Alpine e30 progress/build thread
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157.7k
Did some playing around with the ECU last night. On a stock e46 (ms43), there are two functions called 'driver wish input correction' and 'throttle request correction'. My understanding of them is that they limit the change rate of the throttle body depending on various inputs including engine load and RPM, vehicle speed (allows the ecu to calculate which gear you are in), clutch and brake switch, etc. It basically functions like a software based CDV by damping driver inputs. On the the ms43 wiki, they break down the parameters that control these functions and which ones to modify to disable them both completely. I made the updates and flashed the new file to the spare ECU, swapped it into the car and took it for a spin.
All I have to say is: Ho. Lee. Sh!t.
Since day 1 this car has been a little difficult to drive smoothly from a shifting/starting off perspective and I pretty much attributed it to a stiff clutch and not being Ayrton Senna. It has also been somewhat slow to rev considering the lightweight flywheel. Rev-matching took a huge throttle input compared to my old e36 with the stock dual-mass. This has been completely resolved. It is way more responsive, revs very quickly, shifting and general driving is way smoother. It's like a whole different car!! I am thinking that because my ECU is missing the speed sensor input, clutch/brake switch, and anything else that comes in through the CAN bus, that it has been defaulting to the most conservative settings. Disabling both systems completely allows it to function similar to a cable throttle. I did accidentally re-set some of the DTC suppression so I get a check engine light again, so I'll have to go back and re-do that.
And because walls of text are less fun than pictures, here is a 'meh' phone photo from my drive last night. My phone really struggles with low light. Maybe someday I'll get a nice camera.
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that's great news!
want to go back the museum for better pictures? Ill bring my camera.
Dan
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That is so cool about the throttle mapping change! Is there a limited number of times you can write a file to the DME? For the MSS54 you are limited to 30 I believe. Once you hit the limit the ecu is locked and has to be “virginized”. Just mentioning it in case MS43 is similar so you can plan your DME writes wisely.
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that's great news!
want to go back the museum for better pictures? Ill bring my camera.
I would love to sometime! I'd have to clean it up a bit before that haha
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that's great news!
want to go back the museum for better pictures? Ill bring my camera.
If I didn't have a small oil drip, and the car wasn't as low to maneuver Milwaukee roads, I'd also like to bring mine down for some Milwaukee back drop pictures.
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That is so cool about the throttle mapping change! Is there a limited number of times you can write a file to the DME? For the MSS54 you are limited to 30 I believe. Once you hit the limit the ecu is locked and has to be “virginized”. Just mentioning it in case MS43 is similar so you can plan your DME writes wisely.
Interesting, never heard of a definite limit but it sounds like the counter can be enabled/disabled somehow? From what I am reading, the complete EWS delete flash I started with defaults to having the counter disabled so hopefully I don't run into that issue. I think I'm only at 6 or so writes total between the two ECU's I have, but I guess if I hit some kind of limit I will find out the answer haha.
If I didn't have a small oil drip, and the car wasn't as low to maneuver Milwaukee roads, I'd also like to bring mine down for some Milwaukee back drop pictures.
Socially distant WIBIMMERS photoshoots!
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you dont need to clean the car for night shots!
If I didn't have a small oil drip, and the car wasn't as low to maneuver Milwaukee roads, I'd also like to bring mine down for some Milwaukee back drop pictures.
top 4 in the nation, baby. https://www.teletracnavman.com/resources/resource-library/infographics/worst-maintained-roads-infographic
lol head over anyways!
Dan
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you dont need to clean the car for night shots!
top 4 in the nation, baby. https://www.teletracnavman.com/resources/resource-library/infographics/worst-maintained-roads-infographic
lol head over anyways!
41 to 94 and getting off by the art museum isn't too bad. It's pretty much everything else.
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41 to 94 and getting off by the art museum isn't too bad. It's pretty much everything else.
Can confirm. I live in the Van Buren/State St. area when at school and most of those roads are horrendous. 6" holes (generally propagated from pavement seams) are not unheard of on side streets.
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its decided then, e30 shoot at the museum. what night? i have nothing going on, you know quarantine and all.
Dan
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I did accidentally re-set some of the DTC suppression so I get a check engine light again, so I'll have to go back and re-do that.
Turns out they were just old codes that somehow made it through the flash. They must be stored somewhere else. Cleared and never came back!
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157.8k
Had a few moments to work on the car over the weekend, so I finally wired in a pair of early e36 window switches and pigtails. Got them wired in and both the switches are bad. Nice!
One switch only works sometimes, the other only goes down. The behavior follows the switches when swapped so my wiring is good at least. I took them apart and they look a little corroded. Going to try and clean the contacts and re-solder any joints. If that fails I'll just have to get some new ones.
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157.8k
Had a few moments to work on the car over the weekend, so I finally wired in a pair of early e36 window switches and pigtails. Got them wired in and both the switches are bad. Nice!
One switch only works sometimes, the other only goes down. The behavior follows the switches when swapped so my wiring is good at least. I took them apart and they look a little corroded. Going to try and clean the contacts and re-solder any joints. If that fails I'll just have to get some new ones.
Try cleaning the contacts up, I have had intermittent e30 window switches and cleaning fixed them. The full current goes through the switch and the arcing pits the contacts.
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Try cleaning the contacts up, I have had intermittent e30 window switches and cleaning fixed them. The full current goes through the switch and the arcing pits the contacts.
Same, You should be able to just clean them to revive them
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Cleaning the contacts worked great. I was able to get a thin strip of sandpaper between each contact in the switch to clean up any pitting and corrosion then sprayed them down with CRC contact cleaner to remove any oils/debris. Each direction went from many ohms (one was almost 200) to under 3 when closed. One of the contacts looks like it had actually gotten hot at some point so there was definitely a ton of resistance there.
it turns out the write-up I followed for the wiring was wrong and my switches are backwards lol. That's what I get for not checking the pinout. After daily driving e36's for a number of years it felt wrong immediately, so I'll flip it around eventually.
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One of the contacts looks like it had actually gotten hot at some point so there was definitely a ton of resistance there.
I cleaned up my window switches this winter and I had the same thing. A couple of the contacts were black. Not sure what would have caused that, but it was a little unsettling seeing that when I took them apart.
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