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      11-10-2014, 11:35 PM   #1
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P3 Vent Gauge Install DIY

Hi All! I recently participated in a group buy for the P3 Vent Gauge for the M235i. All in all the insulation was very easy and took minimal effort. View the photos below and their explanations for a step by step installation DIY.




I started off by prying off this side cover with my fingers, it came out pretty easily.


With the cover out you push the vent housing out from behind, with some force it starts to wiggle and eventually comes free. Push from the side closest to the door and lower down.






With the help of a flat head screw driver, pop the housing off of the vent itself from the top by unclipping the clips up there.

This was the part that was the hardest. Getting the vent slats assembly reassembled was a pain but only because I was a bit confused about it. I now understand that you are basically just using the bottom 2 slats secured using the same hardware as prior minus this metal piece which is replaced by a provided piece of plastic that attaches the 2 slats. Once you have this back in the vent, THEN you will put the display in place. Otherwise it is very hard to get the display and slats in the assembly and put them back in the vent. Make sure you check out the instructions on P3's site for more detail.


This is what is came out looking like


Snap the vent back into the housing


Run the cable into the hole where the vent goes and out the side


Push the whole assembly back into the hole


Replace the side cover


Short vid showing it working

Notes:

-Some of the values don't seem to be accurate. Specifically boost is read from the ECU, which with the help of my JB4 does not give a correct reading. Since the Jb4 tricks the ECU into thinking its boosting differently than it is the readout is not accurate. There are wires supplied to grab the value directly which would give a more accurate reading.

-The speed value is also off. It shows value that is way higher than it should be. This is in comparison to the speedo and my Passport MAX's GPS speed reading.
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      11-11-2014, 07:53 AM   #2
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Hard to trust what the unit is telling you if known values are not accurate....The video I saw of the Awron gauge unit seemed to be off and laggy too, which is why I decided to hold off on these things for now.
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      11-11-2014, 10:25 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mteele
Hard to trust what the unit is telling you if known values are not accurate....The video I saw of the Awron gauge unit seemed to be off and laggy too, which is why I decided to hold off on these things for now.
I'm not seeing lag but due to the jb4 tricking the ECU the units are off.
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      11-11-2014, 10:26 AM   #4
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Nice write up.

I too experiencing wrong values.
Speed, seems to be 2-3 faster then what my gps and car is showing.
I've coded to show actual speed.
Boost, I have a jb4 install, max boost shows 10psi. I'm assuming I will need to hook
up the free jb4 connection to get actual readings?
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      11-11-2014, 10:27 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BluF22
Nice write up.

I too experiencing wrong values.
Speed, seems to be 2-3 faster then what my gps and car is showing.
I've coded to show actual speed.
Boost, I have a jb4 install, max boost shows 10psi. I'm assuming I will need to hook
up the free jb4 connection to get actual readings?
That's what it seems like. Not sure how innovative that is but I may look into it as well, since my primary purpose for this order was as a boost gauge.
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      11-11-2014, 04:28 PM   #6
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So then I wonder for those that are not doing any electronic engine moding would the figures be more accurate? I mean if your not running a JB/tune/etc does the reading feedback from the ECU corilate better values? I have heard the factory speedo readings are not the most accurate themselves.

Per the website this is supposed to be the values that can be read from the ecu thru the gauge

Boost/Vac
Coolant Temp
Oil Temp
Intake Air Temp
Exhaust Gas Temp
Throttle Plate
Speed
RPM with Shift-light
Battery voltage and more.....

Just curious.....
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      11-11-2014, 04:31 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ehagerty
So then I wonder for those that are not doing any electronic engine moding would the figures be more accurate? I mean if your not running a JB/tune/etc does the reading feedback from the ECU corilate better values? I have heard the factory speedo readings are not the most accurate themselves.

Per the website this is supposed to be the values that can be read from the ecu thru the gauge

Boost/Vac
Coolant Temp
Oil Temp
Intake Air Temp
Exhaust Gas Temp
Throttle Plate
Speed
RPM with Shift-light
Battery voltage and more.....

Just curious.....
The speedo is about 5% optimistic compared to the speed on my radar detector which is gps speed. As far as the reading being more accurate they should be without a piggy back tune like the jb4 for the reason I explained. Since the ECU is being tricked it is reporting what it things it's doing but not accurately. And those all seem to be options that it can do. If you watch my video I look through all of them.
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      11-11-2014, 08:22 PM   #8
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Just did...thanks
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      11-14-2014, 07:58 PM   #9
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Are all the other connection cables for the jb-tune???

I see alot of other stuff with the harness
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      11-14-2014, 08:23 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ska///235i
Are all the other connection cables for the jb-tune???

I see alot of other stuff with the harness
Nope. There's a lot that I don't understand there but it's one connection from the screen to the module and another to the obd2 port.
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      11-14-2014, 10:46 PM   #11
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Ok thx...

