[Jim1985]

I know the E90 doesn’t have temperature gauges, sadly. The hidden menu seems a bit impractical to have to set it up every time I get in the car.

Ideally I’d like oil and water temperature so I can keep an eye on any impending disasters, but also so I can check temps on track, and check when the car is up to temp so I’m not harming it.

Are people using OBD readouts? Aftermarket gauges?

Ive also seen this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1314610937...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT



I’ve never heard of anything like this before – would this method be accurate? Surely it would only tell me the temp of the block… The more I read it the more I think its a gimmick.

Just wondering what people in the UK are doing.

Cheers!

Jim

[Aragorn30d]

If you can fit the sensor onto/into a water pipe then it should be pretty accurate.

I've been wondering what it takes to fit a cluster with an oil temperature guage to a car that doesnt have it.

Your car says 335d, doesnt it have an oil temperature guage already?

[Jim1985]

No oil gauge I'm afraid. No temperature gauges whatsoever. The only temps I can tell are the temperatures of the aircon and the weather outside

Didn't really want to have to be putting aftermarket gauges & senders in hoses etc.

[Dann]

If you aren't bothered by external temp then plug the wires from the external temp sensor into an oil temp sensor in the sump plug.

[Aragorn30d]

fair enough, i thaught the 335's had the oil temp on the dashboard in place of the MPG swing-o-meter.

I guess a scanguage type device is the easiest way to get yourself the coolant display with minimal effort.

[Jim1985]

Originally Posted by Dann

If you aren't bothered by external temp then plug the wires from the external temp sensor into an oil temp sensor in the sump plug.

Thats the most amazing idea I've ever heard of!!!

[Dann]

Originally Posted by Jim1985

Thats the most amazing idea I've ever heard of!!!

I nearly did it on my E36 but for some reason decided I liked knowing what the temp outside was.

[Stoatmaster]

Originally Posted by Aragorn30d

fair enough, i thaught the 335's had the oil temp on the dashboard in place of the MPG swing-o-meter.

My 330i MSport also has this. Would it not be feasible for you to retrofit it?

[Jim1985]

Possibly but the rev counter on the 335d obviously doesnt go as high...

[mob17]

Probably the best integrated gauge. Includes a sump plug for oil temp on 335Ds and also bhp/torque measurements.

http://www.insideperformance.de/en/d...3-und-m3_1389/

Bit pricey though.

[Leah1]

Bought one these for my focus rs years ago and now use it on the e90 plugs into obd port, shows 4 gauges at a time I currently have dpf, volt, water temp and boost.
http://www.scangauge.com

Works well and you can programme in extra gauge that aren't already stored with their xguage codes(load of number and letters to store and it shows that parameter)

[Jim1985]

Mob17 - Thats the one I keep perving on! I love that. Its a little tarty as I'm not too bothered about BHP & Torque etc but I do like the OEM-look of it.

Leah - Completely forgot about Scangauges! I nearly bought one a while ago. Pretty decent price and nice and discreetly sized also. Might look into adding an oil temp gauge also. This could be perfect!

[johmei]

Just get a OBD dongle that communicates via bluetooth or WiFi with your smartphone. Get a cheapo ELM327 dongle.

If Android go for Bluetooth and WiFi for iPhone (Apple restrict bluetooth hardware). There are a number of apps but I recommend the below.
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...ce.DashCommand
iPhone: https://itunes.apple.com/app/dashcom...ds/id321293183

[Digitalize]

Here's the best solution other than the performance wheel.

http://www.p3cars.com/bmw-3-series/p...tal-interface/

[Aragorn30d]

I think i might try to put something together myself.

We have small "Panel Pilot" guages at work which are programmable industrial displays which take two analog inputs and can display the data in various forms:

http://www.panelpilot.com/panelpilotm

I recon one would fit into the vent much like that p3 cars thing, but they only cost 50quid.

[Jim1985]

Panel pilot looks good! Might look into that. It would mean running aftermarket senders though...

I actually have Torque Pro on my android tablet. Thought it was ok, but the problem is having somewhere to put the tablet and also mounting my iPhone (if I was to get the wifi adaptor) securely with no suction cup (for trackdays)...

I'll have a think. Most tempted with a Scangauge to be honest.

[Aragorn30d]

Yeh but you need an aftermarket sensor for the oil regardless. VDO does a sensor which has a M12 thread on that will screw into the sump plug hole which looks quite good.

For the coolant you'd need to figure something out to mount an aftermarket sensor though, i've not looked too closely at that part yet. Potentially you might even get away with simply mounting a sensor on the outside of the cylinder head, but you'd need to try it and compare with the OBD output.

[Jim1985]

Ahhh sounds like a project is on the cards folk! Stay tuned!

[Dann]

I think that BMW use the oil level meter to measure the oil temp.
You may find that the sensor used in yours is the same as the 335i one and just doesn't have the wires connected or something.
Or its different and the 335i one could be fitted at

[Jim1985]

Aaaaaah genius! Will do more searching! I want this as OEM as possible

[Jim1985]

Had a bit of a brainwave! Just thinking about combining everyone's suggestions... If I was to somehow hijack the exterior temperature sensor wiring, and link that to a VDO sump plug oil temp sensor, then it would read on the centre display of the speedo. However I do quite a bit of late night driving and I find the exterior temperature display useful to know when a cold day has dropped to freezing temperature at night. So my thoughts were to leave both the existing exterior temp sensor in situ, and use a sump plug temp sensor, and wire in some sort of switch to enable me to simply swap between sensors. I'm not the greatest auto electrician but I know a man who is.
For those in the know, does this sound feasible?

[IanS100]

Originally Posted by Jim1985

I actually have Torque Pro on my android tablet. Thought it was ok, but the problem is having somewhere to put the tablet and also mounting my iPhone

I use Torque Pro on my Android Phone, alarms can be set for DFF & water temperature etc so Torque can run it in the background & if any values go out of range the alarm will go off. It may not be as pretty as a set of gauges, but it's very useful & it saves the distraction of having to constantly check them manually, and better still, no modification needed other than the BT OBD reader.