DashCommand Dashboard for Z4M

[StickMon]

Another thread I was in morphed, thanks to me, into a spiel on WiFi/Bluetooth OBD and DashCommand.
Although I may end up posting for my own amusement, I'm having so much fun I thought I'd share.
I always wanted more instruments, but the LeatherZ gauges were too pricy for gauges in the ashtray, although they are nice gauges and I have to hand it to LeatherZ for being creative.
I'm currently using one of these off eBay, with a jailbroke (braked?) iPod Touch and a Bluetooth stack called roqyBT.



I don't think it's going to pan out though. In preliminary tests, the Bluetooth disconnects every 2-3 minutes. I don't think it's a problem with the ELM327, I think it's roqyBT, because when I go back into the app to reconnect, it can't see my phone either. The developer cops to be working on some bugs, but I'll probably end up with a Kiwi WiFi adapter.

After spending an afternoon going through all of the custom dashboards for DashCommand I came to some realizations:
1) The snazzy dashboards that look like real gauges are pretty, but the graphics suck up too much working RAM in the iPod, so they run very slowly and often crash.
2) Nobody has made a dashboard for a Z4 or 3-series.
3) The default dashboard is nice, and runs fast, but I really wanted a voltmeter.
4) I'm going to start with the default dashboard and Z it up a notch or two.

[StickMon]

Here's a link to the project on DashXL.net.
I need a higher res ZPost logo on a black background.

As of now, the dashboard posted is a copy of the default landscape skin, with the ///M and ZPost logos, and a working voltmeter.
If you tap on each of the gauges, they cycle through 2-4 displays. The one in the lower right defaulted to MAF, and if you tap it, changed to Fuel Pressure (which currently doesn't work; more on that later).
It now defaults to Voltage, but still has MAF and Fuel Pressure if you tap it.



Under the ///M logo on the left, you see a series of buttons for other panels. Currently I'm working only in the Engine panel, until I've got that converted into a rolling version of INPA.
The bottom 2 buttons are Shift Point, which we don't need, and "Fill-Up", where you enter how much gas you put in and at what cost, and then it knoodles with the miles, fuel flow, yada, and helps you manage your fuel budget. If I was worried about my fuel budget, I wouldn't be driving an ///M.
The one that looks like a steering wheel is a complex trip distance/time and mileage calculator. That one goes too. I'm trying to get the memory footprint down so that it runs fast. After all, this is about performance.

I'll be testing this tomorrow, to make sure I didn't break it by unceremoniously hacking out 3 full panels.



The next task is to customize the gauges for our car.
The gauge in the upper right cycles between:
MAP, which seems to work
Lambda, which seems to work, but I think we have 2; don't know which it's reading
AFR, which seems to work, but I think it's a derived value from Lambda, so has the same question as above
O2 sensor, which doesn't read and displays N/A.

I'll be working on the O2 sensor next. See if I can get a reading and add another gauge to get bank 1 and bank 2.

[StickMon]

Here's what it looks like in the car.
The cord is little hokey. One of these days I'll get ambitious and pull the vent and drop another female lighter socket behind the head unit like I did with the XM.



Got the O2 working and added dual banks.



Never mind the N/As. This is a screen grab from the editor. Works when on the iPod getting actual data.

[Kgolf31]

Very interesting. Good stuff!

[Finnegan]

So you're programming this yourself?

iPhone or iPod?

Like what I see so far!

[GammaZeta]

Stick, what kind of holder is that for your XM?

[StickMon]

"Programming" it myself, using their free development tool.
I'm using an iPod, but will work on an iPhone just as well.
Will probably require OBD-WiFi adapter. I don't think Bluetooth is going to pan out.
I'm currently learning about PIDs and assembling a spreadsheet of all of the things DashCommand can read from our cars.
Will post an Excel spreadsheet later tonight and some witty observations I've made along the way.

XM holder is the car kit that came with it. Just a standard XM dock on a vent clip.
Only problem with it is the stock suspension on the ///M is so harsh it works its way out on bumpy roads. Have to keep an eye on it and push it back down every once in while, or it lands in my lap.
It never fell out in my MR2.

Edit: And by "Programming" I mean that I started with the default dashboard it came with and have been hacking it up.

[StickMon]

Attached is a spreadsheet of “Parameter IDs” (PIDs).
The first tab is what DashCommand claims they support on their website.
The second tab is a subset that the app on my iPod shows as available after querying my car.

