Nautilus blue 350s

[MAG]

Back to analogue!

In my build thread I've always wanted to be as honest as possible about the products that I install on my car and unfortunately I've just had a fairly poor experience.

The product in question was my new AIM digital dash. To give them there full credit AIM in the UK have been supportive and tried their best to fix the problems I have had with the dash so far.

I also know that a lot of people seem to have had zero issues with them and have literally had a plug-and-play experience.

Unfortunately that has not been the case for me, so here I will detail the problems I have had in case it can help anyone else, as I know there are a number of people that have had issues.

The first problem was my HVAC backlighting went out. After making sure I had the latest firmware and a call to AIM, I was advised that they were aware of this problem and a firmware update was in development.

The second problem was trying to upload a new shift light pattern. I wanted them to kick in at 3000 so created a new pattern on Race Studio 3. They uploaded fine and worked but I then had an error light come on where the driving mode symbol should be indicated. 

I called AIM and they said there could be 2 causes. Strangely, it was that I had loaded a boot up screen at the wrong resolution. Or it could be that my dash was set up for the wrong model car. In the menu, it seemed that the right year was selected but to be thorough I reselected that and also changed the boot up screen to the exact 480X800 resolution.

This made the error light go out, great I thought! I then took the car out and the shift lights had stopped working... So I went home and reloaded the sequence. The error light came back on again.

I called AIM and we tried a number of times to create new configurations and load them onto the dash but nothing worked. Eventually they said that it'd would be a new firmware update direct from AIM that would be required so he'd put in a request.

The next issue was that evening when I went to put the car away. I started the car and noticed there was a dead pixel in the corner of the screen, arrrgh... 

And then, after I'd got the car in the garage, I took the key out of the ignition but the dash stayed on, FFS! I tried repeatedly rebooting the dash, reloading configurations but to no avail, it just stayed on. Finally I had to disconnect the battery. As soon as the battery we as re connected it would just power back up again!

Today I have removed the AIM dash and refitted the good old analogue one, which works just fine.

I plan to ask for a direct exchange on the AIM dash and see what happens.

[Mark030358]

☹️

[Jcx]

Sounds like rotten luck. Hope your exchange is trouble free. Your diary of mods is inspiring and your approach always seems to be thorough. Perhaps just rotten luck this time. 
 

have you settled on headlight bulbs you are sticking with? 

[TonyKL]

Since lotus has adopted this for their cars I’d assumed the unit worked. As said above I do hope you’ve just been unlucky this time. 

[MAG]

Test fit done, hardware's arrived, booked in on the 25th with Robin at RJM bodyworks, quite exciting 😁

[EliseExige]

On 21/02/2021 at 15:08, MAG said:

Back to analogue!

In my build thread I've always wanted to be as honest as possible about the products that I install on my car and unfortunately I've just had a fairly poor experience.

The product in question was my new AIM digital dash. To give them there full credit AIM in the UK have been supportive and tried their best to fix the problems I have had with the dash so far.

I also know that a lot of people seem to have had zero issues with them and have literally had a plug-and-play experience.

Unfortunately that has not been the case for me, so here I will detail the problems I have had in case it can help anyone else, as I know there are a number of people that have had issues.

The first problem was my HVAC backlighting went out. After making sure I had the latest firmware and a call to AIM, I was advised that they were aware of this problem and a firmware update was in development.

The second problem was trying to upload a new shift light pattern. I wanted them to kick in at 3000 so created a new pattern on Race Studio 3. They uploaded fine and worked but I then had an error light come on where the driving mode symbol should be indicated. 

I called AIM and they said there could be 2 causes. Strangely, it was that I had loaded a boot up screen at the wrong resolution. Or it could be that my dash was set up for the wrong model car. In the menu, it seemed that the right year was selected but to be thorough I reselected that and also changed the boot up screen to the exact 480X800 resolution.

This made the error light go out, great I thought! I then took the car out and the shift lights had stopped working... So I went home and reloaded the sequence. The error light came back on again.

I called AIM and we tried a number of times to create new configurations and load them onto the dash but nothing worked. Eventually they said that it'd would be a new firmware update direct from AIM that would be required so he'd put in a request.

