What did you do to your non-G body project today? [2023]
- Thread starter Wraith
- Start date
Body control module.
Beyond my area of expertise. Can control all sorts of HVAC security and other electrical functions. They communicate with the main cpu is how i understand them.
I'm sure someone has a better explanation.
It's similar to how Mercedes are set up id expect. We have similar modules in my 2002 clk and slk. Think of it how old component stereo systems worked - you had your radio tuner, your turntable, your cassette deck, each a separate component, but, all ultimately routed into the tuner right?
Well, in this case youve got the equivalent of a sub-ecm that controls various electronic functions due to how much stuff you've got going on. Recently had to change the one in the SLK due to age, even though mileage is still under 40k. Our faulted portion of the circuitry affected the stability control system in our case, triggering limp mode and the shift interlock trying to lock you into park after turning off the car - basically, the car couldn't understand if any wheels were slipping, so, it didn't know whether to reroute power. Had to use the little flap next to the handle to release it and keep driving until getting a replacement. Of course, had the fault been elsewhere it could've had different effects.
But, when you've got so many computerized areas on the car, they make smaller modules that run just those systems, then tell you everything is ok. Back to the analogy, so your tuner isn't playing the cassette, but, recieves the output signal from the component that does. That component that does is the control module.
Oh, so okay, built on the brontosaurus principle. Instead of one consolidated brain which would, no matter how micro the micro circuitry would be, would still be too big to comfortably integrate into the surrounding architecture due to the limitations imposed by the designers when they dreamed up the machine, they chose to break things down into smaller sub-assemblies that still have to talk to each other somehow.
I suggested brontosaurus as an organic example mostly because a long held theory, beloved of archeologists, suggested at one point that the brain case of this dinosaur was so small that the brain size it could realistically house could not possibly be capable of the level of activity needed to keep the animal alive. The theory was that there was a second, or auxiliary brain, located somewhere down in the carcass proper, perhaps near the pelvis, that had responsibility for things such as movement in general, and the digestion of food once it got consumed.
For those on the board with a skewed sense of humor, this partition of responsibility still exists in one particular instance. That would be the case of the human male who has, according to contemporary urban rumor and legend, two heads to think with but who still tends to let the little brain take the lead, often with results ranging from hilarious to lachrymose.
Apart from this digression, doesn't it seem odd that we possess cell phones with on board processing ability that can reach the terabyte level and all in a unit less than half the thickness of an old pack of cigarettes and yet a manufacturer as sophisticated and high tech as BMW still has to use multiple sources in order to guarantee that one of its vehicles has enough CPU/ECM capability to function effectively? So just exactly how much of it is truly necessary and how much is "Big Brother" trying to imposed its will on the masses?
Nick
Oh, yeah, hope you get it all put back together and working properly again. D'ya think BMW would pay you to design a drain assembly that doesn't self destruct the way yours seems to have done? Build a better mousetrap as it were?
I suggested brontosaurus as an organic example mostly because a long held theory, beloved of archeologists, suggested at one point that the brain case of this dinosaur was so small that the brain size it could realistically house could not possibly be capable of the level of activity needed to keep the animal alive. The theory was that there was a second, or auxiliary brain, located somewhere down in the carcass proper, perhaps near the pelvis, that had responsibility for things such as movement in general, and the digestion of food once it got consumed.
For those on the board with a skewed sense of humor, this partition of responsibility still exists in one particular instance. That would be the case of the human male who has, according to contemporary urban rumor and legend, two heads to think with but who still tends to let the little brain take the lead, often with results ranging from hilarious to lachrymose.
Apart from this digression, doesn't it seem odd that we possess cell phones with on board processing ability that can reach the terabyte level and all in a unit less than half the thickness of an old pack of cigarettes and yet a manufacturer as sophisticated and high tech as BMW still has to use multiple sources in order to guarantee that one of its vehicles has enough CPU/ECM capability to function effectively? So just exactly how much of it is truly necessary and how much is "Big Brother" trying to imposed its will on the masses?
Nick
Oh, yeah, hope you get it all put back together and working properly again. D'ya think BMW would pay you to design a drain assembly that doesn't self destruct the way yours seems to have done? Build a better mousetrap as it were?
That would take more that a computer could handle in its design. And any suggestions from the guys on the floor that see that it would be a problem are told “ You’re thinking to much “ “The computer says it will work.” 😂
Car manufacturers use old outdated computing hardware, plain and simple. All of them from what I (think I) understand.
I rebuilt an old-time/vintage lantern originally setup with a 6V lantern battery. Original 6V bulb was burned out and original battery was not rechargeable. As a result, I converted lantern to Milwaukee M18 rechargeable battery power. And replaced 4.5" 4416 original 6V bulb with a 4.5" LED PAR36 bulb from Lowes for $13. Wow, refurbished lantern really makes some light. Lantern came with red safety light with 6V E10 bulb. I need to get new E10 bulb that is rated for 18V. See pics.
PS. I also included pic of similar 1970s lantern with original style battery.
PPS According to spec sheet for PAR36 bulb, it works with voltage range of 12V to 24V AC or DC.
PS. I also included pic of similar 1970s lantern with original style battery.
PPS According to spec sheet for PAR36 bulb, it works with voltage range of 12V to 24V AC or DC.
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No, but it is actually not a very stressed part. Once the top is bolted to the underside of the dash, the end is bolted to the firewall, that section is just hanging there. But the tilt part relies on that mast for stability. I should have used the MIG but I hate dragging it up from the basement for small jobs. All I could do was lower the amps on my stick welded and use a 1/16" rod. That worked pretty good and I did use epoxy in the shifter bowl. That had gotten cut in half but it is pot metal and won't weld. I mixed a very thick rock hard epoxy with some HF 5 minute epoxy. That made for a nice gooey mixture not unlike peanut butter. It cures super hard and I am happy with that.
There are benefits. My control module that failed was located in one of the driest safest spots possible - above the center console, raised about 10 or 12 inches above the floors so environmental risk was minimal. Meanwhile, if I had only one computer, my abs controls, my traction control, all that stuff could die and take the engine with it, leaving me stranded. By severing the functions, and having a built in shift lock override built in for techs, I could still drive home from the bank afterwards.
So there's that. Also, I suspect, from a practical standpoint there's only so much volume of wiring you as an automaker want passing into and out of one location.
I defer to one of my College IT professors who, over thirty years ago, noted and quoted the fundamental axiom of computers, "Garbage In, Garbage Out."
Nick
Nick
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