Adding European Parking Lights to a U.S. E36 3-Series

UnofficialBMW.com Adding European Parking Lights to a U.S. E36 3-Series

ADDING “EUROPEAN” PARKING LIGHTS
TO A U.S. E36 3-SERIES

This is the first of a two part article on adding an OBC to an E36 3-series. The second part explains how to add the OBC. It is both natural and convenient to combine these two projects. The car needs a different turn stalk if you wish to use it to control the OBC, and much of the preliminary work for changing the turn stalk can be applied toward adding the OBC.

Roads in the United States, like roads anywhere, see their share of curious inconsistencies. For example, when a road crew ends a hard day's work and has to leave a hazard, they generally set out a few blinkers to warn night time drivers. Yet when someone parks a car on or by the road overnight, they rarely, if ever, leave on any lights. How can they? The “parking lights” on most American cars would completely flatten a warm, fully-charged battery within a day. In practice, cold and use considerably reduce a battery's useful capacity. At best, leaving lights on would abuse the battery, and so, that triggers a warning buzzer.

Owners of European and older American BMW's, however, know another sort of parking light that differs from the U.S. flavor, a true Parklicht rather than the power-hungry Standlicht just mentioned. On these cars, clicking the turn stalk beyond the left or right turn position, switches on just the left or right side marker lights. With half as many lamps burning, the battery lasts twice as long and the car can be left safely lit for the night.

The remains of this system continue in the park and tail lights of current models as redundant, split circuits for the left and right sides of the car (see the ETM, section 6314.0). U.S. market cars just get a turn stalk and an ignition switch without parking light positions or contacts. That is easily changed. This article explains how to retrofit (one-sided) parking lights to an E36 3-series. Most of the preparations are useful in another project to be presented next month, retrofitting an on-board computer. (The latter project, in fact, sparked this one.)

The information in this article has been segregated into two parts: a set of specific instructions for retrofitting parking lights and a collection of more generally useful notes that explain the instructions. The notes are numbered, and the instructions cite them as they become useful as: $1.1, $1.2, ....

PARTS LIST

Quant.	Item
1	European-market turn stalk with parking light switches (see $1.1)
3	Comb terminal contact sleeves for 0.75-1.0 mm² wire, BMW P/N 61 13 1 387 142
3	2.5 mm round male contacts for 0.5-1.0 mm² wire, BMW P/N 61 13 1 376 191
3	short pieces of 0.75 mm² wire, six feet each will suffice: one grey/violet, one grey/yellow and one red/white ($1.3)

PROCEDURE

1. Terminate one end of each wire listed in Parts List with a 2.5 mm round male contact ($1.4).

2. Read out any DME fault codes and then disconnect the battery. BMW recommends that you read the codes but this is not crucial.

3. Remove the driver's kick panel and knee protection ($1.7).

4. Lift and unclip the black terminal/relay block on the left wall above the driver's foot rest. Rotate the block so that you can add to its wires. X1079

5. Remove the steering wheel and airbag ($1.8).

6. Replace the original turn stalk with the “European” one ($1.2).

7. Find the white, male, 12 position connector (X32) that mates with the turn stalk connector (Fig. 5) and remove it from the steering column connector carrier. Look for two central hooks that are pointed outward, away from each other. Squeeze the hooks together and the connector should slide down and off.

8. Free the connector's contact retainer and add the three wires in the following positions ($1.5):


X32 pin 2	grey/violet (GR/VI)
X32 pin 7	grey/yellow (GR/GE)
X32 pin 12	red/white (RT/WS)

9. Route the red/white wire to the left wall terminal/relay block. Add it to junction X1079, the comb terminal with other red/white wires ($1.11).

10. Run the grey/yellow and grey/violet wires to the fuse box ($1.12). Add them to junctions X245 and X246, the comb terminals with the same two wire colors. You will find them somewhere in the rat's nest.

11. Reinstall the steering wheel and airbag ($1.9).

12. Make sure no one is in the car and reconnect the battery.

13. Test the parking lights. Push the turn stalk past the left turn position until it clicks; then let it return to the left turn position. Verify the left parking lights come on. Return the stock to the center position (turn signal off) and confirm the lights turn off. Do the same to test the right side parking lights.

14. When you are satisfied everything works, put the fuse box back together, clip the terminal/relay block back on to the left wall, remount the four steering column connectors (end of $1.2), reinstall the knee protection, the diagnostic connector, the driver's kick panel with chimes and the steering column shrouds.

