BMW E36 Blog

I’m almost sure that everyone has seen the new cars that turn their lights on automatically when they go inside a dark tunnel or some other dark places. For me, I’ve seen this too many times and I have to admit that this option is very useful and at the same time very cool to add for our BMW cars. The only problem with this idea (you may call it a wish if you like) as far as I know is that our cars are old and this option was not available at their production time. Taking this into account, I was wondering how hard it would be to implement such an option without crying at the front door of BMW engineers. I’ve a little background about electronics and I believe this is definitely something that can be done, not by me maybe, but I’m sure it can be done.

To prove this, I’ve made some digging for information about light sensors and after overwhelming results about motion detectors and such stuff, I managed to find three sample videos that can prove this is possible and I believe it’s even easy (well, let’s not get carried away, let’s say "not hard" :D).

Take a look at the following videos:

The way I see it, this electronic circuit should:

1. Work at 12-Volts: It should rely on the car’s battery to run
2. It can be overridden: I think A tri-switch would be sufficient for this, hmmm . . . where can I get such a switch?

3. It should have some delay in response: This is important to avoid light flickering.

I hope you like this idea. Now I will need to try and find some specific details on how to implement it, so please stay tuned. I will keep you posted.

BMW E36 Blog: The Ultimate E36 Information Source.

I’ve been looking for a diagnosis tool for BMW E36 cars and while doing so, I’ve heard a lot about different diagnosis tools and about how weak and inefficient they are at spotting problems and running diagnosis correctly on BMW cars (BMW E36 cars in particular). Such tools usually give you wrong diagnosis which will end up with you paying too much money to change parts that do not need changing at all. Today, I found this Carsoft diagnosis tool (now called "BMW Ultimate Pro 1.0") and it seems to be a very good and reliable tool.

I know that you may be relying on your OBC Check button to do some simple diagnosis for your car, but if you’re looking for a very deep and detailed diagnosis tool. I think the Carsoft diagnosis tool is the TOOL for you. It can run diagnosis for different modules of your BMW E36 like Digital Petrol Engine Control Unit (DME diagnosis),  Digital Diesel Engine Control Unit (DDE diagnosis), Automatic Gear Box Control Unit (EGS diagnosis), ABS/ASC (Brake & Traction diagnosis), AIRBAG diagnosis, HKL (Air Conditioning diagnosis), BC/MID (On Board Computer/Multi Information Display diagnosis), IC (Instrument Cluster diagnosis), LCM/CCM (All Light & Check Control Modules diagnosis), LOD (This is a really long list of diagnosis 😆 ), ZKE/ZVM (Central Body Electronics diagnosis), EWS (Immobilize System diagnosis), CVM (Cabrio Soft Top diagnosis) plus other diagnosis for newer model of BMW cars. If you want to read a full-review of this tool, go here.

Here’s some sample screenshots of the tool in action:

And these are some diagnosis results:

And here’s some photos of the Carsoft Diagnosis tool package:

I’ve tried to find out how to order the Carsoft diagnosis tool and I ended up on this website, but they are requesting you to fly to Belgium to get your tool 😆 LOOOL!. I’m sure these guys are just kidding.  Anyway the price of the tool is $120 (shipping included), but I will have to find out how I can order it. So, stay tuned, I hope I will be back soon to you with more information about how to order this tool online.

BMW E36 Blog: The ultimate E36 information source.

I’ve found this BMW E36 and I thought the car is looking good, but I felt like something is missing from this car. I can see that the car owner did a good job in maintaining it, but I feel that it still needs a little bit more work and it will become a really sweet looking car. So I decided to post it here and see what you all think of it and how you can modify it in three steps to make it look fantastic. Remember that after applying these three steps, you have to be impressed with the car, not just saying ok … It looks better now, isn’t it.

Take a look at the photos first, then read below to know how I would modify this car:

For me, I think this car will need these three updates that will make it look great:

1. A Lowering Kit: I believe that lowering this car is a must and that you will never get a perfect looking BMW without lowering it.

2. 17-Inch Rims: I would choose the AC Schnitzer Rims.

3. Tinted windows: Right and Left windows will need to be tinted and I would go with a light smoke degree. Not the limo black one.

I can think of 3 more upgrades to the car and no, the M3 body kit is not one of them. I know that it is easier to make a BMW E36 look great with a M3 body kit, but you have to choose something else. Let’s hear your opinions.

BMW E36 Blog: The ultimate E36 information source.

If you like to fix your BMW E36 electrical issues which normally happen very often and you don’t like to visit electricians almost all the time, then you must have the BMW E36 fuse box diagram. These diagrams can come in handy especially if your window regulator relay goes bad. The fuse box diagram is usually found under the cover of your fuse box, but unfortunately, it’s not always there. That happens because of two possible reasons. The first, is that it has fallen off and you didn’t notice it or maybe you got the car like this. The second reason is because you don’t have a fuse box cover 😆 (like me before I bought mine).

So, if you don’t have that fuse diagram then this post was made for you. I have found the fuse box layouts for both BMW E36 325i and the BMW E36 318is.

This is the 325i fuse box diagram:

And this is the relay diagram from the Bentley Manual:

And this is the 318is diagram:

I suggest that you either bookmark this article for later reference or at least print it and keep a copy of it inside your car and maybe stick it inside your fuse box cover. Have fun!

BMW E36 Blog: The ultimate E36 information source.

I have always enjoyed watching the BMW E36 videos in the race track. I’ve posted Aggressive BMW E36 325i in the race track before and many other videos. It seems I can’t get enough of that. Today, I’ve found a BMW E36 M3 Evo racing against a Porsche 911 turbo. Although the BMW E36 M3 was behind the Porsche almost all the time, but the race was really cool and you keep telling the BMW E36 driver … "come on man let’s beat that silly Porsche" LOL! 😆 . I don’t know about you, but for me, that’s what I was trying to say to the BMW E36 driver.

Take a look and let’s see how you like it:-

BMW E36 Blog: The Ultimate E36 Information Source.