Many of the PIDs in the "All" list are calculated based on other PIDs actually read from the vehicle. Many are supported, but I didn't include them in the "Supported" list. Would be too tedious, and is of secondary importance.
I had to do a lot of this manually. I can see the database files in my iPod with iExplore, but they're in an unreadable binary format.

So what's this all mean?
If it's not in the list, you don't get it. The list is mostly generic, and contains what the DashCommand developers wanted to put in there.
We won't be seeing me make a gauge for camshaft angles.
Even if one could discover the numeric PID that BMW uses for things like that, there's no way to define custom PIDs in DashCommand. You would have to convince the developers to add it to a future release.

That said, there's still a lot of nice things available. Not quite the rolling version of INPA I had hoped for, but still cool.

And there's Easter Eggs, just in time for Easter.
Luckily, I added the Voltmeter by copying something someone else had done before reading the instructions.
Instructions are for after you do something, to see if they wrote them correctly.
According to the app on my iPod, VEHICLE.VOLTAGE isn't supported on my vehicle, however, it seems to work swimmingly.

Likewise, it says Engine Oil Temperature isn't supported. Not that I really need it, because it's the one gauge that BMW saw fit to put on the dash, but I'm going to throw down an oil temp gauge and see if it works.

Z4M_PIDs.zip

[psygnosis]

Anything like this for android? I've got the bluetooth thingy already and a nexus 7 I don't use much.

[StickMon]

Word is the Torque app is what you need for Android.

[exdos]

Originally Posted by StickMon

In a similar vein, it says that MAP is supported but MAF isn't. The MAF gauge does work, however, displaying a value that the program conjures from other readings. Soon I'll change it from calculated to actual and see if it still works. Can always change it back.

I've been using a DashDyno for some years now and with the Z4MC it will record a fair number of useful PIDs, including AFR and Equivalence Ratios. It will simultaneously record both MAF and a MAP. I didn't think that the Z4M had a MAP, so perhaps you can tell me what is being recorded with the MAP PID?

[exdos]

Originally Posted by psygnosis

Anything like this for android? I've got the bluetooth thingy already and a nexus 7 I don't use much.

Auterra, makers of the DashDyno, have recently released a Dyno-Scan for Android version: http://www.auterraweb.com/android-obdii.html

This should integrate with the software PC version and then files can be exported as .csv files and opened in Excel

[StickMon]

Originally Posted by exdos

... I didn't think that the Z4M had a MAP, so perhaps you can tell me what is being recorded with the MAP PID?

Thanks for catching that. I had it backwards in my "PIDs" post. It's correct in the attached spreadsheet.
MAF is supported but MAP isn't.

It conjures MAP by one of the following methods. You use CAL.MAP in the dashboard code, then the app picks A or B; whichever it thinks is "better".

CALC.MAP Manifold absolute pressure – uses best possible calculation method
CALC.MAP_A Manifold absolute pressure – Method A (MAF+RPM+IAT)
CALC.MAP_B Manifold absolute pressure – Method B (LOAD_ABS+RPM+IAT)


I tested the Oil Temp gauge this morning and it was N/A, like DashCommand said it would be, so assuming DashCommand is looking for the correct PID, either:
A) Although we have an oil temp gauge on the dash, it isn't reported over the OBD. Does anyone remember if it's on INPA?
B) The car reports oil temp on the OBD, but not at the SAE defined PID of 0x01 0x5C.
C) The "ELM327" doesn't recognize 0x01 0x5C. I have the official ELM327 data sheet, and it's more than just an RS232 converter. It does a lot of the low level comm, and presents the app with a higher level interface language. It's possible that it won't pass through just any PID request, but only the set it was programmed to recognize. I think oil temp was added to a later version of the SAE spec.
Judging from the WikiPedia article, the eBay ELM 327 is a rip-off of the version 1 code, which may have been written before oil temp was added.

Bluetooth isn't cutting it anyway. Tried various things, and it still disconnects after a few minutes. Probably works OK on Android. I'll be buying the Kiwi tonight.

[exdos]

Originally Posted by StickMon

Thanks for catching that. I had it backwards in my "PIDs" post. It's correct in the attached spreadsheet.
MAF is supported but MAP isn't.

It conjures MAP by one of the following methods. You use CAL.MAP in the dashboard code, then the app picks A or B; whichever it thinks is "better".

