Z8 Engine Start button completed...

[rlcanon]

...along with factory alarm/remote entry with Ron's parking light flash mod, X5 power outlet (also ala Ron), double fog switch modified for combined DSC/Sport mode (Sport Mode ala Drex)... I appreciate all the ideas and help provided by peoples write-ups and posts on this board and others!

Write-up with pics and links... (http://128.83.80.200/mcoupe/startengine.html)

http://128.83.80.200/mcoupe/startengine2.jpg

[01silber]

WOW
that is very very nice, looks as though you did a great job , now i want one:D

[Bruce]

That's cool. I might have to do that in both my cars. Why? *shrug*

[The Other Tom]

Cool !! I like it.:thumbup:

[rlcanon]

Originally posted by Bruce
Why? *shrug*
Ha ha! Good point! Before I did it I was torn between thinking it might be cool and thinking it would be pointlessly goofy. (Not that I have an overt aversion to pointless goofiness from most accounts...) Now that it's done I have noticed one practical benefit: At 6' 2" with a 36" inseam I use the leather key case that came with the car so my keys don't dangle against my knee when I drive. The combination of twisting the key around to the start position and the extra force needed to start the car would pop the plastic fastener if I wasn't careful. No longer a problem!

From a less practical perspective, I've decided that on the M coupe the engine start button is closer to cool than goofy. It just sort of fits with the car's personality. I have no plans to put one in our base Impreza or my Toyota pickup... Ha ha!

[HaqDeluxe]

Too Cool! Now that you have been into the console and inspired me to do another mod (Damn you to hell!:) ), could you supply me with a bit of info that is sure to save me and my console much grief!
How do you get the damn thing apart and does it require the complete removal? I thought that the two leather trim pieces that run up each side "pull" off allowing access to the panels housing the gauges and the gear shifter? The few things I have done thus far have allowed me to fish up from the gear shifter hole... But I want to get to and remove the clock and replace it with a Oil Pressure gauge. Thanks

[rlcanon]

Originally posted by HaqDeluxe
How do you get the damn thing apart...

There are probably two questions there: 1.) How is the damn thing intended to come apart, and 2.) How did this particular dirt farming Okie, in a late-night session in his hot and humid Texas garage, finally manage to pull enough of the damn thing apart to get to the cigarette lighter!

RonS or JonM undoubtedly know the actual method, but I removed the console screws at the rear sides, under the arm rest, front leather "wings", and behind the stereo. This got the console loose enough that I could reach up under to remove the screws at the back of the leather pieces you mentioned flanking the plastic piece the shifter boot attaches to. There are 4 screws holding the plastic piece in from the bottom. Once those were out I pulled all the switches and the shifter boot. Gently spreading the leather pieces, the plastic piece can be lifted out.

That still won't get you very good access to the panel that holds the clock as you'll either have to reach up behind it from where the switch panel was, of down behind it through the stereo opening.

Someone has to know an easier way!

[SpeedinBlueBima]

Can you post more information/pics on where you moved the lighter/power socket?

[rlcanon]

Originally posted by SpeedinBlueBima
Can you post more information/pics on where you moved the lighter/power socket?

RonS has a write-up on this, but here's my experience.

On the leather console "wing" by the passenger's left knee there is a diagnostic port. I drilled a hole using the largest bit I have, which was a little too small, then enlarged the hole with a taper ream.

By putting the X5 power outled just below the diagnostic port I was able to use the existing lighter power wires. The only X5 part I ended up using was the plastic piece with the spring loaded cover. The metal insert (that connects to the power wires on the back and accepts the accessory power plug from the front) for the X5 piece uses a different spade connector for the hot pin. The corresponding piece you take out of the cigarette lighter won't fit in the X5 piece with the spring-loaded cover because the lip is wider than X5 counterpart. Basically: The X5 insert fits the spring loaded cover but the lighter power wires won't plug into the back of it. The lighter power wires naturally plug into the lighter piece but it won't seat flush in the spring loaded cover because of the larger lip.

The first approach I took to circumvent this situation was to grind down the lead on the X5 metal piece so the lighter spade connector would fit. This would have worked, but I was a little too exuberant with application of my grinder and it folded the spade over breaking it off in the process. Since my grinder was warmed up I took the lighter piece and, carefully this time, ground the lip down in the area where it hit the spring loaded cover preventing it from seating. (The area of the lip that needed to be ground down was only about a third of the circumference...) It looks and functions perfect[ly].