The next issue was that evening when I went to put the car away. I started the car and noticed there was a dead pixel in the corner of the screen, arrrgh... 

And then, after I'd got the car in the garage, I took the key out of the ignition but the dash stayed on, FFS! I tried repeatedly rebooting the dash, reloading configurations but to no avail, it just stayed on. Finally I had to disconnect the battery. As soon as the battery we as re connected it would just power back up again!

Today I have removed the AIM dash and refitted the good old analogue one, which works just fine.

I plan to ask for a direct exchange on the AIM dash and see what happens.

Is a new shiftlight pattern something extraordinary? Or have others users done this succesfully without problems?

[Mattmahope]

You might see my car when you visit Robin, although seems to be progressing well so may be done by then. He’s a great guy, thank you for the recommendation 👍

[MAG]

11 hours ago, Mattmahope said:

You might see my car when you visit Robin, although seems to be progressing well so may be done by then. He’s a great guy, thank you for the recommendation 👍

Make sure you give him some credit when you post the pics 😉

17 hours ago, EliseExige said:

Is a new shiftlight pattern something extraordinary? Or have others users done this succesfully without problems?

It's a basic feature of the unit 👍

[Mattmahope]

Robin definitely deserves all the credit! Really great bloke and does fabulous work from what I have seen so far.

[EliseExige]

1 hour ago, MAG said:

Make sure you give him some credit when you post the pics 😉

It's a basic feature of the unit 👍

OK, thanks. Good option if I can see them at all.... 😉

[MAG]

So, yesterday I had another mainly cosmetic upgrade completed for the car. The upgrade in question was 380 type canards. 

I had thought about this for some time, had looked at a number of aftermarket options but all had issues with the design that did'nt quite match the aesthetic of the OEM ones for me.

They are extremely expensive for what they are being just fibreglass, but the shape and quality of molding is much better than any of the replicas I have seen so far.

The car went to see Robin at RJM bodyworks again. I supplied Robin with the canards and also a fitting kit consisting of stainless steel rivnuts and titaniium M5 hex bolts from pro-bolt.

The fitting does require fettling and the fit is'nt perfectly flush yet but out of the box its markedly better than any of the replica options I have seen. 

They are almost where they need to be but I'm a bit picky and want them completely flush so we've decided to bond them to the PPF in order to attain a perfect flush look. Having looked quite closely at some factory fitted ones there are still gaps so in the end mine should look even better. The advantage of the PPF is that we're not bonding to the paint and therefore can be removed later if needed.

There will be an updated photoshoot happening soon!

[Davey D]

Yeah, as noted - The canards on my 380 don't perfectly hug the bumper 100% perfect all the way around

[Techyd]

As the car is driven, how much aerodynamic load is placed on these?  If they get bonded to the ppf and therefore completely, do you expect any sort of movement?  And if they do move, will that break / crack the bond or ripple / stretch the ppf it is bonded to perhaps?  I'm just wondering if that gap, while not great aesthetically does allow a little flex when at speed.

 

[MAG]

53 minutes ago, Techyd said:

As the car is driven, how much aerodynamic load is placed on these?  If they get bonded to the ppf and therefore completely, do you expect any sort of movement?  And if they do move, will that break / crack the bond or ripple / stretch the ppf it is bonded to perhaps?  I'm just wondering if that gap, while not great aesthetically does allow a little flex when at speed.

 

They will still be bolted...

[MAG]

AIM install take 2

So this week's new stock became available from AIM and they sent me out a new dash.

The dash arrived promptly next day but upon opening the box another drama started to unfold. The binacle was damaged with the bracket for the GPS module being broken away from the shroud and also the trim points where glue is used to secure the two parts together were broken. At this point considering all the problems I've had with the previous unit I didn't really know what to do. I almost wanted to give up despite the fact I had spent the considerable amount of money having the reversing camera installed. AIM offered once again to replace it for a brand new unit but to be honest I just couldn't be bothered. I decided to repair the unit myself using super glue which was straightforward.

Installation went smoothly and the new binnacle on this unit was actually other nicer quality with regards to the finish of the plastic than the previous unit I had had. 

