This is a read-only archive of the old Madabout Kitcars forum. New posts and replies are no longer possible, but every thread is still here to browse and read.
I been shopping for parts for my up coming swb250 build one of the things I have been looking at is ditching the dash in favour of the old school smith dial.
They now do a speedo that looks old school but runs off GPS so all you need form the car is 12v to power it. This could be a plus when you are also changing wheel sizes has any one dune anything similar.
A friend of mine did similar in a ibex land rover when he fitted 37" diameter tyres, it was a Bluetooth GPS module that linked to an android tablet in his dash that also had cameras linked to it front rear and sides for off roading, it worked well, last time I spoke to him was about fitting a Bluetooth OBD 2 sensor so he could access engine revs, temps,oil pressures etc on the same screen. I have a phone app that does speed distance etc Ed
Just checked on the android play store there are a few apps that will link a smart phone\ tablet via Bluetooth to the cars obd socket and gives you a dash view of speed revs torque fuel level fuel use all temps and many things, you could either hide a smart phone in the dash or just have a holder that you sit it in when driving thus enabling you to make the dash out of any dials you like the look of.
OBD2 doesn't fit older BMW as they had their own design which was a round 12 pin plug or similar. Shame because the OBD2 sensor I got cost about £5 delivered and works great on the other cars.
Also useful when buying / selling second hand cars as most punters don't reset engine faults / you can reset engine faults
jus been looking around at a few threads and found this one
My 1999 1.8 has both the round BMW connection under the bonnet and a 16pin OBDII port under the steering wheel.
I was assuming that lanyon's 1999 1.9 would have the same connections. If it only has the 20pin round connector it should work with a BMW to 16pin OBDII changer cable.
My system works on both ports.
and then this on amazon
Goliton S-EOLF-BMW20P 16 Pin Connector Diagnostic Adapter
6 quid any good
I think a BMW forum would be your best bet but if it could be done it would open up a whole new route of replica dash and dummy period dials, I have seen a few engine conversion cars running a tablet with all the info from the on boar computer on diff lock forum. Ed.
now thats one I did not think about my plan was to try to get a full working dash but old school style. I did not think about a dummy dash using the OBD2. cars here Friday and the kits going to be a while so may just have to have a play.
There is a chap Keith from the off road club he lives not far from you on the road down to Barnsley from penistone and his hobby was OBD things he runs mercs now but I am sure he had BMWs before, I will try get in touch with him. In fact I will be passing his at the weekend en route to whirlow.
If you where being really clever you could use the head up display feature some of the apps offer have phone concealed in the dash top and have it projected up to the windscreen, also the same phone would work as a GPS tracker for the car. You could always keep a cheapo tom tom in the dash for back up speedo. A 7" tablet concealed behind a fold down panel a la WCA infamous clock panel would be excellent and could be yourvsat nav and music system as well, I'm yet to find a camera system for android that would work as reverse camera which is a pity. Ed
Brother in law lives Whirlow green think we are going to the cricketers in dore, you are perfectly placed for some lovely driving roads then, he scares me daft in his 911 turbo most visits, last time we ended up going past chatsworth then through hollymoorside and we where only popping to Sainsbury's. Ed.