I was interested in getting this Defi BF gauge set. But I'm wondering what the people that have the Defi gauges think of them. I just have always skipped on some nice gauges, and I finally want to address that point.
Thoughts?

I'm curious as to how the oil pressure gauge gets installed? Will I have to have a sending unit at the oil filter housing? I hope the whole set comes with everything I need to install all the gauges.

http://www.vividracing.com/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/51_364_1711_2332/products_id/5821

I heard they're really good. My bro is about to buy a Pyrometer and Boost gauge from them. But a lot of companies either have them out of stock or say they are discontinued. EvasiveMotorSports.com sells them.

yea i really like the defi gauges.. who doesn't. it's the price that no one likes.. . its more of a luxury thing. So for those who have the luxury, I'm jealous.

I actually don't think the prices are that bad when compared to Apex'i or leading companies. The Apex'i boost is about $200 something, while the Defi is around $115.

If you're looking at the Defi gauges, you might want to consider the Autometer Nexus series. They have the same features as the BF series plus some. I chose the Autometer gauges because of their adjustable redline feature. Check out Autometer's site to see what I'm talking about. They're also a little cheaper. As for oil pressure gauge, if you look next to the oil filter, you will see the sensor for the dash's oil pressure idiot light. To put an oil pressure gauge in, attach the sensor to this port. When you do this, you should actually run a remote mount. This is because the vibration of the engine leads to erroneous readings and a reduced lifespan for the sensor. So what you do is thread in a metric to AN adapter. I think the hose is 1/8th NPT, but I can't be sure. I just went to a speedshop and threaded the idiot light into fittings until I found the right one. So this fitting should be a male to male. One end threads into the port, the other should be AN (-03 if I remember correctly). Then take a pre-made -03 AN hose (three feet should be long enough, it's available at Summit) and run it to the side of the engine bay. On the other end of the line, put another adapter, this one is a -03 male to NPT female fitting. Now you have an option. If you want, you can keep the idiot light as an additional warning of low oil pressure. If you just want the gauge, you screw the sensor into the adapter and secure the assembly to the side of the engine bay with whatever you have available (i.e. zipties). If you want both the gauge and the idiot light, screw a T fitting into the end of the AN hose. Then screw both sensors into the T fitting and there you go. Remember that NPT fittings require you to use Teflon tape to seal the treads. Also, the threads on an NPT fitting are tapered, which means that you won't be able to screw the sensor all the way into the fitting. Don't worry this is normal. I've tried to be as clear as possible, but if you have any questions, shoot me a PM.

I was actually thinking of getting Nexus gauges as well, but no one has them that I know of so I'm a little skeptical.

Also, I don't know about the Defi gauges, but the Nexus gauges come with everything needed to install (of course you need to buy the materials to remote mount it, but it includes the sensor and wiring harness). Apeximprt, call Slowboy and ask for them. They weren't on the website when I bought them, but they special ordered them for me.

http://www.slowboyracing.com/shop.php?sid=&cat=2808. I've seen them cheaper other places, but I like to support DSM shops.

Apeximprt2nr said:

I actually don't think the prices are that bad when compared to Apex'i or leading companies. The Apex'i boost is about $200 something, while the Defi is around $115.

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These are electrical gauges by Defi, the D-link BF series boost gauge is $250 each.

I don't know if the nexus guages have the same features as Defi. I would have to check autometers website. But I love but defi's. The one thing I like is the record feature. It records all the gauges at once. This way you can make a pass then check your boost and EGT together for each gear.

Again, the Nexus gauges are just as good, if not better than the Defi gauges. Check the website to see their features. That said, either is an amazingly good choice. You really can't go wrong in terms of quality. I chose the Nexus gauges because they have a better warning system in the event that something goes wrong.

I asked about the Defi D-Link BF series gauges and the set I posted a link to. I don't care about anything regarding the Autometer Nexus gauges.
I need to know about the Defi's.
Thanks!

Sorry to get off topic, I was just trying to give you some options. The installation of an oil pressure sensor applies to any gauge .

Flash said:

I asked about the Defi D-Link BF series gauges and the set I posted a link to. I don't care about anything regarding the Autometer Nexus gauges.
I need to know about the Defi's.
Thanks!

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I don't know about the D-Link series (I got the D-Gauge series) but mine came with everything you need to install the oil pressure gauge. I ended up not using the adapter that came with the gauge and threaded the sending unit directly into the housing. All I needed was some teflon paste, but I already had that. After the car warmed up I retightened the gauge, and it has worked fine for 6 months with no leaks.

However, I did install my sending unit directly onto the oil filter housing, which i guess is a bad thing. I've been told that it's "safer" for the sending unit to be remotely mounted with SS line connecting it to the housing. Something about the engine vibrations destroying the sending units. So if you ignore this, then my gauges came with everything needed for install.