In use the new unit seemed to perform fine, all previous issues fixed; dead pixel, HVAC lights and it actually switches off when I turn the engine off 😁 all was well until I tried once again to modify the shift light pattern. When I did this the error light returned where the driving mode indicator is normally placed. Arrgh! After trying a couple of different methods to get rid of it that included reloading a stock configuration on, it turned out that the only way I could remove the light was to reload the latest firmware back onto the unit again.

So in summary, it looks cool, has great features but Q&A plus bugs are still a big weak point.

[MAG]

New photoshoot 😁

[RoflOnMyWaffle]

Just needs a pair of Tilletts and you'll be good 🤣👍

[Mattmahope]

Car looks fantastic Mark! Great photos too 👍

[MAG]

It's been a long time coming and for me it's one of the final major pieces to finish my car in a cosmetic sense. I've finally ordered a carbon fibre 380 Cup/410/430 style engine hatch! It's by far the most expensive cosmetic/exterior component I've bought so I'm hoping it's worth the outlay!

[MAG]

Also on the way are a set of nice engine covers, a DAB stereo upgrade and a couple of small interior touch ups. My existing Pioneer SPH10BT will be up for grabs soon if anyone's interested, it's a fantastic solution to the Exige stereo/ phone holder/integration all in one hit...

 

[MAG]

Carbon cam cover install. Notes to follow...

[rykchiu]

Carbon covers look great (along with the rest of your mods/Exige)! Mind sharing where you sourced the carbon covers from? Did the bracket/mount/bolts etc come with?

[MAG]

36 minutes ago, rykchiu said:

Carbon covers look great (along with the rest of your mods/Exige)! Mind sharing where you sourced the carbon covers from? Did the bracket/mount/bolts etc come with?

 

[rykchiu]

Excellent, thank you - just received a notification from your YouTube channel too!

[MAG]

Okay, carbon engine cam cover install, the ins and outs...

I've had a week off and the purchase was a spur of the moment purchase. My car came without any type of engine cover and I've always thought it looked a little unfinished.

I did a quick search and eliseshop turned out to be the cheapest and also had everything in stock. I ordered on bank holiday Monday and my order arrived on Wednesday via UPS. I'm not sure how the Brexit thing works at the moment as I've ordered stuff from Germany recently and it came through with no additional charge. With this, I ordered but didn't appear to be charged VAT. I was then charged by UPS... Anyway, arrived very quickly with no delays.

Quality of the carbon panels and molding is very nice, I'm not sure who eliseshop use but these are good. I had to order the fitting kit which is essentially 2 pressed steel brackets, 3 rubber grommets and a selection of bolts, it's very expensive at around €100 but you can't do without it, sooo...

First job was insertion of the rubber grommets onto the underside of the larger carbon panel. The first issue was that the fits a bit too tight, also the rubber grommets have a little nub that'll need to be sliced off. Out came the Stanley knife and I shaved the grommets down a fraction. After this you can twist and push them into place.

Next, working on the upper cam, you need to fit the 3 steel ball mounts. Two of these are on tower nuts, this is straight forward, they screw into 3 threaded holes in the top of the engine.

Then onto fitting the brackets to mount the lower, smaller cover. This is where it becomes a bit of a pain. Starting with the right side bracket, it is secured in two places with two bolts. The first and lower attachment point is simple, the bolt which already holds a metal tab in place on the engine is removed and the tab on the new bracket slips under the existing tab and the bolt is reinserted. The upper tab on the bracket is a pain in the arse. There is a hole in the triangular steel bracket onto which the super charger pulley cover is mounted. In the supplied kit, there are bots but no nuts. Fortunately I had a nyloc in the right size. Threading this bolt through the hole in order to secure the upper part of the bracket requires some serious finger yoga... At one point I did drop a washer which ended up down by the pulley cam but it was very fortunately retrieved using a home made magnetic tool 😁 Next was the left side bracket, there are two existing threaded holes on the engine onto which this bracket should bolt. Accessing the upper hole is tight but doable. Accessing the lower hole would require the removal of several additional brackets and wiring clips which I decided just wasn't worth the effort as the single large M6 bolt is more than man enough to hold the bracket in place.

Finally, attach the supplied spring clips to the smaller cover and then push both the upper and lower covers into place. Coat em with your choice of ceramic product and the jobs a good un!