One final note. Because you have made a direct connection from the battery to the turn stalk switches, should you switch on the ignition with the street side parking lights on, those lights and the turn signals will operate simultaneously. You will appear to have a couple burned out lights and that you wish to pull out. To avoid this, think of the heroic service your battery has been doing and switch off your parking lights as you settle into the car. Congratulations and make good use of your new parking lights.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank Jim Conforti (Bonneville Motor Works) and Wolfgang Wegmann (Bobrink GmbH) for help with part numbers and parts.

NOTES

1.1 FINDING THE RIGHT TURN STALK

There are at least eight different 3-series turn stalks: for North America and elsewhere, for cars with normal and leather covered steering wheels and for use with and without an OBC. Cars built for North America use a simplified turn stalk; cars for Europe and elsewhere have a stalk that supports one-sided parking lights. The U.S. parts CD may not list the latter or may list OBC-compatible turn stalks only for the 328i and M3. Use whatever fits and functions. To add European-style parking lights, you will of course need a European-market turn stalk which you may need to order through an importer. The turn stalk that fit the author's U.S. '96 318is with OBC and leather covered steering wheel was BMW P/N 61 31 8 360 909.

1.2 CHANGING THE TURN STALK
stalk_connectors

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Remove the steering wheel and airbag ($1.8). Remove the plastic screw and screw anchor that fasten the upper steering column shroud (as with the lower shroud in $1.8). Carefully unclip the shroud. You need not remove it.

Follow the turn stalk wiring alongside the steering column, down a white cable tray to a cluster of four connectors mounted on a carrier. Unclip the carrier from the steering column, squeeze open the locking ears at both sides of the connectors and unplug them. Cut the four black cable ties and free the turn stalk's wiring.

Note the two locking levers at the base of the new turn stalk. Squeeze those levers on the old one, slide it out and slide in the new turn stalk. Plug the four connectors back in.

After you have tested everything, remount the connectors on their carrier and clip the carrier to the steering wheel column. Dress the wiring back into the cable tray and install four new cable ties.

1.3 USING THE RIGHT COLORED WIRE

If it is at all possible, try to use the wire sizes and colors the instructions specify. A wire's color is the only thing that identifies a comb terminal junction ($1.11) and it is usually the first thing that identifies a contact position. A wiring harness from another BMW can be an excellent source for the right wires. The author used a superseded harness pulled from a '95 5er. You can also use wire in solid colors and add stripes with opaque paint markers. You might test the stripes to see if they are durable and can not catch fire.

1.4 TERMINATING 2.5 MM ROUND CONTACTS

The plastic connectors in recent BMW's use proprietary, high reliability contacts. These contacts along with the contact retainers inside the connectors have largely eliminated certain electrical problems that plague older cars. In an emergency, simpler and less expensive substitutes may work. After a while, however, they may prove just the ticket to relive a dark chapter in automotive history. The BMW contacts are worth the expense.

Unfortunately, they also use a special BMW crimping tool. An ordinary crimper will likely work, but to be sure of a reliable connection, it is a good idea to solder each contact after crimping the bare wire and before crimping the insulation.

1.5 ADDING 2.5 MM ROUND CONTACTS TO PLASTIC CONNECTORS

The connectors have an inner contact retaining shell which you must free before you can add contacts. The shell is held by four or, on larger connectors, six hooks that pop into windows along the top broad edges of the connector. To free the shell, pull apart the long sides of the outer shell until the hooks click and slide past each other. If that doesn't work, slide two small jeweler's screwdrivers alongside two opposed hooks at one end of the connector. Gently spread out the outer shell and lever the inner shell upward until both hooks are out. Do the same to raise the other end. Then slide the inner shell up the wires.

You can now add wires. The contact locations are numbered and can be read with a bright light. To add a wired contact, find the correct position, thread the wire through the retaining shell and then click the contact into the contact shell. Remember: through the retainer; then into the shell. Don't forget or you may have to beg your dealer to lend you their contact removal tool.

1.6 REMOVING INTERIOR PANELS AND TRIM STRIPS

Most are held with screws or various kinds of plastic fasteners, usually studs or clips. Check that there are no other panels or strips overlapping the one you wish to remove. Close inspection will make clear what first needs removing . Pull back any weather stripping and remove or release all obvious fasteners, for example, screws, knobs and slotted turn locks. If the panel or trim strip does not easily come off, check if there is another fastener or if a flange or cutout is hung on something underneath.

If that does not solve the mystery, chances are there are one or more hidden clips, hooks or fasteners. These are usually at the edges of panels. Often they can be released by pulling out on the panel or trim strip with your fingers or by prying with a broad screwdriver. But not always. Some fasteners, for example, the hooks, only slide after other fasteners have been pulled off. The fasteners can be quite fragile, so try to be gentle, use finesse, take notes and be ready to buy replacements.

