Thread: BMW 2004 330i Project (any input welcome)

great idea. I will need to do this. I am going to give it a try this week

Originally Posted by srcstc

I wish I'd seen this thread sooner. If you LCD is sliding down here's what you do.
I drilled a hole on the bezel to put a pin in to hold the LCD from sliding down.


Rich

I put the pin where the red dot is. I just make a small hole about 1/4" deep (carefull NOT to drill all the way through!) and I put a small nail, brad nail I think, in the hole. Then some hot glue to keep it from coming out. Took me a minute. If you do that, it'll never come out. Also put some hot glue on the clamps.

Hot glue is great because it's a VERY strong hold but it's not permanent.
Put some take on the drill bit so you don't drill too far.

Rich

Any pics of the pc yet?

Thanks for being patient. This project has gone on way too long and I about got a divorce over it .

Anyway, i have lots of pics to upload. To be honest, it does not even do it justice. Basically, I ran a shuttle PC in my trunk for about a month (around April). I was using an OPUS 150w. It worked really well and it was pretty fast. However, I did start noticing random shut downs and it just ran too hot in te trunk. I live in AZ and I thought the ventalation from the ski pass through to that I knocked out would help during summer. I was already over heating in 85 - 90degree weather. It can get 120 degrees in AZ and my black car would yiled 140-160 in the cabin if its in the sun. I knew I had to do something different.

So, I pulled the shuttle mobo and decided to mount a small PC under my seat. TO ALL BMW OWNERS (and maybe other cars as well): There are A/C vents under your seat for your back passangers! What luck. A/C cooling for my PC.....now I just have to figure out how to squeeze a PC AND power supply under the seats. This was no easy task. If you have seen the inside of an E46....there is no room for a PC. I would have started the project by putting on in the cabin.....I could not find a place for it.

I decided to purchase the following for my PC under the seat. It had to be VERY small, portable (to take out of the car if needed), and big enough for a standard size hard drive. I found a really cool case for a Mini ITX. Its a Travla C158. Brother to the C137 DIN case, it was bigger, yet, packed everything I needed for the PC. I also bought the following...

Via Epia M10000 mobo
Crucial 512MB ram
Slimline Panasonic DVD/CDRW
Slimline adapter
OPUS 120w *** see below about power issues
4 40mmx10mm case fans (the smallest I could find)

Items that I had already:
USB hubs
Audigy 2 NX Usb
Xenarc 700 TSV
300GB Maxtor hard drive
IBus PCB


I will let the pictures explain the install process. I ran into several problems. First and foremost.....POWER! I let the magic smoke out of my OPUs 150w (not sure what happened but I think polarity was mixed up on something. This ****ed me off. I almost gave up at this point. I then purchased the M1-ATX since it would fit in my new case. THIS WAS A MISTAKE! The 12v rail was just not holding up. It was not stable enough and did not provide enough power to teh hard drive (even with minimal accessories hooked up). Beware of the M1-ATX. Be sure that you require very little 12v power or hook your monitor up to another power source. I then decided to try the OPUS 150w. More expensive but OPUs had done me right. With a little modification, it fit right into the Travla C158 case!. It also comes with a REMOTE ON/OFF out lead for your AMPs. This cured my popping of the speakers when the PC turns on.

Problem # 2 There was a clearance issue under the seat. I only had about 2.5in of height so I had to raise the seat up a little with several washers. I removed the seat for easy access and added about 4 washers to each screw. I then cut away the carpet which added another 1.5in (there is a lot of padding under those seats!). This worked just fine.


Ok, enough talking. I will post pics of the install. Some final pics will be coming this weekend of the PC in action. just did not have time to take some "show off" pics" Holla if you have questions.

Things todo list:
-figure out the IBUS software (i will attempt to follow CDRSKULLS instructions)
-Make sure there are no confilcts with Hibernation
-Get a Nintendo emulator to work with the Xenarc resolutions (any help here?)
-Get my GPS to lock a signal better (placement I think)
-Add Girder and my small remote and IR receiver
-Add two screens in my headrests for show.

Power lead from battery in trunk to distribution Block in trunk:


Ground for Amps and ditribution block (right side trunk next to battery:


Taping into speaker wires from harness in Trunk:


Dash:

Ski Pass knock out (had to knock out the metal plate for rear trunk access. I did this for bass effect and amp cooling.

Belkin 1/8'' stereo hook ups from Audigy to Amps. Bought these at Walmart of all places for $6 in the computer department




Carpet cuttout for Ski Pass through:



A/C Vents under the front seat. View from back seat:




Test fit with Shuttle Mobo (will not fit)



NEW TRAVLA C158 mini-itx case












Inside the case. (came with a 80w dc power supply

Installed Epia m10k + OPUS 120W + Fans + DVD Rom / CDRW:

I removed my front driver seat to make the install easier. It looks a lot worse than it really is. Just 4 bolts and it comes right out. I recommend this to anyone if working under the seats:










THE FINISHED PRODUCT! (Sounds so simple huh...I sure did learn a thing or two up until this point)