Autosport Labs

Hi, I'm with EggBoy Racing, based in St. Louis MO, USA. We are building an E36 BMW, 1997 328i, for endurance racing with the World Racing League. We're currently building the car and I am working to put together a shopping list for a RCP system and I'm not sure what sensors I'll really need.

Will the OBD2 input be sufficient for most of the normal things like RPM, or do I want an RPM sensor instead? Will the sample speed be a deciding factor?

Is there a way to get a list of parameters that will be logged from the OBD2 interface?

Pretty sure I want to log the brake pedal switch, which looks easy enough to do from what I've read so far. Are there any other obvious or simple inputs I should be logging but I'm not thinking of?

Those are my initial questions, but I'm sure more will come up. I appreciate everyone's advice. Thanks!

So...no more SHO??? What's up eggboy? Shaky dog here. I'm in the same boat as you. Just bought a RCP mk2 and am trying to learn. I have found that OBDII can be very limited depending on manufacturer. We are building a new Miata and are planning out our data system now. I am assuming you are not going to Hallett in a couple of weeks? Later, SDR

No mo SHO. She served us well, but it's time to move on. A couple of us will be at Hallett in a Z-car rental. I'm Jerry, just going as crew again. It's nice to get away to race, even if I'm not driving!

I'm hoping to find a list of values for this car so I don't get extra sensors or miss out on logging some interesting things.

An FYI, RCP currently only supports OBDII for 2008+ CAN bus cars per here:

http://www.autosportlabs.net/RaceCapturePro2_OBD2

I haven't heard any news on the adapter for older OBDII applications lately, but you'll still have a trade off between number of channels and rate like all OBDII parameter reading devices.

Hello Team EggBoy. I'm not sure if we've met, but I know a number of the EggBoy team members as I used to live in St. Louis. Scott has even caged a couple of my race cars.

The RCP OBD2 won't do anything but supply power on an E36. Unfortunately, CAN Bus didn't get used in the 3 series until the E46. You are better off just running individual wires for RCP. You can grab the tach signal from the ECU. You could tap into the OE water temp wiring, but you are better off running your own sensor.

If you are adding an Oil cooler, consider this adapter plate:

http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/showt ... oler-Plate

Contact Derek Weaver. The plate has all the ports you'll need for the oil cooler, temp and press senders, and even an accusump. It is a great product. I've used them on several race cars.

If you are looking for sensors that output 0-5V signals, PLX Devices can cover all the core sensors. The only drawback to PLX is every sensor has a small interface box that has to find a home in the car.

There are even cheap option for monitoring tire temps by 0-5V signals: http://www.opti-grip.com/optigrip/Opti-Grip.html

Of course CAN Bus sensors are the way forward, but they can be pricey.

Good luck with your E36! You guys were great with that SHO--I can't wait to see what you can do in a real car!

-BJ Meyer
Clown Shoe Motorsports

I was reading further and had just figured out the car is too old for the OBD-II connection. I'll be riding with Scott for 7 hrs on Friday and again on Sunday for Hallett, we'll discuss what we want to measure. Thanks for your advice!

EggBoy Jerry