[PoBoyR6]

New to the forum and somewhat new to E46 M3s, have owned mine for about a year now although have been doing a lot of reading/researching here during that time getting it modded up to a dedicated NASA TTB car. Wanted my first contribution to be worthwhile:

I recently got the new AIM SoloDL from Richard at M-World http://www.m-world.us. I was his first SoloDL customer with an E46 and using my car as the guinea pig he developed a plug and play harness that directly attaches to the ECU for all the data channels and it doesn't require any cutting or splicing. Am very happy with the results now that I can get throttle, brake, steering angle, gear, clutch, wheel speeds, temps, and tons of other data that I can analyze over and above what you would get if you simply plugged the unit into the OBD connector. You can see in one of the pics that the cable coming from the ECU is easily tucked away behind the center console/carpet overlap.

The bracket over the air vent is where my old AIM MyChron lap timer used to go. I'm very happy to be moving into a GPS based timer, no more lugging around a tripod and lawnmower battery and ensuring the beacon/receiver can see each other...and forgetting to pack them up at the end of the weekend. Plus the predictive lap timing feature in the Solo/SoloDL is worth the price of admission all on its own. Getting instant feedback on the track to find out if you are slower/faster when you try a different line/approach is priceless. Non GPS lap timers are pointless IMHO nowadays.

As for what I plan to do with the data, I'm going to use my GoPro camera and overlay the pertinent data (revs/speed/gear/throttle/brake/track map/lap time, etc.) using Dashware software like some others that are already on YouTube. In terms of analysis, I'm pretty new to using the data to go faster so my plan is to get some pro driver coaching sessions and find out where my weak points are and then hopefully I'll be able to continue self analysis with the data once I get more familiar with it.

Looking forward to sharing my first track vid with data overlay from TWS in April!

[djm3]

That's a nice setup. Looking forward to your vid.

[PoBoyR6]

Thanks. I can't wait either! I've been playing around with my data from the last NASA event at MSRH with Dashware to verify it works. I didn't have my GoPro mounted at the time so I just put the overlay on a test video. Lots of stuff to figure out and tinker with but Rolf with Dashware is very responsive and helpful and even makes custom gauges if you want them bad enough.

[magnetic1]

Dont forget to add an oil pressure sender. The stock ECU doesnt provide the data..

[lmtfi]

Originally Posted by PoBoyR6

I was his first SoloDL customer with an E46 and using my car as the guinea pig he developed a plug and play harness that directly attaches to the ECU for all the data channels and it doesn't require any cutting or splicing.

Thanks for posting. Can you add any details on this M-World harness connection, where its physically done and what is involved in installing it?

[PoBoyR6]

Originally Posted by lmtfi

Thanks for posting. Can you add any details on this M-World harness connection, where its physically done and what is involved in installing it?

I was building brownie points for track time by taking care of the kids the weekend that Richard installed the harness, so I was in and out of the garage, but basically the harness uses OEM connectors to create a 3 way between the Solo DL, ECU and CAN network of the car. It goes from the ECU through an existing penetration in the bulkhead to get into the interior of the car. You just need to connect to the appropriate wires. Its all plug and play. No cutting or splicing. I'm very happy with that part.

Richard has all the details though, he was taking all kinds of pics to put together the installation instructions for the harness. You can always shoot him an email (info@m-world.us).

[lmtfi]

Originally Posted by PoBoyR6

I was building brownie points for track time by taking care of the kids the weekend that Richard installed the harness, so I was in and out of the garage, but basically the harness uses OEM connectors to create a 3 way between the Solo DL, ECU and CAN network of the car. It goes from the ECU through an existing penetration in the bulkhead to get into the interior of the car. You just need to connect to the appropriate wires. Its all plug and play. No cutting or splicing. I'm very happy with that part.

Richard has all the details though, he was taking all kinds of pics to put together the installation instructions for the harness. You can always shoot him an email (info@m-world.us).

Thanks - I will. So I take it that this connector intersection is buried somewhere in the dash?

[PoBoyR6]

Originally Posted by lmtfi

Thanks - I will. So I take it that this connector intersection is buried somewhere in the dash?

The actual connection takes place at the ECU, you don't have to take apart the dash or anything, just remove the bottom plastic panel above the pedals to get access to the bulkhead penetration, which only takes a couple minutes.

[lmtfi]

Originally Posted by PoBoyR6

The actual connection takes place at the ECU, you don't have to take apart the dash or anything, just remove the bottom plastic panel above the pedals to get access to the bulkhead penetration, which only takes a couple minutes.

Thanks!

[SC_TR0JAN_M3]

i'm so tempted to pull the trigger on this soon. would love to start seeing some data on my runs.