
• 16mm socket wrench
• Torx 30

You'll need about 4 hours for the job. Beer breaks included. A quick summary of the tasks: Removing the steering wheel (and airbag, if necessary), taking out the instrument cluster, putting in new wires, replacing the turn signal leaver, connecting everything up, and putting the car back together...

Here's an photo of my new 18 button OBC vs. my old analog clock:

(The clock is upside-down... I know.)

List of connectors with codes

• X1070 - Black connector on the OBC
• X1071 - White connector on the OBC
• X16 - White connector on the Instrument Cluster
• X17 - Blue connector on the Instrument Cluster

So, let's get down to business.

DIY - Step by step

1. Remove your steering wheel.
There's some more information and pictures on removing the steering wheel in one of my older posts:

81. E39 to E36 Steering wheel retrofit DIY

2. Remove your instrument cluster.  There are two bolts at the top of the cluster. Remove the dashboard lower cover (under the steering wheel), and the plastic steering column covers.

3. If you have EWS, and want to use the CODE function of the OBC, then remove the glove box compartment.

4. Remove the analog clock (or the 'smaller' OBC unit), and the plastic panel under it - the one holding additional buttons (seat heating, asc, hi-fi...) and cigarette lighter.

So, by now, your car should look like it's ready for the junkyard. Here's a couple of photos for reference:


5. Prepare your OBC connectors. If you're lucky, you are doing an upgrade, and you already have one of those connectors. Since I was replacing my analog clock, I didn't have them. And to make things a bit more complicated, I only had one connector for my OBC. So, I had to make the other one. Here's how the back of the 18 button OBC looks:

According to the list of connectors, the black one is X1070, and the white one is X1071. They look similar to the ones behind the instrument cluster, but they are smaller. But, that's a good start - if you can't find the right connectors, you can source two connectors from an instrument cluster, and modify them. It might be a good idea to get a couple of extras, since you'll probably need some additional pins from them. So, a couple of images, so you can see what I'm talking about:

a) Rear of the instrument cluster - note the blue X17 and white X16 connectors:

b) The white connector from the instrument cluster - take it apart, and cut it to fit your OBC:



6. Replace your turn signal leaver with the OBC stalk. A fairly straight forward process. The old one just unclips from the steering column, and the new one snaps in.

7. Mount the gong (chime, speaker). It has five wires. They should be connected like this:

• (blue/white) --> [X1070] Pin #10 (note: you can do this later)
• (red/white) --> [X1070] Pin #11 (note: you can do this later)
• (black/red) --> [X17] Pin #09
• (brown) --> Earth (any brown wire)
• (red/yellow) --> Old clock (red/yellow)

8. Mount the outside temperature sensor - it's usually mounted on the front bumper, in the left air duct. There are only two wires for the sensor. One that goes to the OBC, and ground. There should be a ground connection behind the headlamps.

9. Here's a list of the pins that you need to connect, for the 18 button OBC to work:

• [X1070] Pin #06  --> [X17] Pin #26
• [X1070] Pin #09  --> [X17] Pin #04
• [X1070] Pin #10  --> Gong (blue/white)
• [X1070] Pin #11  --> Gong (red/white)
• [X1070] Pin #12  --> Temperature sensor
• [X1070] Pin #13  --> [X17] Pin #02
• [X1070] Pin #14  --> Wire under steering wheel (violet/white)
• [X1070] Pin #15  --> [X17] Pin #24 
• [X1070] Pin #16  --> Old clock (grey/red) 
• [X1070] Pin #17  --> Old clock (brown)
• [X1070] Pin #18  --> Old clock (red/yellow)

94. Installing angel eyes on BMW E36

Well, this weekend I installed angel eyes on my friends 323ti Compact. (Check out my last post)

I was skeptical about those add-on angel eyes rings, but, I must admit that I was wrong. Installation is extremely easy and quick, and the AE rings look completely stock. My main concern was fixing the rings on the head lamps. BMW angel eyes kits are often sold with a 'No need to drill/glue/hokus-pokus' lines... Well - it's true. No need to do anything horrible to your headlights. The installation is 100% reversible. And, best part is - they are really fixed in their places when you're done.

So, here's a quick step by step:

1. Disconnect and take off your headlamps.
2. Take them apart:

3. Take off the round inner lenses from the headlight cover (As pictured, I had to use a screwdriver to undo the screws - 3 per lens. Some headlights have the lenses glued with silicone, so you must use a thin knife to take them off)
4. Insert Angel eyes rings into the headlight cover. Try to be gentle as possible.
5. Put the inner lenses back on. It'll probably go harder back in...

6. Put the headlight back together (route the wires to the rear of the light - to the bulb socket cover)
7. Connect the rings to the supplied inverters (one inverter per headlight)
8. Connect the two wires from the inverter to your parking light bulb.
9. Glue the inverter with a two-side adhesive tape inside your headlight. (There's a lot of space, don't worry)
10. Put the lights back on your car, connect them, and adjust the height.

That's it. Took me 30 minutes for both headlights.

Here's a few photos of the car with angel eyes:
(The rest are in the post before this one.)

Where can you buy BMW E36 Angel Eyes ???
Try Amazon! :)