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Which ECU e46 330i


Jespermaki

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Hi, i'm currently in progress of turboconverting my 2000 e46 330i (m54b30) and thinking about how to solve the engine management part of my project. I first looked into tuning the stock ECU/DME but a standalone system seems like a so much more flexible and better choice in some ways.

I want the stock instrument cluster and most of the other functions to work. From what i've learned reading my choices are either running the stock ECU/DME parallell to the standalone or making the standalone communicate with the cluster.

So basically I'm wondering if anyone here has any experience with this car and setup? 

How does one go about running the stock ECU parallell to the standalone? How about errorcodes, checklights and such? 

And what ECU would be the better choice?

Edited by Jespermaki
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For a dedicated ECU for your E46 I recommend using the G4+ Fury ECU.

http://dealers.linkecu.com/G4PlusFury

The G4+ Fury has 6 ignition outputs, an onboard e-throttle controller, and an onboard wideband O2 sensor controller.

If you decide to do a piggyback installation I recommend the G4+ Kurofune. This ECU is designed specifically for piggyback installations. It has four analog output channels to simulate sensor to the OEM ECU as well as many other useful features.

http://dealers.linkecu.com/kurofune

 

The E46 uses CAN bus communication between the ECU and the instrument cluster (dash). If you remove the OEM ECU this functionality will need to be replicated in the Link ECU. I have heard that some of the Mini R53 CAN is the same as the E46 CAN, and we have reverse engineered the R53 Mini CAN and have it available in our ECUs. However this has not been tested on an E46 by us.

Does your E46 have a manual or auto gearbox?

Scott

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If I was to use the kurofune then the stock ECU would still be controlling e-gas and vanos? (The m54 is as you probably know double vanos) Since I didnt see any support for those on the specs for the kurofune.

When doing a piggyback you would wire the sensors to the Link and then from the outputs of the Link to the ECU? Does wiring The sensors to both ecu's work? For an exempel keeping the stock wiring and also running new wires from the sensors to the Link?

My thought behind this being that i'd guess that there's more than 4 sensors needed in both the Link and stock ECU (camshaftsensors, crank trigger, TPS, IAT, engine temp and so on)?

So I suppose if the Mini can is the same you could use that but the rest would have to be figured out somehow (not the easiest task I guess?)

It's a manual.

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The Kurofune is able to VANOS control, but not E-throttle control. 

Generally when doing a piggyback install you will share as many sensors between the OEM ECU and Link ECU as possible. The output from the sensor will be split to both ECUs (parallel). For sensors that require a pull-up resistor (temp sensors and some hall sensors) the OEM will provide the pullup resistor internally and the Link ECU's pullup resistor for the relevant channel should be set to off. The OEM ECU may or may not be happy to share a sensor, and often trying is the only way to really know.

The Analog outputs of the Kurofune are useful for simulating sensors to the OEM ECU and do not need to tell the truth. For example, the OEM ECU may expect the wideband O2 data to be in a certain range at all times, but for the sake of performance you may want the lambda reading to be richer than this reading. You can use an analog output to tell the OEM ECU that the lambda reading is within the required range, even when it is not. You can do something similar with simulating an air flow meter reading.

The outputs (ignition, fuel, VANOS, etc) will be controlled by one ECU only. Either the Link or the OEM.

Yes, you could use the Mini CAN mode, but anything that is different for the E46 would need to be worked out. Mostly you would be concerned at keeping the factory dash working? To reverse engineers the CAN bus data takes time, thinking, and a CAN capture tool.

The manual transmission makes things easier.

Scott

 

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Well the throttle i suppose could be converted to a regular wire one, but how would the OEM ECU react to that? I'm guessing converting to wire would cause me to not have cruise control, which is ok, but how about tractioncontrol? Does it use the TB somehow? Or Does it lower the ignition when loosing traction?

Ah, now I'm starting to understand, nicely explained thank you.

The part of needing to figure out the rest, which I do not have the equipment nor experience to do myself is what makes me prefer letting the OEM ECU control IT if possible. Yes keeping the dash working is almost a must. Thing is I'm planning on trying to sneak through inspection here (Sweden) and to be able to do that the dash needs to be working, it has to turn on the warninglights before starting as it does originally and the rpm and speed need to work etc. I would however not be crying if i'd loose the cruisecontrol, the "average consumption" meter and such. It needs to mostly seem like stock, it also needs to pass the co2 and hc controls (not sure about the words in english).

I want the climate to work (My car does not have the digital display which i think is the one called climate, it has what i guess is just ac. If that makes anything easier)

Thanks alot for the help so far!

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I have wired a Thunder into a e46  with m52tub, (made PnP adapter: https://www.facebook.com/289577384506124/photos/pb.289577384506124.-2207520000.1484917732./774749935988864/?type=3&theater )  this is almost the same engine as m54, dual vanos and DBW.  

The "mini" canbus mode works for the dash and AC/climate.

 But you get error on the DSC/ASC, From what I read on some forums we should be able to "fool" DSC into working also but I have not got around to it.  Is quite time consuming to figure out Canbus.

Have not tried to find the cruise control buttons in the canbus yet either, but that should be possible also.

Warning lights I am not sure about in the Mini mode, but these can be controlled over the canbus in user mode.

The reason for using the Tunder was because the owner wanted to monitor lot of stuff.

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integrale8v, thanks for posting your experience. Good to know the dash does have some functionality using the Mini CAN mode.

Jespermaki, if you go for a piggy back type install using the Kurofune I would let the OEM ECU continue controlling the e-throttle, and then have the Kurofune control the injectors, ignition coils, boost, and VANOS. 

The Kurofune is able to do traction control so long as it has access to data for a driven and non-driven wheel speed. It does this by retarding to ignition timing and by either a fuel or ignition cut. E-throttle is not required.

Installing an after market ECU onto a car with CAN bus can be a challenge, and if you don't have the tools or experience to resolve the problems you could end up unhappy with the result. It may be worth trying to find someone local to you who has experience with CAN bus and also a CAN bus sniffer/capture tool. This way, with their help, the chances of success are a lot higher.

Scott

 

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Actually been in an email conversation with someone who sells Link and has a dyno around here. He mentioned that in some 330 m54s that he'd come across where the OEM ECU controlled the e-throttle the OEM ECU had been doing strange stuff, cutting the throttle for an example. Anything you are aware of?

Yeah I'm not gonna get in to the CAN bus stuff without the knowhow, which is also the reason why piggyback seems more achievable. I'll see what I end up doing and return here if I have any new questions, great feedback here btw!

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Actually been in an email conversation with someone who sells Link and has a dyno around here. He mentioned that in some 330 m54s that he'd come across where the OEM ECU controlled the e-throttle the OEM ECU had been doing strange stuff, cutting the throttle for an example. Anything you are aware of?

I have heard that some OEM ECUs will shut the e-throttle if they detect certain faults or conditions, for example if the vehicle is doing more than 180 km/h. I'm not aware of any conditions for this particularly for BMWs.

Scott

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