From RonStygar_at_aol.com Thu Dec 13 08:37:07 2001
From: RonStygar_at_aol.com
Date: Thu, 13 Dec 2001 11:36:26 EST
Subject: Lets Hella horn my '01 M coupe
To: dale_at_unofficialbmw.com

Griot's Garage: www.griotsgarage.com sells a set of 118 dB Hella horns.

Been wanting to try these out for some time now. Robert Leidy posted that he ordered a set and I followed with my order. The stock horns are made by Hella too. They make use of a 300 Hz and 400 Hz unit. They weigh 14 ounces together and draw 14 amperes. The Griot ones are 300 Hz and 500 Hz. They weigh 1 pound 14 ounces and draw a little less than 14 amperes.

The stock setup switches a relay to the two horns. The output of the relay is split in to two connectors, one going to each horn. The horns are mounted right under the headlight on the passenger side.

Remove the headlight
http://www.unofficialbmw.com/e36/electrical/e36_z3_headlights.html and there they are.

The stock and new horns use the same mounting brackets as stock. This bracket is a sandwich of two on the stock horns and a sandwich of three on the new ones.
Remove the stock horns. 10 mm for each horn and 13 mm for the one bolt that holds both brackets. The new horns use 13 mm for both. Since the new horns are larger, you have to install the sandwiched brackets in a particular way to get the horns to clear the main mounting bracket and each other. The outer horn bracket goes on top and the inner horn bracket goes below. A .060 inch thick washer goes between the two brackets which lets the inner horn set lower. Another .060 inch thick washer goes between the inner horn and the bracket where it mounts which lets it set and additional .060 inch lower.

Not having the BMW matching connectors (will look for the right ones), I used BMW male pin, part number 61 13 1 376 143 and spade connector, part number 61 13 1 362 868. I made up 3.5 inch jumper wires which go between the horns and the stock connectors.

As shown in the above pic, I added shrink tubing to the connector and hot glued the wire end to secure the assembly.

The horns are definitely louder. Beep Beep!!!

Ron_at_unofficialbmw.com, FLI BMW, FLY BMW, Marlborough, CT
http://www.unofficialbmw.com/ronstygar.html
Unofficial RS/SS bender/shortener/installer +