iBUS installation location
 

I have mk4 nav and dsp so every thing is located in the trunk.

Getting ready to install my avin 4 and looking at Reslser's install wiki page it does not recommend installing it behind the dash where the connectors are for the screen.

It recommends tapping right by the Quadralock farka harness. Which then would require me to get a USB extension cable BUT it doesn't recommend using any extensiona either.

Says something about certain functions will not be able to communicate.

Wiki page: https://wiki.ibus-app.de/index.php?t...-USB-Interface

This is a catch 22 lol

Anyone who had mk4 nav, where did you tap in your iBUS and how well is it working?

I thought about doing this, but once it mentioned having to buy an 6M extension since I have navigation that I would have to run the length of the vehicle just for it to work - I decided against it. I am not about to gut the interior to upgrade my head unit. It's just not plug & play if you have standard navigation from factory. One perk of business radio is that it's easy to upgrade to aftermarket head units as they are truly plug & play. I believe all 4.8iS came standard with navigation?

I have this issue with my 2002 M3 as well since it came with navigation. I desperately want a modern head unit or at least BT for that matter in my M3 but it's just not possible without gutting. I could go FM transmitters (which blow) or GROMM which is probably my best option without taking out the interior. I have already retrofit aux with wireless BT in my 4.8iS and i'll just leave it as-is.

That sucks! I was just about to install using the old monitor cables. That page was recently updated as when I originally read those instructions there were no notes about missing data using connections other than the radio adapter. I do not want to pull the interior again... :rolleyes: I'll check the TIS and see if there is a bus line at the LCM...

Edit: If you are worried about USB extensions, as they recommend against... just extend the wires on the iBus interface to wherever you decide to install.

What would be the difference between extending the ibus wires vs the USB end? Really baffled.

Yeh lots of red flags with that. The connection should work anywhere on the bus if the protocol is handled properly which I don't think it is by the sounds of it. Putting it in the back probably adds some delay that by chance/luck band-aids some data conflict/collision and allows it to work better. Definitely would be a good thing for to hear about some other peoples experience with this.

You ordered the avant 4 right? Mine came with a pigtail off the main harness for the iBus USB

Shouldn't be any. But they recommend no USB extensions. They don't say you can not extend the input wires. Unless I missed that somewhere. :dunno:

Yes but my harness will be at the trunk so I want to confirm if I should extend the wires or get a USB extension.

USB extension being the easier option.

If your iBus adaptor and harness are in the rear, why not use the CD changer 3 pin connector? It has the 12V, GND and iBus already there.

He will be in the same situation of extending the USB interface with a USB extension cable. Personally, I'd rather extend the original signal iBus wire than the "interpreted" signals via a USB extension.

Remember. All that no extension stuff could be a CYA policy as well. Same thing with having to tap in the rear at the radio harness. I tend to agree with 80stech that this is a coding issue rather than an issue of where you are tapping the signal from. Just my thoughts though as I have done no testing or trial/error to test that.

Maybe I misunderstood but if his harness with the iBus pigtail is in the rear, then the CD changer 3 pin connector is inches away :dunno:

Yes but the USB port is still on the headunit up front.

Yes, I misunderstood then. I thought the Android harnesses were based in the rear for previous factory nav units. I don't have nav so I don't know the harnessing.

Basically the plug you have behind the dash is in the trunk under the spare wheel.

So we use the provided Harness to connect there and extend the connector that goes in the radio all the way to the front.

If you want to tap into the LCM wires, pin 36 is iBus and you can grab pin 39 for the reverse signal to the rearview mirror so it is not a PWM signal.

https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/e...0i-sav/rikN3Ho

^Nice info. I'm going to try that method for the iBus data wire. Will report back as to effectiveness. Thanks OB.

a ton of difference... :D

USB is a high-speed, short distance data bus with very little error correction.

iBus is a low-speed data bus designed to run in (electrically) noisy environments over long wires and has robust error detection/correction.

Guess which one will stand extending... ;)

Ah ok thanks for that, I was thinking it was just as simple as flow of electricity.

There is no advantage to putting the adapter in the back of the car. Using my howto you can see where to tap into for the ibus adapter. Any device in the car that is on the ibus will have the same "signal" quality no matter where it is. Its a bus not an antenna wire.

This page shows you everything you need to know to install the ibus adapter :

BMW IBUS Adapter – Android | Crowz Nest

Note I had the factory nav so this install is exactly like yours except I didn't have dsp which has no effect on how to install the ibus adapter anyways.