I've looked on Defi's site; it appears that while the D-Gauge's are blessed with instructions in English, the D-Link BF's are only in Japanese... and the pictures aren't very discriptive. If you're really curious about everything that the gauges come with I would try calling either TheSpeedFactor or Logic Performance... they're two vendors I can think of that carry Defi.

Just out of curiousity.. why are you spending so much on the BF's when the D-Gauge's are cheaper and match the interior dash color perfectly? You'd still get the Defi quality, but without the extra cost of the control unit. And the individual gauges are cheaper to begin with. It seems like a lot of extra money just to get the fancy "black out" effect...

I don't really have much experience with the defi gauges, but I just recently picked up a set of Apex'i EL2's. Their layout seemed easier to read, and they're less expensive for the same thing.

The only disadvantage compared to the defi-link is how they connect to the control box. The defi-links piggyback off of each other, on wire to the first gauge, one from first to second, one from second to third, etc etc. You have to run an individual one to each with the Apex, but there are only 2 plugs on the control box.

They sell 2 things to solve this: a splitter which splits at the end that plugs into the gauges, and one that splits right after where it plugs into the control box and has 2 individual cables running from there.

As far as installation on electronic gauges, you have a whole bunch of sensors/senders that you install in the engine bay.

Oil pressure has a sender -- you'll have to rig up a T if you want to keep your stock idiot light functioning.

One other thing to keep in mind is that the japanese brands don't use NPT fittings for anything; they're all BSPT, which is a wee bit harder to find fittings and taps for. http://www.mcmaster-carr.com carries pretty much anything you could ever need when it comes to those kinds of things.

I love the defi gauges. My friend has oil pres., boost, and egt in his Evo 8 and the amber (red) color matches perfectly with the rest of the car. They hook together daisy chain style so you can mount them on the dash or anywhere and the backs of the gauges still look clean! I am saving up to replace my autometer gauges with the defi set. My one complaint is the boost is read in bar... : ( ah well, can't be perfect I guess! I can try to answer any questions you have! -Matt

suicidal2af said:

Oil pressure has a sender -- you'll have to rig up a T if you want to keep your stock idiot light functioning.

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The idiot light is on the front of the oil filter housing, the stock oil pressure gauge is on the back. You don't need a T to keep the idiot light. You can just take out the stock gauge sending unit and install the new sender.

larsrya8 said:

The idiot light is on the front of the oil filter housing, the stock oil pressure gauge is on the back. You don't need a T to keep the idiot light. You can just take out the stock gauge sending unit and install the new sender.

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My bad - I meant the stock gauge. That said, most of the japanese gauges have a 1/8-28 BSPT sender anyway, so you may as well spend the extra $3 to keep the stock one.

I simply LOVE my DEFI BF gauges. I have boost and EGT mounted in the center vent panel and my control box sits in the glove box. Boost does read in bar and EGT in °C, but if you can do maths the slightest bit, it's all good!

Only complaint is that my EGT probe seems to send anormally high readings (1500-1650°F cruising). I checked if it was stuck on the metal in the manifold, but it looks alright. Everything else seems fine!

Other than that, they're by far the best looking gauges i've ever seen!

Tip : if buying these, you can easily clean away light scratches that will inevitably occur with mcguiars plastiX. I've done it and they look better than new!

I've got the Autometer Carbon Fiber series and I'm not as thrilled as I used to be with the look. Does anyone have gauges that match the stock look, i.e. red needle with white text, amber text when illuminated?

The Greddy Electronic/Peak/Hold 60mm Silver gauges seem to match perfectly with the stock cluster. At least at night time. The font, and illumination (amber) looks great. However in the day time its silver face. If you have the 99 white face cluster it should match up. Unfortunately the White and Black face light up green. Why I dont know.

I want to keep the dash from looking like a Nevada whorehouse at night. Too many colors = distracting.

UnderPrssureDSM said:

I want to keep the dash from looking like a Nevada whorehouse at night. Too many colors = distracting.

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The Defi D-Gauge gauges match up perfectly. They are more expensive than Autometers, but not nearly as bad as the Defi BF gauges are.

larsrya8 said:

The Defi D-Gauge gauges match up perfectly. They are more expensive than Autometers, but not nearly as bad as the Defi BF gauges are.

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I think the reason he would be interested in the BF's, like me, is that the BF's have the peak/hold/playback/warning feauter that the D's don't.

Flash said:

These are electrical gauges by Defi, the D-link BF series boost gauge is $250 each.

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Hey dude, I'm actually in Highlands Ranch right now (parent's house). But I live in boulder.

Anyways, best price you are going to find for any Defi brand gauge is going to be here

Boost gauge is $206.