In mechanical term, measuring in two different spots is more accurate than at one place.
But I think measuring after filter would be a good idea.
In case of filter fail or bypass, you have still proper reading of oil pressure.

 

after filter as on top of the filter?


To adress some of the above post:

• I'm trying to get a OEM-ish style look. I don't want to sacrifice too much shit, so I might go for this: D1-Series Dual Oil Pressure & Oil Temperature Monitor - VEI Systems It has oil temp and pressure in one.
• I won't go for a plate that sacrifices too much space for 3 pods. I think I'm gonna go for one 52mm vent pod.
• M3 cluster is way too expensive
• @NickGG If you toss the OEM oil pressure switch, won't that throw codes? Or can you program that out? A distro block on that spot, my question: is there enough space for that?

 

I have this for OIl Temp and Pressure gauges-

Oil Distribution Block – LeatherZ

And this for mounting the guages-
E46 Gauge Panel – LeatherZ

I will say the oil temp generally runs a little lower than what the BMW ECU shows as the oil temp.
I have a VDO temp sensor that is the same thread as the oil pan drain plug but have never installed it.
That should give a more accurate oil sump temp.

Here is a DYI with a slightly different gauge block-
DIY: Oil Pressure, Oil Temperature, Voltmeter Gauges | E46 Fanatics Forum

 

I have this exact setup, which I installed soon after I bought my car back in December 2000. VDO has the oil pressure switch, which simply replaces the OEM switch at the back of the oil filter housing. The VDO switch has two posts. One goes to the VDO gauge; the other connects the original OEM switch wire that operates the dash ‘red oil light’. This way, I have both options available, and it’s been working fine—and accurate—all these years. And the gauge panel fits perfectly in the dash.

 

you can look for an m3 cluster they have a built in temp gauge where the mpg gauge is on the regular clusters and rally road sells a distro block for where the stock pressure switch sits so you can put multiple sensors there. But me personally I’d just toss that pressure switch and install a pressure sensor instead with an external gauge or if you have a manual transmission you can install something like this.

 

eKombi für BMW 3er E46 / X3 E83 / Z4 E85 – Car-Solution

www.car-solution.de

I once asked about this here on forums. Didn’t even know something like this existed. I want this in my 46 but i still didn’t pull the trigger on it yet, cuz there is ton of work and thousands of €€ ahead.
However it won’t display oil pressure.

 

MSW BMW Oil Temp Sensor Flange (M5X, S54) E36, E46, Z3 & Z4

The MSW Oil Temp Sensor Adapter Flange allows you to easily measure engine oil temperature from the sump using an aftermarket 1/8 NPT sensor (such as a PT100 from AiM.)…

www.moreheadspeedworks.com

Oil Pressure- Remove factory oil switch and install there.

 

@NickGG thanks for the link. That distro block could work for me, but on this picture the intake manifold isn't installed, or it's a different one since the pic is taken from an M50.

Won't I lose the OEM oil level sensor then?

 

I believe this is the Oil Temp sensor I have that replaces the Oil Drian plug -


300°F/150°C M12X1.5 801/10/3 - VDO Instruments (vdo-instruments.com)

Available at O'Reilly's
Temperature Sender; Temperature Sender 300 degrees Fahrenheit/150 degrees Celsius M12X1.5

Continental Temperature Sender 323-092 | O'Reilly Auto Parts (oreillyauto.com)

RealOEM.com shows upto 09/2004 as M12X1.5 (Also shows M12X16)

 

I am using the pmc adapter for cooling and it's 100% fit, no issues. The oil temp is displayed in my cluster oled using the stock hardware for readings. Never had an issue either with cold start, track, street etc.

 

Haven't done it....

But in terms of how/where to place the sending unit, I think Sreten used a banjo bolt in the lower end of the Vanos line that had been center drilled to accept a pressure/temp sensor... I think it is in one his recent, E46 touring race prep videos.. I forgot how he rigged up the display to work inside the car.

My local indie typically installs and S54 oil filter housing from an M3..which has extra ports

 

S54 housing has ports for an oil cooler, but there is a thermostat, so you wouldn’t get any reading on cold starts when it’s most important.

 

RELATED BUT DIFFERENT

What is the value of knowing the oil temp? What I am really asking is, I have an E93 and it only gives oil temp, and does not give coolant temp. I understand why oil temp and pressure would be valuable information in conjunction with coolant temp., but all of my life I have always seen coolant temp as the critical information to have. Now I have a car that does not give coolant temp, and I don't know what the oil temp should be, or not be. What is the value of knowing the oil temp?

 

It’s for track without an oil cooler or a boosted build. If you’re driving around the street on an na car you would never need it.

 

You don't need to buy any sensors for temp. Your car already has an oil temp sensor. You can get an oil temp reading reading on your radio for maximum OEM appearance by using this: eKombi für BMW 3er E46 / X3 E83 / Z4 E85 – Car-Solution

 

That's not plug & play to install. That being said, the standard oil temp sensor isn't accurate. It uses the level sensor and heats it up and measures how long it takes to cool down again and based upon that it calculates the current temperature of the oil (if I'm not mistaken). I rather use an NTC


Gentlemen, I very much appreciate all your input here.