I'm not terribly sure ab this. For about 3 weeks, I have been fighting an SLS error that has effectively disabled my iBus connection. The app will not see data on the bus. Oh, but it sees *some* data! It gets mileage, coolant temp, and a couple other things but not sh!t from the LCM/MID. I changed absolutely NOTHING and the app suddenly threw errors after the SLS troubles began.

Well, this isn't exactly true. The app *will* show lights and turn signal data from the LCM on the image. So the LCM communicates. But something will not allow messages to pass through to the MID. I cannot program my MID functions. My time and date will not update. I cannot program the light functions, comfort blink, or any of that. I cannot set DRL options and control them in the app, but I can with an AutoLogic which throws no LCM errors. I do get MPG data however. Random, rt?

I've even fiddled with the silly USB connection again to satisfy the folks with the app. The error I am getting is 'No communication from control unit'. Even though the app offers the error, the folks who offer the app have essentially shrugged their shoulders.

Of course, getting ANYONE to look into this silly USB and Android radio app is an exercise in futility. - even an Indy who's become a friend over the past 20 years.

• I have ordered a couple of new USB units from Rolf- they should be here this week while I am gone.
• Can't count the number of application settings and other twists and turns I've had.
• I have replaced one air ride part and have ordered new front/rear height sensors and a rebuilt 4 corner pump.
• I will have an idea of what's going on this week or next- Probably next.

As referenced above, it's real easy to look at this as an air suspension problem, and that is *part* of the problem. The *real* issue I am having is why the communication with the bus from the app and interface is suddenly sh!t- in the face of this SLS error.

I've done some reading about how messages travel along the bus. Different priority messages get different priority along the bus. Also as above, it seems like the application may not be sending at the same priority as the EHC and other sensors.

So, as part of what I am going to ask that they try, I *will* find this wire from the LCM and tap directly in. This will prevent the lengthy, noisy voyage from the LCM, back to the back of the car, then up to the radio- 5 feet from where it started. It *should* avoid a *ton* of noise as it shortens the 'commute' along the bus by a ton.

But it's all theoretical for now. I just know that I am having a weird error that the app folks cant figure out and the Indy will not ever need to find the answer again. So it's up to threads like this to whack-a-mole the problem till it goes away.

If something causes chatter on a bus system where your connected doesn't really matter. The chatter is a packet issue. Basically on a bus system there are protocols that handle the packets transmitted. This system allows for many devices to be connected to the same data path aka the bus. Its a great method for packing devices onto a connection that doesn't require but one wired path aka its cheap :)

The drawback with this method is everything MUST be compliant. Any one device that misbehaves can take out the entire bus rendering all devices dead. Random misbehaving will result in certain data loss but might not be enough to take out the entire system. This will result in some data being passed successfully and some being lost. It can be random or in your case just certain things not working.

The normal method to test this is to remove the offending device from the bus. If you unplug it and things work flawless you found your culprit.

Location on the bus doesn't really matter "signal wise" but you can effect what is seen on the bus and what data gets to the bus controller.

So if a device at the middle of the bus is chattering there is a chance a device closer to the controller might get more data to the controller non corrupted vs being after the bad device. But the real solution is to fix the bad device to have a healthy bus.

Also if a device is designed to spew data/errors when it has an issue onto the bus it can overwhelm a lower priority level device on the bus.

Protocol of the I-bus

In BMW vehicles, the protocol for communicating the individual ECUs in the networks is structured according to the following scheme:

Source ID
Identification of the participant who wants to send a message to another BUS user

Length
Length of the complete message (without source ID and length itself)

Destination ID
Identification of the participant to whom the message is sent

Data
payload the message

XOR CRC Checksum
The checksum is used to verify the message. The recipient of the message calculates the checksum and compares it with the one contained in the message.


Now with this packet you can kind of get the idea how this can go sooooo totally wrong if any part of this pattern isnt followed fully.


Some other possibly helpful info I ran across.

Addresses of the bus participants in the I-bus
In the network, each participant is identified by an ID (address), the length is one byte each.
ID
(Hex)

Name of the participant comment

00
General News (1)

18
CD changer Address of the MP3 player

30
SES (voice input)

3B
video module

3F
DIS external diagnostic system

43
Menu screen on-board monitor

50
steering wheel buttons Left side

60
Parking system PDC

68
radio

6A
DSP (sound processor)

7F
GPS module

80
Instrument cluster IKE

A8
Unknown

BB
TV module (in video module)

BF
Light control module LCM

C0
Multi-information display MID not installed

C8
phone

D0
navigation data

E7
Text line in instrument cluster

E8
Unknown

ED
Memory seats

F0
Buttons on-board monitor

FF
General News (2)

The following explains why the dsp quits when the factory head unit is replaced by an aftermarket radio.

