new project on BMW e36 320i

**jpuype** · 07-04-2006, 05:42 AM

Hi All,

I'll try not to ask any too obvious questions, but I'm posting in the newbie board for a reason :-)

Some months ago, the CD player of my (old) 1994 320i went bust and I temporarily replaced it with a tuner/tape deck I still had laying around because I couldn't decide whether to go for a DVD/MP3 setup or an in-Dash
Navigation system (Becker Traffic Pro 7820 came to mind).

But after stumbing on Enforcer's CarPuter page, heck of a job btw, it started to dawn to me that with some work I might be able to get it all for a similar budget, and clean out some of the hardware that is laying around the house and thus make the wife happy in the process :-)
And if Enforcers carputer got me interested, Robby's E36 Skin made me drool :-)

So what do I have :
- A Thinkpad T20, slightly upgraded to 1Ghz cpu and 256 mb ram.
I got the laptop on ebay about 1 year ago to fix the screen of my T20.
All "removables" (HDD, mini-pci car, ram) were gone but as I upgraded my
T20 and put the leftovers in this one it seemed to work just fine, just no
display.
- USB HUB (4 ports, individually powered, 7.5 volts)
- Bluetooth PCMCIA card
- GPS Receiver on PS/2

What I still need/want to get :
- Mini-pci WLAN card
- Tv/Radio Tuner PCMCIA Card
- Lilliput 7" Touchscreen
- Slot DVD-ROM
- USB Sound Card

Any remarks, thoughs on this set-up would be welcome

As you might have gathered from the intro I'm looking to completely eliminate
the headunit, but I would (at least initially) like to retain as just of the stock stereo system as possible.
So I wondered it it would be possible to hook up the output of the SoundCard
to the stock amplifier ? Anyone any experience with that ?
Also if you remove the headunit, and move the A/C controls (manual ones in my case) to where the "spectacle holder" normally is, is the opening you created sufficient to position the DVD-Drive or does the Lilliput take up too much place to fit the drive in there?
If the drive doesn't fit, where do you people have fitted it for easy access ?

And last one for this time is power management related ...
I'll put on my asbestos suit first

I will still have to find a power up the laptop on ignition :-)
I have done some searching here and wonder if the thread about simulating a external modem on the serial port of a T20 to "WOR" ever came to a conclusion, because that would probably be the best way, alternatively (also on that RS232 port) anyone have experiences (good or bad) with the Dashwerks DSSC ?
And how are what did you do to power your set-up and stabilize the current during cranking?
I'm considering a 2nd, deep-cycle, battery but I'm wondering if it is really necessary ....

Sincerely,
Jurgen

**Enforcer** · 07-04-2006, 06:51 AM

The only one I can answer here really is the Lilliput/DVD question.

Basically the screen takes up all the room in the space, so I can't see you being able to put an optical drive in there as well, unless you start hacking. I am still looking for a solution to this, but it is not a main priority.

Personally I would keep the Head-Unit, well actually I have.

The reason behind this is, there are times when the computer doesn't work for some reason, taken out for upgrades, inverter shutting off coz it's too hot are just a couple. I like having the option of still having Radio, Cd and good ol' cassette in such emergencies.

Good luck with the install, and make sure you take plenty of pics along the way.

**RedGTiVR6** · 07-05-2006, 03:31 PM

Welcome to the hobby! Enjoy your stay. Hopefully it's a long one!

Originally Posted by jpuype

- USB HUB (4 ports, individually powered, 7.5 volts)

One question I have here is how to get 7.5 volts to this hub?

Most PSUs put out only 12V, 5V and, 3.3V.

- GPS Receiver on PS/2

Why PS/2? The BU-353 (USB) is apparently a MUCH better GPS receiver than it;s serial counterpart.

- Tv/Radio Tuner PCMCIA Card

Good luck with this one. From what I have gathered, there's not really a good FM tuner card out right now other than the HQCT

As you might have gathered from the intro I'm looking to completely eliminate
the headunit,

I can't blame you. Unlike Enforcer, I don't have a HU in my car and haven't for 3 years or so. If it's a permanent fixture in your car, and not a modular style CarPC, there's no reason for it to go in and out of the car.