CALC.MAP Manifold absolute pressure – uses best possible calculation method
CALC.MAP_A Manifold absolute pressure – Method A (MAF+RPM+IAT)
CALC.MAP_B Manifold absolute pressure – Method B (LOAD_ABS+RPM+IAT)

StickMon,

Do you have the actual calculation formulae for MAP from the PIDs in methods A & B?
Although I have the DashDyno set up in Imperial units, which gives the data from the MAF in Lbs/min, when it gives data for the MAP this is given in gms/sec, which I find bizarre, and the airflow is always different in both figures with a different graphical plot.

What specific information are you trying to observe by datalogging?

[StickMon]

Get the CALC_PID_Reference.pdf from:
http://www.palmerperformance.com/downloads.php

MAP is on pages 41-43.

I just like to see lots of graphs and blinky lights on my dash.
And if the car ever acts up, it might come in handy.

[snowmirage]

Have you looked into Torque (app for android)

https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...l.torque&hl=en

I think that's a link to the paid version but there is a free version you can check out see if it has what your looking for. Looking at the Bluetooth OBDII adapter you had pictures I think I am using the same one. My only gripe with it is I nearly smack my knee on it every time i get in and out of the car if I leave it plugged in.

[3point0]

I tested torque's free version on my galaxy S3 with the same BT adapter as the OP off DX and can report it worked just fine. The free version is obviously not as fully featured as the full one but it was good to check codes etc.

[Shaung]

Tell me about your XM setup. How is it mounted, how is the reception? I've been dying to get XM but have been holding back because I can't figure out where to mount it.

Thanks!

Originally Posted by StickMon

Here's what it looks like in the car.
The cord is little hokey. One of these days I'll get ambitious and pull the vent and drop another female lighter socket behind the head unit like I did with the XM.

Attachment 835773

Got the O2 working and added dual banks.

Attachment 835911

Never mind the N/As. This is a screen grab from the editor. Works when on the iPod getting actual data.

[StickMon]

Torque app might have been an option, and it would probably work with my $12 ELM327, but I have iPods, no Androids.
The Bluetooth still only stays connected for a few minutes at a time.
It just was never meant to happen on iOS.
I ordered the Kiwi WiFi for $110+tax+shipping this morning.

The XM is an old Xpress-R. Thought about upgrading to something newer, with a color screen, but after extensive research determined that this is the best radio they ever made. The sister radio with the color screen, Xpress-RC, burns out the back-light as soon as the warranty runs out. Apparently the color display is more opaque, so they just overdrive the back-light and it burns out.

The newer radios have 3 to 10 memories, the Xpress-R has 30, and I use pretty much all of them.

The dock and vent clip came with the radio, as did a female lighter socket with leads. I bought the Aux jack cable from Tischer. Ran all the wires through the vent. Spliced the female lighter socket to the power to the head unit, so it turns off when I turn the car off.

Originally had the antenna on the dash, until I got ambitious enough to mount it on the little rear deck strip between the top and trunk lid (roadster).

Never do this!!
I ran the antenna wire around the trunk and through behind the tail light assembly. I assumed that the foam on the back of the tail light assembly would make a good enough seal. It didn't. Worse yet, the wire acted like a funnel.
We had a good rain and the trunk got swamped. Ruined my full 14 volume set of manuals. After drying everything out I caulked the heck out of it.

[StickMon]

The Bluetooth cut out tonight on my way home from work, in bumper-bumper traffic.
Didn't bother to reset it.
When I got home and was looking at it, frozen at the conditions I was in, it was comically tragic:
Speed: 2 mph
MAF: 0.4 lbs/min
Mileage: 8.5 mpg
AFR: 15.1:1
Coolant: 198 °F
Intake: 124 °F

Hot, lean, and slow. Throttle wide shut. Welcome to the L.A. freeway system!

[exdos]

Originally Posted by StickMon

Get the CALC_PID_Reference.pdf from:
http://www.palmerperformance.com/downloads.php

MAP is on pages 41-43.

I just like to see lots of graphs and blinky lights on my dash.
And if the car ever acts up, it might come in handy.

Thanks for that!

I'll try some of the numbers I datalog with those calcs.

If you can make a bespoke Volumetric Efficiency gauge, you'll find that a very cool thing to have. In higher gears at higher speeds, you'll see it increase with an OEM intake. You only need to record the airflow through the MAF, Engine RPMs and IAT plus a few constants to calculate VE.

[Shaung]

Thanks for the info!