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      09-27-2008, 02:55 PM   #16
T2x
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Drives: e90 335i
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: California

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Well as far as recommendations go for the install:

Have the proper tools! A small flat head screwdriver is very important. Basically the kind you open watches with. You can actually use it for every step that doesn't involve removing 8 mm or 10 mm bolts. All the bolts you'll be removing in the engine are 8 mm and the one for the battery in the back is 10 mm. A picture of the screwdriver is here, it's the one right below the larger flat head and its all silver. http://www.minidolls.com/Blog/wirecontents.jpg

Make sure your car is cooled down so you don't burn yourself on the engine components.

Have a very good source of light, like one of those hanging lightbulbs(sorry don't know the name haha) that you can attack to the hooks on top of the hood.

Every step should not take too much force, everything comes apart pretty easily if you are doing it right so take the time to figure out whats wrong if somethings isn't coming out.

The ecu has 4 clips, 2 on the left side and 2 on the right, if you are looking at it from the front of the car to the back. They are connected to the black pieces of plastic on the sides of the ecu and you basically just stick your finger under the sides at both ends of the black plastic and push the clip towards whatever end of the plastic you are on to make it pop off. I couldn't figure this part out for a while because i kept thinking you had to somehow slide the black pieces but really there are just clips underneath them.

Once you have the ecu open, you need to maneuver your fingers around some wires in order to get to the sliders on each side of the DME's. They are the only big box connectors in the ecu really. You take the passenger side one out first by gripping the sides of the slider which have a big dip in them so you can grip it properly. As you slide the slider out, the connector comes off because the slider has an angled path which guides it out. The slider does have two little clips on the inside that stop it from coming out sometimes. I got it out once by pushing in the little holes that run along the slider to push the clips out of the way but eventually I figured out that if you wiggle it the right way it will just pop out. You get the driver side DME connector out the same way except it was a lot harder for me to do the right than to do the left for some reason.

Now that you have the big box connectors out, you can take the sliders that kept them in completely out of the DME connectors and put them aside. For the next step, you NEED the small flathead screwdriver. On the sides of the DME, the connectors slide out, but to get them out you need to take off the 1 clip for each one that holds them. The way to do this is first shine some light on the end of it so you can see the clip that I'm talking about. The walls around the sides of the connector are flat but at a certain point there is a small break and there is a piece that is pretty small and is actually a clip holding the edge of the connector from coming out. You just push the flathead into the space between that small clip and the connector and then push the end of the flat head up(if the clip is on top of the connector) to undo the clip and push the connector out a little bit all at the same time. then you can just use your finger nail to slide the connector out easily by pulling from the top and bottom of it towards you. None of the things you do with the flathead should take a lot of effort so if the connectors don't slide out easily, don't force it.

After you are all done getting the connectors out and hooking everything up, go back and look at the pictures and make sure all the wire colors match up. I made the mistake of attaching the white oem connector to the red jb3 connector, exactly what it said not to do in the online manual, but I didn't have it on hand so I didn't realize. Getting the big dme connectors back in is pretty easy if you are doing it right. You put the sliders back in but they have to be pulled out to a certain distance that you can feel if u pull back on them until they stop. Once its seated properly then you push the slider in and if everything is right the connector will start moving down and lock into place. If that doesn't happen or its too hard, check the seating and make sure you are doing it right as sometimes it can take a few wiggles to get it on right.

When you are putting the ecu cover back on, make sure that all the wires are folded down and out of the way so that you dont accidentally catch any of them with the hooks of the ecu cover. The ecu cover goes back on pretty easily once you get it in the right place. Make sure the 4 hooks on the dark plastic pieces are on the outsides of the connections on the bottom part of the ecu so that the seat properly. Once all 4 are in the right spots, you can just push down on the tops of the dark plastic in the corners and they will click in. Then you use the front and black sliders to lock it into place.

Getting the cowl back on properly was the hardest part for me. That's the part that is only held down by 2 bolts. You have to put it in at sort of a downward angle so that you can get the clips underneath the part that faces away from you to seat on the cushioning the runs along the edges of it. Make sure before you put the cowl in the the cushioning is pushed completely on. When the cowl goes on, it should basically wrap around that cushion pretty nicely. If you did it wrong then the air filter wont go back on. Make sure you have the flathead ready for getting the cable bundle back into the cowl as well as those clips are hard to get undone otherwise. Then make sure you push the rail with the other cables back in too and put the cover back on the rail if you took it off.

After all of that, everything else is pretty easy.

I definitely left out a lot of steps but just keep what I said in mind when you are doing the things I outlined.

Also, make sure you keep all your tools on a table or something away from the engine compartment so that you don't leave anything in there and then destroy your hood when you try to close it on a wrench or something.

Also, maybe make a checklist of the stuff you took off so you can be sure you put it back on before you start closing everything up.

Everything you do related to the install is only hard if you don't know what you are doing, after you figure out how everything works then its really not a big deal.

Good luck!
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