S38 B35 Trouble Shooting kit

[Philo]

A few weeks ago I put together a trouble shooting kit for the S38 B35 engine. As many of you know I converted to an after market EFI system years ago.., and was thinking it's a total waste having all the Motronic parts sitting on a shelf in my garage. So here's what I did.

I found a durable box and purchased some upholstery foam to pad the parts so things don't get damaged and made the kit. The kit gets shipped from one board member to another based on whoever needs the kit and who is next in line. The person who has the kit pays to have it shipped to the next board member. I payed shipping to get the kit out there and circulating.

So far Jim Eagan and Matt Shimon were able to trouble shoot bad ECUs.., and Jack Hara in CA is waiting for the kit to trouble shoot a rough idle and an engine that wont rev.

_______________________

EDIT - I updated the kit and she's now ready to go again. The kit will now be shipped in a Pelican case. This case is rather large and weighs more then the laptop shipping box i used previously. But the upside is I have more room so added a set of plug wires and a compression tester with the correct thread pitch for our head. The only downside is the weight so we will all pay more in shipping unfortunately.

What's in the kit... ?
*ECU
*AFM
*Coil
*Temp sensor (blue plug)
* TPS
* ICV
* Rotor
* Dist Cap
* Rebuilt Injectors
* Crank reference sensors
* Spark plug wires
* Snapon compression tester

I know a lot of you have been waiting many months for the kit. I apologize for the delay. So, I'll go through this thread, emails, and my PMs and see if I can figure out who's next. Feel free to PM me though if you think you should be first

[Karl Grau]

What a nice thing to do. This test kit is above and beyond the call.

Maybe the title of this thread should have been "What this Board is Really About - Part III".

[je328is]

thanks again Phil for helping me get my M5 back on the road! Here's a pic of the kit, not the best quality, but you get the idea.

[L_N_Love]

Great idea. Glad to know this service is now available.

[Tucker]

That is fantastic, what a great resource for those in need of test units! Cheers to Philo, and good call on renaming this the "what this board is all about part 3" thread.

[Philo]

Jim.., I was wondering if you had a picture ! I didn't get a chance to take one before I shipped it to you.

I appreciate the kind words from everyone. I actually feel like I don't contribute enough to the board, especially compared to Kohler or Moose ...

Jeremy, please to the sticky honors.

[paul burke]

Jim.., I was wondering if you had a picture ! I didn't get a chance to take one before I shipped it to you.

I appreciate the kind words from everyone. I actually feel like I don't contribute enough to the board, especially compared to Kohler or Moose ...

Jeremy, please to the sticky honors.

I don't see a leakdown tester in there anywhere.

Paul

[1stm5nut]

what comes around goes around....thanks for your spirit.

[1st 5er]

This thread is a great find, only exceeded by the OP's offer.

Hoping I never need it, but Thanks!!! (just in case).

[mooseheadm5]

I can add a set of wires to the kit. I don't really need 3 sets just for little old me.

I have a leakdown tester that spends a lot of time not getting used. As soon as I find/make an adapter for the S38 I'd be up for loaning it out.

[John hayward]

Thanks,that sounds great. I will contact Jack

[John hayward]

Please tell me more about the EFI system and its cost

[Philo]

John.. I have the TS kit.., not Jack. So let me know what you want to do.

[1stm5nut]

i had a failed ecu years ago, and it is acting that way again. i would really appreciate being next in line for the kit.
please pm me whenever its available and i will paypal postage and my address etc.
philo....you the man.
Damion

[Philo]

Sorry guys.., I'm not sending the kit out to anyone until I get my ECU back. Someone returned the kit with a piece of crap ecu, painted gray, was rebuilt by Fuel Injection Corp, and has been tampered with.

I called Fuel Injection Corp and they have records of all ECUs rebuilt.. as of now they confirmed the ECU was rebuilt in 1998..., but has to dig into boxes for the actual customer name. This may take a few days.

Sorry guy... without the correct/good ECU the kit is useless.. to a point I guess..

This really sucks !

[1st 5er]

That really sucks !

[TurboChris]

Huh?? That's F'd up!

[Duke]

I knew that someone would fry your good ECU, never thought they would swap it out. You should out the POS! And that person should be removed from this board.....no questions asked.