I am now debating if I should use a VEI or MTX-D gauge.

This is the MTX-D. You can program it using your computer to set at which temperature the alarm should go off, and at which temperature the leds turn green/yellow/red. In the middle there's the pressure reading. So you can customize it. But there's not actual digital reading of the temperature, just leds that light up. Yes, according to how you set it, you could figure out how many degrees are which leds.

VEI unit: basic, can choose brightness, easy to install, no bull. Brightness differs if you turn your lights on/off. Red light looks more OEM-ish in E46



Not sure which one to pick.

 

I was looking at S54 housings yesterday and it seems like the M3 euro housings are set up for the old cooler fittings, but not the USA housings?

S54 Oil Filter Housing “Euro Housing”

Genuine BMW S54 oil filter housing, also used to retrofit M54s, M52, etc for oil coolers.

www.moreheadspeedworks.com

MSW BMW Oil Temp Sensor Flange (M5X, S54) E36, E46, Z3 & Z4

The MSW Oil Temp Sensor Adapter Flange allows you to easily measure engine oil temperature from the sump using an aftermarket 1/8 NPT sensor (such as a PT100 from AiM.)…

www.moreheadspeedworks.com

^^^ That’s what I’m using for my oil temps, with a VDO gauge in my track car.

I’m using the PMC adapter run to an oil cooler as well, with my oil pressure gauge mounted to it, but it’s not working for some reason. Maybe it’s not grounded properly.

 

I was looking at S54 housings yesterday and it seems like the M3 euro housings are set up for the old cooler fittings, but not the USA housings?

S54 Oil Filter Housing “Euro Housing”

Genuine BMW S54 oil filter housing, also used to retrofit M54s, M52, etc for oil coolers.

www.moreheadspeedworks.com

^^^ That’s what I’m using for my oil temps, with a VDO gauge in my track car.



I’m using the PMC adapter run to an oil cooler as well, with my oil pressure gauge mounted to it, but it’s not working for some reason. Maybe it’s not grounded properly.

The euro m cars have them we only have them on e46 m3 and whatever z had the s54

 

On track days or heavy driving, the oil temp can get too high while the coolant can stay within range, because of a lack of oil cooler.

1) good for knowing when the engine is fully warm, not ideal to stress your engine until its at good operating temperature. some M cars have the warning lights on the Tach to achieve the same result
2) for tracking or generally spirited driving it can warn you to back off when the oil temperature goes beyond a safe range.

This is a different topic, but imo this is pure bullshit. The M3 tach has leds to a certain rpm as a warning, so you shouldn't exceed that range of rpm until the oil is warmer. But let's face it, after literally 1 minute of driving, the leds already show 6k rpm. There is no way in hell I'm gonna rev it to 6k with a cold engine.

 

I'm kinda leaning towards Sorek's Gauge.S setup, the one that Sreten used in his Touring track build:

Gauge.S for E39 E46 middle vent mount

Gauge.S for E39 E46 middle vent mount is THE gauge solution with ability to display engine, car and external sensors data and simultaneously saving log data to SD card. Device is fully customizable to the needs of clients. Definition files for each car along with "auto log" features can be...

shop.sorek.uk

He uses a VANOS banjo bolt adapter with a 2-in-1 Bosch PST-F 1 temp & pressure sensor - seems a bit expensive for a simple drilled through banjo bolt but is a nice minimalist solution:

Vanos Banjo M14x1.5 to M10x1.0 sensor adapter M50 / M52 / M54 for Bosc

Vanos Banjo M14x1.5 to M10x1.0 sensor adapter M50 / M52 / M54 for Bosch PST-F 1Allows to use your vanos banjo bolt on M5X engine and screw in M10x1.0 sensor or use it as oil cooler line.

shop.sorek.uk

Not a cheap setup by any means but quite like how it integrates into the interior, only partially sacrificing one of the vents and you get heaps more options for monitoring, all programmable with some logging features as well. Not top of my priority list but something I'm slowly saving up towards.

 

The M54 does have a thermocouple in the oil path in the oil filter housing, thus:

it's in the right place, and it's 'wetted' well- oil from the filter housing has to go past
it to get to the rest of the engine. (Mega, I cheated and used a t60)

So if you could snoop that sensor and get a converted reading from it, it'd be a good place to read temp.
As would something that replaced that plug and stuck into the oil flow a bit.

However, for a cooler, there doesn't seem to be an easy way to drill and tap the housing to get full flow. Sleeving that
hole below the temp sender, and then returning the cooled oil to the vanos fitting would do it, but not be... gorgeous.

I

 

I used this on my car recently. I too was worried about the fitment and build quality. When it got delivered to me I instantly replaced both lower O-rings with genuine BMW ones. Then I removed the centre tube section that is held in place by 3 small bolts and used red loctite on them just in case. So far it’s good. No leaks, oil pressure is present and it just works. I am running a standalome oil temp sensor on it for my analog oil temp gauge. To be fair though I didn’t test it on a daily basis, since the car is not roadworthy yet, but I drove the car a bit on the backroads and it did get some full heat cycles.