See all these short connections (yellow, brown, black wires)? I know the green one is for dimming but not sure what the others are for
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      11-14-2014, 10:47 PM   #12
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      11-14-2014, 10:48 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ska///235i
Pic
No idea they don't go to anything from what I gathered you just tuck them in there.
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      11-14-2014, 10:51 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by abirmaher
Quote:
Originally Posted by ska///235i
Pic
No idea they don't go to anything from what I gathered you just tuck them in there.
Must be for other cars/models
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      11-15-2014, 12:37 AM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ska///235i
Quote:
Originally Posted by abirmaher
Quote:
Originally Posted by ska///235i
Pic
No idea they don't go to anything from what I gathered you just tuck them in there.
Must be for other cars/models
I guess so.
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      11-15-2014, 09:14 AM   #16
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You're running a JB which is already hogging a massive whack of CANBUS bandwidth. Since the P3 gauge also uses CANBUS you'll have both devices competing for priority.

At best the gauge will see laggy or inaccurate values and at worst your JB will not respond as quickly as it should.
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      11-15-2014, 10:05 AM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Acheron83
You're running a JB which is already hogging a massive whack of CANBUS bandwidth. Since the P3 gauge also uses CANBUS you'll have both devices competing for priority.

At best the gauge will see laggy or inaccurate values and at worst your JB will not respond as quickly as it should.
I'm not seeing any jb issues but the gauge is defiantly a bit laggy.
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      11-15-2014, 10:08 AM   #18
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Yes I too experienced issues with the JB4 and this gauge because they both use the CANbus to read boost. You will not get an accurate reading and I think you run the risk of the JB4 not being able to update its boost as needed because this other device is hogging some bandwidth.

The other connectors on the P3 harness are for adding additional sources for additional gauge readouts. For example, the JB4 instructions would have you use one of those lines to tap the TMAP sensor harness of the JB4 to get an more accurate boost reading (and so you're not leeching canbus bandwidth). Then you have another for another input (0-5v) from another source.
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      11-15-2014, 12:30 PM   #19
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The gauge shows directly the values that your ECU is spitting out over obd2. There is no magic involved, just raw data from the car. We may add a speed calibrate feature if enough people would like to change what the car is reporting over obd2 for speed.

If you peak inside the "quick start guide" printed manual that came with the gauge, you will see a complete diagram of the wiring.

As for boost, obviously if you have a JB4, you need to use the supplied (with group buy customers) jb4 connection kit and configure the boost to read from this. The little white paper in the kit has the instructions. This let's the gauge read the boost before the jb4 "fakes" it. If you need more details you can e-mail me at rick@p3cars.com, but basically you send the 0-5v output of the T-Map into the blue wire on the gauge harness and config the gauge to bSt.P

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      11-18-2014, 04:14 AM   #20
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Hey guys got mine put in this past weekend. Used the wiretap from the JB4 kit.

2 things about install....

1. The plug cable rides hard against the kick panel where it plugs into the OBD2 and I am concerned it might damage something over time. Anybody run into this or cut the panel away?

2. With the 2 upper slats removed the bottom 2 rattle a bit sometimes...they lost their friction without the top 2. It does not hole its up/down position. it kind of vibrates one way after awhile. I checked and it is together right.....

Unit looks great and fit is perfect. Not sure why there is so much cable....I assume it is universal build parts so they are all the same except for the display screen. I could have used about a foot n a half less. Lot of shit to cram up under the dash. I tied everything up and attached it to a bracket to prevent a bunch of wire rattle.

I assume this is programmed and calibrated out from the factory? I set the dimmer in config and it works great.

Thanks for the group buy
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      11-18-2014, 05:46 AM   #21
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I have the #1 issue also, not sure if it'll holdup over time

You can tab to auto dim or set the light dim yourself (a fix setting)
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      11-18-2014, 09:24 AM   #22
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ehagerty
Hey guys got mine put in this past weekend and did not have a wiretap so no dimmer yet. Is there a particular size I should get...gauge size?

2 things about install....

1. The plug cable rides hard against the kick panel where it plugs into the OBD2 and I am concerned it might damage something over time. Anybody run into this or cut the panel away?

2. With the 2 upper slats removed the bottom 2 rattle a bit sometimes...they lost their friction without the top 2. It does not hole its up/down position. it kind of vibrates one way after awhile. I checked and it is together right.....

Unit looks great and fit is perfect. Not sure why there is so much cable....I assume it is universal build parts so they are all the same except for the display screen. I could have used about a foot n a half less. Lot of shit to cram up under the dash. I will shoot pics after I get a wiretap.

I assume this is programmed and calibrated out from the factory and the only thing I need to change is the dimmer setting when I get the tap right?

Thanks for the group buy
I agree with both these issues so over time we'll see how they fair.
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