[mooseheadm5]

Utter bullshit!
If I can get hold of another one I'll add it to the kit, but there will be a deposit to prevent this happening again.
Any chance the one they swapped out can be repaired? I'd be happy to take a look at it.

[Mark 88/M5 Houston]

Sorry guys.., I'm not sending the kit out to anyone until I get my ECU back. Someone returned the kit with a piece of crap ecu, painted gray, was rebuilt by Fuel Injection Corp, and has been tampered with.

This really sucks !

Sorry to hear this Phil. Does there seem to be a chance to get your good ECU back? Was it someone from this board or another forum? Does this low life MF need a personal visit from a group of not so low life BMW enthusiasts?

[1st 5er]

WTF is wrong with people these days?
No respect for others, and worse, no respect for themselves.

Or...

Could be they just got them confused, "Oh shit, mine works after all"!

[Karl Grau]

That's just wrong. I agree with Duke, tell us who the A-hole is so I can be sure to never do business with him.

Could be they just got them confused, "Oh shit, mine works after all"!

Not only does it work but the gray paint magically wore off.

[wkohler]

This is unbelievable. Chances are that with nearly 14 years going by since that ECU was "rebuilt," the name won't match up to anyone.

I'm terribly disappointed to see someone take advantage of your generousity. I guess one way to prevent this is to always have the kit shipped back to you, which will add to the cost, but ensure that all critical kit components remain the known-good units.

[1stm5nut]

wow. that is seriously bunk. there is a great saying,"there is a gift in every problem" I propose we start looking for the gift. i see some great suggestions already, deposit, return shipped, and to add to the list...not a fee per say but a maintenance donation. of 20 upon return to philo.
i also think i will get the ball rolling by making a contribution towards the cost of the ecu. if we all pitch in, shouldn't take long to keep the spirit alive that philo started. when i first saw the existence of this gesture(kit) i was moved deeply. so philo, post your paypal email. i am first in line w/ 35 dollars towards the ecu.
this must not bring down our spirit.
5ers united baby!
Damion

[S38Mike]

Philo, not to blow smoke up your ass or anything but when I first signed up for this forum and read of this kit I knew I had found a great forum. Thankfully, my S38 purrs like a kitty but it's nice to know the kit is out there if I ever needed it. It's great to see generosity and consideration for other people, I was raised this way and I think it is how we all should try to treat each other. Thank you. Taking advantage of other people's generosity pisses me off though. Is there anyway of tracing back and finding out who stole the DME and giving their car some free "mods"? If it helps, I work at a dealership in Torrance (you are in Long Beach correct?) and I can buy it for 10% over cost if you want. I just called my parts counter guy, list price is $1730, I can get it for $1230. Currently, there is 1 left in the US and 15 left in Germany. I'll throw $100 bucks in on it too. Come on fellow S38 low-life's let's make this right.....

[ahab]

I'm speechless. That completely blows. WTF, I hope the person responsible does the right thing here. I'm not going to recommend an outing yet, but if this isn't made right in a matter of days then I think it would only be right to publicly shame the individual. I'm absolutely willing to contribute to a replacement for the kit, but until this shakes out a little further I feel like I buying some cocksucker a free ECU.

[1st 5er]

Nice ninja edit...

...until this shakes out a little further I feel like I buying some cocksucker a free ECU.

Me too.

[MicahO]

Utterly sucks. There are no words.

Ahab's right - no one here wants to buy a dirtbag a free ECU. But the kit is a huge resource and I'd be willing to help keep it whole, along the lines of S38Mike's comment. The mere existence of this kit always created a sense of comfort, in the event I would need it. We should see what DPP can come up with, or if there are other affordable options for rebuilding another unit. Mike's quoted price is not unattainable in a group, and may be as good as it gets. But it's not cheap, and it does mean we just bought someone an ECU.

Sadly, at least the future routing of the kit should become public knowledge.

[Duke]

Sadly, at least the future routing of the kit should become public knowledge.

Yep - name posted and when shipped and returned. Also must be insured by user both ways for at least $2K.

[winfred]

if this has not been resolved by time i build my m635 and get it running on motronic 3.3.1 id be willing to donate my computer for the good of the group but......i don't know when i am going to get to the point i won't need it as i have around 5 good sized projects before i can build the rustbucket into the new chassis and little time to do em