Installed my new Ultra-Gauge

[mackeroni]

Now I am a happy camper. My new Ultra-Gauge was ultra easy to install, and for only $80, I can see my coolant temp, battery voltage and 61 other outputs straight from my OBDII port.

[iminhell1]

Orange?

[rowsdower]

Does it show oil pressure?

[mackeroni]

Originally Posted by iminhell1

Orange?

Blue. Display can be made orange by applying an orange film. See Google.

[mackeroni]

Originally Posted by rowsdower

Does it show oil pressure?

No. Ultragauge only shows values that are available via the OBDII interface. Here are all the possible parameters.

[captain slowly]

looks good. Which mount did you use to hold it on the vent?

[mackeroni]

Originally Posted by captain slowly

looks good. Which mount did you use to hold it on the vent?

I used the Kenu Airframe Pro Car Holder for Mobile Phones. Perfect fit. Allows access to buttons on back of the Ultragauge even while installed.

Ultragauge sells a wide selection of mounts. I wanted something stable, yet removable. There are lots of other phone holder options that should work as well.

[captain slowly]

Originally Posted by mackeroni

I used the Kenu Airframe Pro Car Holder for Mobile Phones. Perfect fit. Allows access to buttons on back of the Ultragauge even while installed.

Ultragauge sells a wide selection of mounts. I wanted something stable, yet removable. There are lots of other phone holder options that should work as well.

Thanks! I too am toying with the idea of being able to monitor water temp, and this looks like a good solution. Only issue for me is, it'll make me even more paranoid as it'll be just another thing I can't take my eyes off of.

[iminhell1]

I'll bet the other gauge version could show oil pressure, the MX 1.3. But it's not plug in and all the bmw spec stuff shows up. You have to snoop for them.

[chris_flies]

Our cars do not have a fine-reading (so to speak) oil pressure sensor, instead we have an oil pressure switch, which will read 1 when oil pressure is good, and read 0 when you're really in a deep hole.

[rowsdower]

Originally Posted by chris_flies

Our cars do not have a fine-reading (so to speak) oil pressure sensor, instead we have an oil pressure switch, which will read 1 when oil pressure is good, and read 0 when you're really in a deep hole.

Interesting. Do you know if that is the sensor itself or just how the computer interprets and uses the signal?

The reason I asked about this is I've always found oil pressure to be a better indicator of engine temperature. Coolant warms up faster than oil, so you may see that you're up to temp but the oil may still be too cold to rev up to redline safely. Having oil pressure on the dash would be great but if it isn't easy to get set up, then coolant temp will have to do.

[WDE82]

Yeah 128s don't have an oil temperature sensor either I think. If we do you can't get to it through the OBDII port. You'd need to directly tap the CANBUS wires. I have an Arduino with CANBUS shield that I meant to use with my E46 to try things. I guess I can start working on this with my E82.

[chris_flies]

Originally Posted by WDE82

Yeah 128s don't have an oil temperature sensor either I think. If we do you can't get to it through the OBDII port. You'd need to directly tap the CANBUS wires. I have an Arduino with CANBUS shield that I meant to use with my E46 to try things. I guess I can start working on this with my E82.

We do have an oil temperature sensor, I have it in my Carly dashboard, works great. The engine takes so long to warm up, but the water-oil heat exchanger (the oil filter housing area) keeps those temperatures stable.

To add a proper oil pressure sensor, I believe you can get a feeder block that goes where the oil pressure switch is (on the back side of the filter housing, towards the intake), which then effectively is a Y-connector which you can screw the oil pressure switch into, and then an aftermarket oil pressure sensor can be added. I think this is how it works...

Be advised, though, my knowledge on this is a tad lacking...

[WDE82]

Do you happen to know the canbus message to request oil temp?

[chris_flies]

Originally Posted by WDE82

Do you happen to know the canbus message to request oil temp?

No, unfortunately I don't, but I do know that there is a parameter on carly for oil temperature that works...

[desertman123]

Originally Posted by chris_flies

No, unfortunately I don't, but I do know that there is a parameter on carly for oil temperature that works...

I use this all the time!

I was surprised to see how long it took for the oil to get to 200+F

[andysantoro]

So 128s get a water temp gauge in the cluster instead of the oil temp gauge in the 135s? Wonder what that indicates about the turbo engines stressing the oil more. I’d like to have both, and oil pressure. I do notice that the oil temp rises much more quickly in my 135 vs my E36 325. My 325 never gets above 200F.

[rowsdower]

Originally Posted by andysantoro

So 128s get a water temp gauge in the cluster instead of the oil temp gauge in the 135s? Wonder what that indicates about the turbo engines stressing the oil more. I’d like to have both, and oil pressure. I do notice that the oil temp rises much more quickly in my 135 vs my E36 325. My 325 never gets above 200F.

No, the 128i has no temperature gauge. You just take a guess at when your engine is warm... "ultimate driving machine" with no temperature gauge and no dipstick, ha! One of my only gripes with my 128i.

[chris_flies]

Originally Posted by rowsdower

No, the 128i has no temperature gauge. You just take a guess at when your engine is warm... "ultimate driving machine" with no temperature gauge and no dipstick, ha! One of my only gripes with my 128i.

The lack of a dipstick drives me up the walls! My friends fall over laughing when I say that I don't have one in my engine bay. Ugh...
The lack of a water temp guage doesn't bother me, but the lack of an oil temp guage does, and the lack of any oil pressure reading bothers me even more!

[WDE82]

Meh honestly a dipstick is a bit overrated now that I've had this car for a year. You don't change your oil in this car based on how it looks and nobody does that with any car in reality either. Inspect it when you drain it if you want to. The level can actually be checked more often with the sensor than without. It's simply a non issue.

[Michdisel]

Originally Posted by rowsdower

No, the 128i has no temperature gauge. You just take a guess at when your engine is warm... "ultimate driving machine" with no temperature gauge and no dipstick, ha! One of my only gripes with my 128i.

There is a temperature (water) gauge but it reads in Celsius. You have to put in the codes. It's a pain bcuz you have to put in the codes every time you start the car. Kinda get use to it once you have it down. So the normal temp will read between 90c to 115c. (195F to 240F)

[rowsdower]

Originally Posted by Michdisel

There is a temperature (water) gauge but it reads in Celsius. You have to put in the codes. It's a pain bcuz you have to put in the codes every time you start the car. Kinda get use to it once you have it down. So the normal temp will read between 90c to 115c. (195F to 240F)

What codes? Can you elaborate, as I was not aware that a temp gauge was available.