Guess I'll go back to this option as it was my original intention and definitely the easiest option for those of us who had nav monitors. Good info on the bus as well. Was pretty sure that was the way it worked. As always, thanks Crowz.

My thoughts are mixed. I know Crowz has had no problems at all with his but Rolf Resler knows more about the BMW iBus than any of us and he is saying it has issues tapped there, I can only believe him. I would love to hear more from him on those connections.

3.3 Connection to the MID plug (NO RECOMMENDATION !!!!)

3.4 Connection to the blue connector of the on-board monitor (NO RECOMMENDATION !!!!)

I hear that too... but in an effort to avoid running an iBus data wire all the way from the back of the truck and having to pull the interior again... I'm going to first try the board monitor plug, and then the LCM harness. If both of those fail I'll run a new wire from the back. :dunno:

Mine has been flawless. No issues at all with it. If my wife cant mess it up since she got it from me that's about as severe of use as it gets :)

But as mentioned you can always wire it differently later and my method takes two seconds to install.

Mine was great for a solid year. Then this dance. :(

Anyway. I am *looking* for the noisy thing that's breaking the fun for everyone, but nothing sees an error. *Sometimes* I get the accumulator error, clear it, and then it comes back. I'm anxious as hell to find out if wiring it closer to the LCM changes the behavior. :popcorn:

Since I haven’t installed mine yet and the harness already tapped into the radio plug from AVIN I will just extend those wires during my install.

Is the Avin set up to use the interface and is already tapped in to the harness? If it is, I'd say use that and see how it works. I'm only planning on the LCM connection to satisfy a curiosity and address a functional issue. If I got an Avin, and it's supposed to work the way they provide it, I'd hit that first. Unless I have the wrong idea of how it's designed.

This is why I want to move to the LCM. I mean, we're working on finding the offending device. Lord knows. But it's not a terribly tough itch to scratch (thanks to you guys in this thread) so I wanna see if it'll improve if relocated.

Or, if the guys figure out what the hell is happening and fix the chatty Kathy device, I'll probably just leave it the way it's worked for the past year.

Yes AVIN Harness comes already tapped in and has the connector plug on it already so for those without factory nav it would have been a true plug and play.

I tapped into the connector behind the OE dash monitor for my IBUS connection - works flawlessly.

I had the MK4 unit and do have DSP. I now have the Android based Seicane unit still using DSP. I have the IBUS adapter connected to the USB port in the back of the unit. I had it connected to a USB hub that I have in the second USB port on the unit. Both setups work fine.

Well, I got the X5 back in play after a LOT of search and effort, but like all good E53 owners, we know the fat lady ain't sung. So, I am watching and waiting. :popcorn:

My theory evolved to proving a module on the bus was chatty and causing 'noise' that kept the IBus interface from talking to the LCM. While I did order ride height sensors, I only ordered one front and rear so we didn't put 'em on.

I decided not to change *anything* with the iBus connection for this next move so I could discern if a failing iBus interface was the *cause* of all the SLS errors I'd been having. I figured if the interface even worked, it would tell us that the pump we replaced was the chatty Kathy on the bus.

But the 'refurbished' eBay pump is in the truck. This may have been the culprit. The ride is now *much* more subtle, even lowered.

The radio had been disconnected this whole time. I simply pulled the fuse I'd tapped for the iBus Interface- it was the same as the radio. I'd ordered 2 Reisler's for this project before we picked up the white one. (or even *knew about* it) Turns out I didn't need either one of them. When I returned home this morning after all the work, I plugged in the radio, navigated to the app and attempted to register. While it had failed with the SLS errors, it went through today!

My iBus interface is back with full function! I was even able to connect and program the LCM. Also, the app is communicating to the LCM to power AEs and fogs as DRLs. And the only thing I changed was the OE EHC air pump. Let's see how long it lasts! ;)

Sounds like you found what was messing up the bus. Glad it worked out.

If only it were that easy. :rofl:

Of course, after the 1st 20 minutes of use above, I see that all is not well. Obviously, I've changed the necessary setting to enable the features below that are custom. For example:

• Outdoor temp show correctly at startup- 59 degrees or so. After a little bit, it reports 146 degrees.
• MPG 1 and 2 are not reading on the display.
• No data on distance to empty on display.
• Custom welcome message on MID shows for a short second and disappears. It's set to max time- like 5 seconds I think. MID does not display after that until the stalk is pressed.
• PDC distance does not display in the MID like it did before.
• Doors are not unlocking when e Brake used nor car in park.

