New #6 came with a 380 DME. I pulled it out this morning and thought “what the hell is a 380?” So I did a couple minutes of poking around and near as I can tell it’s a legit DME for late model E30’s. So why has this not come up before. We’ve talked 153’s and 173’s to death. Is the 380 legal? Does anyone believe it to be better or worse? And if so, why?
The 380 DME
jlevie
#2
A 380 is a later manufacturing variation of the 173. There are a couple of others after the 173 also. As far as I know, if unmolested, there is no advantage to any of the ones that came after the 173. And, as I recall, the very last DME produced had a speed limiter.
ctbimmer
#3
I don’t recall the number anymore (perhaps the 525) but I confirmed one had a speed limiter a few years ago. On a dyno day I had a box of DMEs from Strictly German, and I had the guy upshift to 5th, just for giggles, with the suspected speed-limiter, and sure enough, as it approached 130mph, it started a soft cutout and eventually topped out right around 130.
In the lower gears it would pull all the way to the usual RPM cutout and the power/TQ was comparable, so unless someone’s going to Bonneville with a SE30, the speed-limiting ECU is actually probably fine to race with.
turbo329is
#4
My 88ix has a 380 DME. Never tested top speed on it. My 87is had a 525 in it which was limited to 124 mph indicated which wss probably more like 108mph, but since the dme doesn’t know what gear its it must use the speedo signal from somewhere.
Mine had a definite hard limit and bounced at about 5200rpm.
FishMan
#5
A speed limiter seems like a bad idea at tracks like Charlotte. According to my STACK data, not the gauge cluster, my car sees 131 mph on the oval…
turbo329is
#6
I’m guessing if you pull the sensor out of the diff the dme won’t be able to limit speed because it would have to know it’s in 5th to use rpm.
FishMan
#7
The DME must get speed signal from the diff sensor, but the signal is not needed for proper DME operation. I have my diff speed sensor directly wired to my STACK gauge cluster using custom wiring.
edavidson
#9
Scott - here is a nice DME table - http://www.pelicanparts.com/bmw/techarticles/E36-DME-Repair/E36-DME-Repair.htm
Ed
Z3SpdDmn
#11
So, does that mean you’re looking for a 153? If so, I may have one.
What’s the difference between Motronic 1.1 and 1.3?
turbo329is
#12
The 1.3 can store more fault codes. I’ve also read that the 1.1s have a fuel quality switch but I don’t know about all of them. I’ve read on e30tech that it’s a 164 and that it has some extra programming in it for the abs but 164 isn’t even on the list. Anyway I’ve been having problems trying to get my abs to work. My car doesn’t have the adapter harness in this service bulletin.
I don’t want to get sued by alldata or someone so I’m removing the attachment.
FishMan
#13
ABS operates 100% independently of the DME in our cars. If you are swapping DMEs to fix your ABS you may be disappointed…