BMW MS43 ECU Shaped VCU PCB

[streber]

I'm working on laying out the stm32-vcu circuitry on a PCB that will fit inside an MS43 shell with the right connector so you can reuse the stock wiring harnesses. This at least takes care of power, ground, various relays, throttle, brake, and CAN hookups. I'm still working out how to repurpose the other harnesses or worst case the connectors are still pretty easy to find so I can make up new ones.

Anyone else interested or already done something similar?

There is some prior art of someone making a Speeduino version: https://easyeda.com/pazi88/ms42-43-comp ... -PnP-Core4
that will help with footprints.

[jon volk]

Not a bad idea

[mdrobnak]

You might say I have some experience here.

Connector 1 is going to be power, 2 is where the DME relay is, 3 is mostly engine control, 4 is rest-of-car wiring, 5 is coils.

So 4 is where you want to focus. 36/37 is CAN. 26 is Ignition pilot power. The PCB connector can be found on onlinecomponents.com, listed as a timer control item.

-Matt

[bobby_come_lately]

Did you get anywhere with this? Bit late for me on this project as I've ripped my ECU and wiring out. But interested for the next one.

[streber]

I ended up picking up one of these: https://www.ebay.com/itm/334207074538?h ... SwRLxeXwsl
and used it to build an adapter that I'm using for now with a Zombieverter VCU.

I ended up actually using the connector for 3 from the transmission to pickup the shift up/down as momentary buttons to select direction. I also had to move the reverse lights relay wire to an empty pin on one of the other connectors since it was the only other pin on the transmission connector I needed.

If anyone wants to do the same here is the rough pinout:
X60001:
Pin 4: Ground
Pin 7: T30 Always on 12V
Pin 8: T87 12V turned on by the DME Relay (using for various accesories)

X60002:
Pin 8: Moved reverse lights relay from X70004-40
Pin 23: DME Relay

X70003:
Pin 1: Ground for shifter lock
Pin 2: Signal for shifter lock
Pig 19: Tip up (Reverse for me) (had to add a bit of circuit on some of the unused pins to convert the low side signal to a high signal for the VCU)
Pin 20: Tip down (Forward)

X60004:
Pin 3: SAP relay (using for oil pump)
Pin 4: Fan
Pin 7: Ground Pedal Value Sensor
Pin 8: Signal Pedal Value Sensor 1
Pin 9: Supply Voltage 1 Pedal Value Sensor
Pin 12: Ground Pedal Value Sensor
Pin 13: Signal Pedal Value Sensor 2
Pin 14: Supply Voltage 2 Pedal Value Sensor
Pin 24: Brake light
Pin 26: T15 vehicle on 12V
Pin 27: Steering wheel LIN (for cruise control some day)
Pin 29: AC Relay
Pin 33: EWS signal (I shorted this to the T50 from the ignition switch at the EWS module to get a nice momentary start signal)
Pin 36: Can High
Pin 37: Can Low

X6005: Unused

I actually do have a design to build a somewhat simplified version of the Zombieverter in as MS43 form factor using a Olimex STM32 F107 header board that I could share, but it hasn't been tested at all.

Once I have all of the features implemented in my car I may go back and revive this and try to merge the VCU and the adapter into a single box. There are plenty of pins left to implement things.

[bobby_come_lately]

You absolute legend. Thanks so much for sharing this. Could be really useful on my next build.

[streber]

FWIW This is how far I got with my design: https://github.com/streber42/MS43Zombie.git

Will pick back up once I get my car feature complete and I'm more confident in what the requirements are.

[johnspark]

Very pleased to see this topic, I have the zombieverter and a clutch of E39s, so was wanting to do something like this but I thought it would be a pipe dream.

So thanks guys.