P3cars Multi gauge //02.11.2018I had this same gauge on my RS4 and found it useful for getting to know my car better. I'd spend a day here or there switching back and forth between the various readings whether it'd be boost or IAT's (these two mostly) or others. I figured it was time now to get it for the S6 prior to some major upgrades, to see the relevant stats now and compare to later.
Vividracing.com had the gauge for about $50 cheaper than anyone else so I ordered from them and received it about a week later. Install instructions are well done by them and available here. First things first, you need to remove the vent, which this video gives a good overview of |
Next, disassembling the gauge enough to get the top two slats out and get the gauge in their place. While the instructions (right) are good, I for the life of me could not get the bottom tabs to disengage, and therefore made it a bit harder on myself. First the instructions (you can download at bottom)
Once done with those instructions, I wanted to make sure that the cable doesn't mess with the vent too much, so went to my old friend 3M double-sided tape to secure the cable to the side of the vent.
Time to install the control unit, once again with the help of 3M. I mounted it next to my ALP control unit that was already under the dash.
A key thing I haven't seen others document is hooking up the illumination wire. You can set the gauge to dim when the lights are on, so as to blend in better at night. Yet, there's no real documentation for which wire exactly to tap for this functionality. So, I took a look at the connectors to see if I could get a clue. To the right is the connector that plugs into the vent. 5 wires: 3 on the left, then a space, then two on the right. I looked at the connector on the vent side and there are two wires that run to the vent wheel which is illuminated, so I knew one of those wires was carrying power. Looking at how the connectors paired up, it had to be one of the two right wires: either brown or blue/white. I thought I remembered that my RS4 used a blue wire, so I gave that one a shot first. Lucky guess paid off; it was the right one. So, I added a tap to the wire. |
The gauge comes with a spade connector on its dimming wire already, so it connected easily to this.
The final piece needed to enable the auto dimming functionality is to change the config to enable it (d.On.A), more details in the config section below.
Aside from plugging it in - that's it! Gauge works great :) |
Gauge Operation
Gauge Config
- Display Options / Valet Mode: d.On = display on, normal operation, Off = Lockout / Valet, display off. Enter config with car OFF to re-enable from valet. On.A = Auto dimmer (must attach green wire to red/gray dimmer line on trunk pop switch or other locations) On.P = persistent dimmer, (stays on last setting after restarts.)
- English/Metric: En.Y Y, N, b, or c English units. Y = English, N = Metric, b = Boost only (boost in PSI, all other data in metric), c = temp in Celsius, all other data in English
- Boost Pressure Resolution: Pr0.1 0.1 or 0.5 or 1.0 decimal point. 0.1 = tenths, 0.5 is rounded to 5 tenths, 1.0 = whole numbers
- Vacuum Bargraph: U.bg.Y Y or N Vacuum bargraph in boost mode – set to N for no bargraph while in vacuum
- Shift Light – Gauge display will FLASH when above this RPM: SL.57 . 30 – 99 Shift light activation RPM x 100, default is 5700
- Boost Reading Selection: bSt.d or A or n, digital or analog or none. (analog is for gauges with boost sender and tubing to manifold) Digital is used for n55/n20 only. The A setting will use the blue wire MAP tap for certain CAR selections. See the vehicle specific settings page.
- Analog Input Config (see the analog inputs section for details): A1.N Y or N Enable or disable the first analog input (brown wire), A2.N Y or N Enable or disable the second analog input (blue wire)
- Code Clearing: Clr.C Hold the first button to clear codes. See Code Reading and Clearing section above for details.
- Code Reading (K-Line vehicles only): rd.C.n , n = no code read, Y = read at startup
- Analog Boost Sensor Calibration (required after install of sensor!): Cal.b , Calibrate the analog boost sensor to your barometer. — tap left button after confirming the engine is off. Calibrate your analog sensor any time that your altitude changes significantly to ensure the highest accuracy.
- Car Selection (not available on all models): Car.0 through Car.8 and ANLG (analog) mode. See the CHART above for more details. NOTE: For BMW models, car selections 5 through 8 cause the bSt.A mode to expect MAP sensor 0-5v input on the blue wire. If you have a bSt.P option, this does that instead of Car selection. The default setting for this value will change depending on the gauge model that was shipped. Use Car.0-5 bSt.A for analog boost sensor for this reason.
- Sh.X (Y, n, A, P): Vehicle specific software protocol adjustments (See configuration list for details, use Sh.A unless otherwise directed)