1.7 REMOVING THE DRIVER'S KICK PANEL AND KNEE PROTECTION
kickpanel_1

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Remove the two or three screws that fasten the top edge and inside corner(s) of the panel. kickpanel_2

The top edge screw will be underneath a small, plastic, D-shaped cover. Save the screw with its cover. Unclip the panel from the left end of the dash, by sliding its left edge toward the back of the car and gently pulling it out a little.

Next, maneuver the panel's inner lower corner until you have it free of the panel that clads the transmission hump. Then pull the kick panel downward and outward. Be gentle and use finesse ($1.6). Unplug the two connectors to the cylindrical chime module as they become accessible and remove the panel.

If the car has OBD II, unscrew and remove the diagnostic connector at the lower left edge of the U.S. knee protection panel now exposed. Remove the three 10 mm bolts recessed into the face of the panel, the right bolt first; then transfer the panel to a plastic bag. It may be sticky.

1.8 REMOVING THE STEERING WHEEL AND AIRBAG

Disconnect the battery and wait ten minutes to disable the airbag and SRS fault circuits.

Fully loosen the two Torx-25 airbag retaining screws at the back of the steering wheel. Turn the wheel as necessary to get at the screws. You probably need not remove them.
lower_shroud

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Turn the steering wheel so that the front wheels point straight ahead; then carefully lift out the airbag. Pull off the brown ground clip and the central, round, orange connector as they become accessible. Do not drop or knock the airbag or expose it to extreme heat. Store it with its padded side up.

Loosen and remove the plastic screw and screw anchor that fasten the lower steering column shroud. Carefully unclip and remove the shroud.

Twist and detach the airbag/horn connector carrier from the steering column horn_bag_connectors

. Unclip the flat, white/black connector pair from the carrier and unmate the connectors ($1.10). Separate the round, orange/grey connectors as well.

Double check that the steering wheel is pointed straight ahead. Mark the position of the wheel with respect to the steering column shaft. Remove the 16 mm central retaining bolt and lift the wheel straight off. The horn/airbag contact plate will automatically lock as you remove the wheel. Do not rotate the plate while the wheel is off.

1.9 REINSTALLING THE STEERING WHEEL AND AIRBAG

Make sure the turn indicator is in the off position, replace the steering column spacer if you removed it and remount the steering wheel with its original orientation. Torque the central bolt to 63 Nm (46 lb-ft).

Reconnect and reseat the airbag, making sure that its wires do not get pinched. Install and tighten the two airbag retaining screws, the rightmost one first. Torque them to 8 Nm (6 lb-ft). Reconnect and remount the airbag/horn electrical connectors.

1.10 UNMATING SMALL PLASTIC CONNECTORS

To unmate a pair of flat connectors, examine their broad sides for a small hole with bump poking into it. Slide in a thin blade, gently lift the plastic away from the bump and separate the connectors.

To unmate a pair of round connectors, look for a locking tab, press it in and pull the connectors apart.

1.11 ADDING WIRES TO COMB TERMINAL JUNCTIONS

To make a wire junction in an E36 3-series, quick-connect sleeves are crimped on the wires and the sleeves are pushed onto a flat, multi-pronged comb terminal. The comb is then inserted into a plastic insulating sleeve; the sleeve is either left loose, as in the fusebox, or plugged into a carrier block. Each comb junction has its own wire color. The wire color rather than the comb's position identifies the junction.

With a little care, you can crimp a contact sleeve to a wire using a needle-nose pliers rather than the special BMW crimping tool. Use enough pressure to just spread the wire strands, and not much more, especially on a small wire. Try not to bend the metal ears repeatedly or very sharply as they will rapidly fatigue. To be sure of a good connection, solder the bare wire to the sleeve after crimping it and before crimping the insulation.

To add to a junction, find a comb having wires of the right color and an empty prong, rotate the sleeve to match the others and push it on using a needle-nose pliers. The sleeves once on are hard to get off.

1.12 RUNNING WIRES FROM THE DRIVER'S FOOTWELL TO THE MAIN FUSEBOX

Open the fuse box and disconnect the two large circular connectors. Remove the four Torx-10 corner screws, lift up the top of the fuse box and follow the rat's nest to the firewall portal. The portal has a cable clamp. There is a proper way to open it, but that way is tedious enough that few bother.

Instead, lift the black terminal/relay block off the left wall above the driver's foot rest (Step 4) to gain access to the portal. Return to the fusebox and insert a tape covered screwdriver alongside the wires entering the portal. Carefully scrunch in the wires and slide the tip past the foam that pads the portal's circumference. Push the tip a few inches into the passenger compartment.

Return to the footwell, collect the wires you wish to pass through and find the tip. Thread the wires alongside the screwdriver and then push the screwdriver and wires back into the fusebox.