Alpine e30 progress/build thread
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Started making progress on the electrical/ECU side of things. I put together a bench flash harness so that I can start messing around with MS43:
I may have to make some changes/adjustments as there is a lot of conflicting information surrounding this topic, but this configuration seems to work for most people.
Basically, it consists of a 12v power supply, a female OBD2 pigtail, DME connectors 1 and 4 from the e46 engine harness that came off my motor, and a ground wire so I can get it to start in bootmode. I'll be using Galletto/JMGarageFlasher to connect to the DME and read/write partial and full flashes, and TunerPro to modify things like the redline, thermostat temps, play with fueling/cam timing, etc.. I didn't have a T15 torx screwdriver at home last night to remove the motherboard so I'm hoping to connect it up and give it a shot tonight.
Side note, I came across a good deal on a set of genuine BBS gold/blue center caps to replace the roundel center caps on my wheels! They have a really nice metallic blue background that looks almost black in low light and an awesome bright blue color in the sun.
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^This
They are retro and beautiful! -
those centercaps look fantastic.
roundels for sell?
#imhereforthescraps
Dan
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those centercaps look fantastic.
roundels for sell?
#imhereforthescraps
Probably! I was going to hang onto them in case I wanted to switch in-between the two, but once I popped the new ones in I doubt I'll ever do that haha.
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MS43 bench flash update!
Initially I was having problems getting anything to connect. I forgot to connect pin 4 of the female OBD2 plug (chassis ground) to ground on my harness so I corrected that, and with the help of some fantastic documentation on the ms43wiki, I used a hex editor to modify Galletto to accept the FTDI chip serial number of my USB to OBD2 cable. I am now able to connect to the ECU to Galletto and read the 64kb 'tune' files. I also brought the newly pulled files into TunerPro to poke around, but the XDF I am using is written for MS430056 and my ecu is currently MS430066 so none of the values align or make sense.
The EWS delete tune that I will be using is a full 512kb flash of the ECU that will also change it to version 0056. This full flash needs to be done in JMGarageFlasher, as Galletto cannot do the full 512kb files as far as I know. So far, I have not been able to get the program to connect at all. I believe at least part of the problem is the USB to OBD2 cable I am using, so I have ordered another that people seem to have had success with. That should come in sometime next week so we'll see if that makes a difference.
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With the new cable I was able to connect to the ECU in boot mode on JMGarageFlasher without any issues and read the full (512kb) file. Once I had a copy of the original software, I did a full write with the new MS430056 software from "daniel f." on e46fanatics/MS43wiki that has both EWS and checksum CHK5 disabled! Once that process was complete, I connected the ECU via Galletto and read the new partial flash, pulled it into TunerPro:
The software now shows up as version 0056 instead of the original 0066, meaning the flash was a success!! This is big progress towards getting this on the road. With this basic EWS delete the m54 should be able start, idle, and rev to a limited 5500rpm, which is all I need at this point.
I will, however, get a whole slew of trouble codes and errors, one of them being a 5500rpm 'limp mode' caused by a missing speed sensor signal. I can use TunerPro to remove this limiter (or get the ECU to accept the e30 speed sensor signal), as well as disable any unnecessary DTC's, force emissions readiness, etc. I'll only want to start messing with this after I get the car running though, that way I can eliminate screwing up the ECU if/when I'm trouble shooting.
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I have no idea what I just read
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I have no idea what I just read
It's all just a 0 or 1, how hard can it be...
Sent from my 831C using Tapatalk
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That seems pretty fun to learn how to do, im sure its child's play for someone like @HipMF
The one time I played around in TunerPro with a 413 DME bin file I was sad at how unintuitive things were and how confused it made me.
Its not possible to do live tuning on MS43 is it?? -
I have no idea what any of that means besides progress. I like progress. Carry on.
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🤹♀️SOLD BMW E36/7 Z3 - BMW M54B25 🧓SOLD BMW E10 2002 - BMW M10M05 -
Not really. I still don't know what Galletto or JMGarageFlasher is... assuming software...
Nah I think Galletto is those things for removing facial hair...
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That seems pretty fun to learn how to do, im sure its child's play for someone like @HipMF
The one time I played around in TunerPro with a 413 DME bin file I was sad at how unintuitive things were and how confused it made me.
Its not possible to do live tuning on MS43 is it??I don't believe anyone has figured out how unfortunately, that would be awesome if you could. You can do logging with something like RomRaider, and flashing a tune only takes a minute or two, so you could probably iterate pretty quickly!
Not really. I still don't know what Galletto or JMGarageFlasher is... assuming software...
Yup! They're both software (and free!). Galletto allows you to flash partial files without putting the ECU into boot mode. The partial file on ms43 is 64kb, and contains all the information/parameters related to actually running the engine like fuel and ignition maps, basically the 'tune'. When you use something like a shark injector, this is what it is modifying. JMGarageFlasher is also free software, but is specifically designed for doing a complete flash of MS43 (aka replacing ALL data on the chips) with a 512kb file. This allows you to completely erase and re-write the ECU's data. The 512kb file contains things like EWS, checksums (internal values that are invalidated when anything is modified, preventing you from starting the car), and a bunch of other stuff I don't understand. Thankfully, this full flash only needs to be done once, and then any tuning and modifying beyond that is done with Galletto and partial flash files.
There is a TON of information on ms43wiki.com, and then a few really helpful threads on e46fanatics. That's basically where I'm getting all the software, EWS delete file, and tutorials on how to do things. Its actually very interesting to dig into!
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When I was looking into Rom Raider the sample rate didnt appear conducive to accurate tuning. Still, OBD2 logging for diagnostic purposes is a very valuable thing and worth having OBD2 for. I just think I will end up with MS3 if I decide to sound the trumpets on my build.
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When I was looking into Rom Raider the sample rate didnt appear conducive to accurate tuning. Still, OBD2 logging for diagnostic purposes is a very valuable thing and worth having OBD2 for. I just think I will end up with MS3 if I decide to sound the trumpets on my build.
Hadn't really looked into it so that's good to know!
Trumpets would be awesome!
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Made some longer studs and got the e46 oil level sensor mounted in the e34 oil pan
Finished re-wrapping the e39 main engine harness and cleaned up the coil harness, got both installed as far as I can for now
I also started cleaning the engine bay a bit. I'm not going to paint it as I don't have a good way of going about it in my current garage, so a decent clean will have to do. Someday I'll pull everything apart and clean and paint it all properly. Planning to get started on the master cylinder/booster swap and ABS delete next week.
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