From digest.v7.n951 Thu Jan 15 12:24:52 1998
From: Hades00 <Hades00_at_aol.com>
Date: Thu, 15 Jan 1998 02:15:46 EST
Subject: <E36>: Valentine 1 fix

Hello all,

Here is the info on the 'fix' for the Valentine 1 cycling off/on problem common on the E36 cars. I've tried it today - works like a charm. It consists of a simple RC circuit that filters out the 2ms drop in voltage. The values that seem to work are 100microF for the capacitor and 5 ohms for the resistor. The capacitor has to be 25V polarized type.

Here is a rough diagram:

          12V   ---------------- R -----------------------------------
                                                    |
                                                    C
to Valentine 1
                                                    |
       Ground  -------------------------------------------------------

Figuring out the leads is a bit confusing. Valentine 1 uses the middle 2 conductors for power and the outside two for data. Also, like the phone cable, the power cable flips the pins 1-4, 2-3, 3-2, 4-1. Unless you know how to use a fluke meter, I don't recommend trying this 'fix.' I decided to do this, since I was going to add a remote ON/OFF switch anyway, and this was just an extra credit type of an excercise.

If anyone really wants detailed info, I can fax much nicer diagrams.

Rob Mudry
BMWCCA #135536
'96 328is with bug free V1

PS. Also, if anyone wants to read a rather lengthy write-up of my heated seats installation adventure, please email me. It turned out way to long to post on this digest.