So I wondered it it would be possible to hook up the output of the SoundCard
to the stock amplifier ? Anyone any experience with that ?

http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/show...6&postcount=10

Also if you remove the head unit, and move the A/C controls (manual ones in my case) to where the "spectacle holder" normally is, is the opening you created sufficient to position the DVD-Drive or does the Lilliput take up too much place to fit the drive in there?

http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/show...31&postcount=3

If the drive doesn't fit, where do you people have fitted it for easy access ?

http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/show-off-your-project/

And how are what did you do to power your set-up and stabilize the current during cranking?
I'm considering a 2nd, deep-cycle, battery but I'm wondering if it is really necessary ....

Most DC-DC PSUs survive crank without an issue. no second battery needed, and definitely not deep-cycle, though a single deep cycle wouldn't hurt.

Hope this helped at least some!

**jpuype** · 07-06-2006, 03:12 AM

Quote:- USB HUB (4 ports, individually powered, 7.5 volts)

One question I have here is how to get 7.5 volts to this hub?
Most PSUs put out only 12V, 5V and, 3.3V.

Well as it is a laptop I was just think about using some car adapters for
both the laptop (16v) and the usb hub (7.5v), as they both seem to
have voltages that are pretty common for 'car lighter plug' style adapters.
I was just just gonna cut the plug itself off and connect it to switched
12v with an in-line fuse. The laptop adapter would have a capacitor build
in to help stabilize the voltage, but the other one might be a problem.
As the laptop battery should help the 'puter survive the cracking I would
just need a way to power an external optical drive and to stabilize the current for the 7.5v hence the idea of the 2nd (small) battery, with the
added benefit of not risking running the primary battery down.
Just would need a start/shutdown controller that way, I noticed a nice
tread using pins 4 & 8 on the comport, might look into that or just go for
the dashwerks dssc.

Quote:
- GPS Receiver on PS/2
Why PS/2? The BU-353 (USB) is apparently a MUCH better GPS receiver than it;s serial counterpart.

I'll look into that, originally the reason for the serial one was that when listing
the peripherals I need I was running out of usb-ports fast (even with the
4-port hub).
-basically :
1 usb on laptop -> hub
hub #1 : Touchscreen
hub #2 : Soundcard
hub #3 : Optical Drive
hub #4 : USB Dash connector
But if I kill the fm/tv tuner I might use that PCMCIA slot for a PCMCIA to USB card that might give me another 2 or 4 usb ports. That way the PS/2 might be used to help power that optical drive ... just an idea.
I'll just have to wait till they get the external version of the HQCT version done :-(

Quote:
- Tv/Radio Tuner PCMCIA Card
Good luck with this one. From what I have gathered, there's not really a good FM tuner card out right now other than the HQCT

See before, ...

I can't blame you. Unlike Enforcer, I don't have a HU in my car and haven't for 3 years or so. If it's a permanent fixture in your car, and not a modular style CarPC, there's no reason for it to go in and out of the car.

It is staying there, I don't want the hassle with the wife, about bring the
stuff back in the house, besides what is the use of an LCD-less Laptop anyway (beside connecting it to a Lilli :-)

Quote:
So I wondered it it would be possible to hook up the output of the SoundCard
to the stock amplifier ? Anyone any experience with that ?

http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/show...6&postcount=10

Just need a line driver it seems, thx for pointing me here in the right direction ....
For the optical drive question, I haved really found suggestions but
I guess the glove compartment is as good as any place ....

Most DC-DC PSUs survive crank without an issue. no second battery needed, and definitely not deep-cycle, though a single deep cycle wouldn't hurt.

See up for the power options that I had in mind, but I'm willing to entertain
the idea of a psu, but as the laptop doesn't have a standard ATX power
block I fail to see how I would get power to the motherboard of the
T20 ... Maybe I slept during a class and I need a refresher course

Hope this helped at least some!

You are exactly what the doctor ordered, it helped more than you probably
realized, I just hope we can keep this discussion goin :-)

Sincerely,
Jurgen

**RedGTiVR6** · 07-06-2006, 07:37 AM

if you're interested in using a PSU for the Laptop, it will more than likely require some soldering to the laptop, unfortunately.

Though, from what I understand, it's not that hard.