So, tomorrow, I will replace the Reisler interface to see what changes that affects. :dunno:

Hi All, New to the Xoutpost after purchasing an 03 4.6is Estoril beast.
I've been reading lots of your helpful posts trying to fix a bunch of things: floppy mirrors, broken window regulators, broken sunroof etc etc.
I have however recently fitted the Avant 4 into my machine and have been trying to get some of the issues you speak of sorted also.
The install took me two days which included wiring for a front and rear camera as I had Nav. I've found that some of the features dont quite work as advertised also. I have contacted the ibus peeps and have a reply for some of the issues but not yet all. I found that setting the code oem feature messed up the outside temp. I also have an issue with consumption. I wanted km/l. the stereo shows this, the car does not. If I code oem then the stereo shows the corrected value. If I dont code it then it shows the value for l/100 but with the km/l units. Strange. I have the ibus unit hooked into the previously mentioned main loom situated directly behind the stereo. I have had zero issues with it talking to the car.
So far I have found this stereo to be pretty good. While it was an aZZ to fit it was much less work than what I have done on my E39 which is relocate the factory stereo into the boot to keep the obc going.
Looking forward to reading more useful posts and perhaps contributing more as well.

Welcome, kiwicossie !! :thumbup:

North or South? ;)

I've noted that it isn't possible for the E53 BC to display fuel consumption figures in km/l, only in l/100km. It may be that you cannot get the car BC (now only on the dash) to display l/km, even if the iBus app can do so on the android H/U. It'll be hard coded this way in the IKE.

Took me a month or two to get used to thinking in l/100km rather than l/km but four years later I don't give it a second thought - in fact km/l are now nearly meaningless to me... :D

I have it behind the dash. it works but sometimes it takes a while maybe 5 min for the data to pass to the screen

Mine connects straight to the Avin harness, they made provisions when designing the E53 harness. Comes up immediately as soon as the iBus app launches. It has to send the signal to the DSP to operate so wait time is basically 2-3 seconds from key on.

One thing I have to admit surprised me was this morning when I got in the car and expecting to set the correct time, the clock in the Avin was already set to the correct time and then toggled the OBC stalk to look at the time in the OBC and it was correct too. Had to be the iBus app sending the messages over to the OBC. Nice! :thumbup:

After sending an email to the ibus chaps I had a reply or two from them. Sadly the responses weren’t quite as helpful as hoped and there was a suggestion of having to program the display for external something or other. Being the inquisitive type I kept plugging away by messing with stuff. It turns out there is an extra menu accessed from the ibus screen on the top left via a 3 or 4 line menu looking thing. I thought it was stereo but it seems it’s actually for the ibus. There are a bunch of settings in there which are extra to the anything else you get to through paths. One of those is the display of obc info. Hurrah. This allowed me to set the actual info I wanted. So I now have time, date (the correct way for NZ), consumption as km/l and the numbers are even displayed correctly. I put this down to it being an android based system which experience tells me is pretty haphazard with the coding and things are never where you expect them to be. Also have had a couple of freezes where power off and on fixes but still annoying.

Hey PropellerHead, did you ever resolve your issue with where to locate your IBUS adapter? I'm in the same boat that you were, and have been having issues with finding where to tap into the IBUS connection without having to extend the IBUS wire all the way back to the trunk from the head unit as Resler suggests is the only good way to do it. I'm currently tapped into the LCM, but have been experiencing issues with it tapped there as well, so I'm trying to weed out offending IBUS devices that aren't communicating correctly.

I didn't read the entire thread but here are the relevant diagrams.

https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/e...9-x939/ntoYFdf

https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/e...x18344/cFLhkbm

This is the page that is posted from the Resler site. I followed the instructions and it comes out super clean and works fantastic. Good luck! :thumbup:

http://download.speedy-pics.de/uploa..._interface.pdf

I just downloaded iBus 2.1.4.2 and was wondering if anyone can fill me in on the changes/updates on that version????

I'll be installing it tonight, just wanted to get any insight on what to expect.

Thanks,

Mike

Being completely new to IBus, I can't say that I saw any improvement or change in the UI. I do know that it still won't load for me on start up.....does that help? :rofl:

I installed my interface behind the radio in the dash. Mine interfaces with the cabling for the old display.

Just finished installing 2.1.4.2 into my E53.

About the only noticeable difference that I caught in the first boot up is that the maximum fuel level has gone from 21 gallons to 22 gallons. A good move but wish they could get it to the full capacity of 24 gallons.

Even setting the maximum fuel capacity in "Settings" to 25 or 24 did not move the maximum from 22 gallons. This is with a completely topped off fuel tank.

Still a really phenomenal/essential app for those with an Android head unit upgrade.

Mike