(Chinese) Digital Cluster for E89

ProfCJJ · Post by **ProfCJJ** » Mon Dec 19, 2022 5:04 pm

I thought I would start a new thread to document my progress in assessing this Chinese made Digital Cluster for our E89 cars. As I said in the previous thread (here) I have purchased a unit that arrived a week or so ago and I am testing it to see how it ticks and if it will work on our cars.

The unit in question is the one available here: Carlife-Mall, it is NOT advertised for fitting the E89 but for the E90/E91/E92/E93. Nonetheless I purchased one to try it out - the price is at USD615, which is considerably cheaper than the ID4Motion version sold from the US. (Of course "you get what you pay for", and I have no doubt that the ID4Motion version is more polished, but for a much steeper price the unit you get is pretty "basic" unless you splash out more cash for more skins etc.)

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The info below is my starting point (reproduced from my post in the previous thread):

1. The E9X version works straight out of the box in the E89. In that it really is plug and play - most (if not all) the functions I have tested so far seem to be reflected on the dash - but that’s not an exhaustive test at this stage, I’ll update that later.

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2. The plastic shroud you get with the screen fits the E89 dash space PERFECTLY- its like it’s made to measure.

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3. However, the screen does NOT go into the dash w/o needing to alter the inside plastic first. This is no different to the ID4Motion screen from the US - I would argue that this version will need less “alterations” as the US screen is perfectly rectangular whereas this Chinese version has the corners notched out. I’m happy to make the alterations as long as a) they are not visible after the fact and b) I can put the “old” cluster in with no problems. It appears though that this is achievable (going on what ID4Motion say about their screen). I am doing this slowly so that I only remove the bare minimum needed - documenting as I go.

5. I’ve managed to exchange quite a few messages with a sales person in China for this device - they are obviously keen to know this will work with E89 and I have already supplied them with (for example) images of E89 vehicles that could be integrated into the library of cars they use. I have also pointed out various spelling mistakes and pointed out the need for a “British English” language option as we don’t like using “tire” and “color” etc

Some of the spelling mistakes have already been corrected and they have even updated the software by adding more functionality through some updates.

6. I’ve paid regular price for this device and am not getting any kickbacks - but the guy in China is keen to point out that a group buy is more likely to result in changes being made as money talks!

7. I’m also following the route of looking at how “hackable” the device is - so that we could make changes w/o need to resort to our Chinese friends! In short it looks promising! It’s an embedded Linux product using the QT platform to produce the UI. There is a usb port that is used to enact an update on the device and that might be a route into the device. There is also a connector on the device that I am 99% sure is a UART (serial connection) which I am actively probing now, if successful this would provide another route into the system to make changes.

Feel free to ask any questions and I’ll answer them if I know the answer and if I need to test something I will if I can.

ProfCJJ · Post by **ProfCJJ** » Mon Dec 19, 2022 5:05 pm

1. Fitting the screen

As said in my initial post, the screen will NOT fit in the enclosure without first removing some bits of plastic from the insides of the cowl covering the instrument pack. This is no different to the ID4Motion screen, in fact they supply the following photo telling you where to cut to make their screen fit. (Note that even with these bits hacked out a) the original screen will fit and b) it is completely not visible from the outside).

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You can see below that the E89 cowl is quite tight and some cuts as indicated by ID4Motion are need - although I suspect less severe as the ID4Motion screen is rectangular whereas this screen has the corners "notched out" - making it a bit closer to being oval.

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I aim to cut bits out slowly and will document what I did here when I get it to fit - assuming it can fit, but I am confident it will ...

ProfCJJ · Post by **ProfCJJ** » Mon Dec 19, 2022 5:05 pm

2. The software

The screen is controlled by the "BC" button on the left-hand stalk - a quick press moved to the next option and a long press selects that option, a bit fiddly but you quickly get used to it.

There are 4 main options along the top:

Trip >> Fuel Information >> Info(r*)mation >> System Settings

*Typo on the title, they have been made aware

Trip:

Trip --- ODO/ Trip A / Trip B
Startup --- Trip computer type info
Reset
Refueling(*) -- Mileage/ Avg Fuel/ Avg Speed

Fuel Information:

LPK (should be Consumption)
Coolant Temp
Oil Temp
Distance
Voltage

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Information:

Trip A/ Trip B
Adaptive Cruise
Tire pressure
Tire Angle
Torque distribution
Service Information
Vehicle Setup

System Settings:

Theme -- 4 themes
Date/time
Language *I have prompted them for the need for British English
Generic -- various settings
Factory -- password protected settings
Version -- version info
Upgrade

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ProfCJJ · Post by **ProfCJJ** » Mon Dec 19, 2022 5:06 pm

3. "Hacking" the screen.

Seeing as the screen OS is embedded Linus based, there is a possibility that the screen could be "hacked" to make subtle changes - things like correct typos, change phrases or makes fonts more uniform. The embedded Linus is extremely fast, the system "cold boots" in just a few seconds.

I can see that the system used the QT framework (link here) which is a way of creating visual user-interfaces across platforms and is quite modular. I actually have an academic license for the QT framework.

The device has a USB connection which can be used to update the system - you plug in a USB drive formatted to the FAT system with a single file called "dashboard.zip" and the device autodetects the usb drive and installs the update and restarts. The .zip is password protected but that is one route to accessing and changing the internals of the system.

Another access route is what appears to be a UART plug at the back/top of the device - so far I have not managed to gain access to the linux command prompt this way, but I am not done yet

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I have an experimental setup on my desk whereby I can power the cluster and selective options + I have a CANbus decoder/encoder where I can send CAN codes to the cluster to simulate RPM, Fuel Level, etc. as can be seen below.

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This allows me to dynamically test the system on the work bench. (Note that whist it is possible for me to send speed signals to the cluster I will not do so as this will increase the odometer and then create problems for me if the mileage doesn't match the rest of the car when I plug the system in).

BeardyJon · Post by **BeardyJon** » Mon Dec 19, 2022 6:43 pm

Interesting stuff! Looking forward to seeing it all fitted and your results on hacking it! Nice work.

mr.tourette · Post by **mr.tourette** » Mon Dec 19, 2022 7:34 pm

You're a brave man indeed hacking your dash out

Good luck with it all, hope it all goes smoothly for you

B21 · Post by **B21** » Mon Dec 19, 2022 8:50 pm

Respect.

Interesting to see how this works out…

Raj_UK · Post by **Raj_UK** » Mon Dec 19, 2022 8:53 pm

That’s cool and looking forward to seeing it complete. Annoying that it’s Coolant ‘temperature’ but Oil ‘Temp’!

ProfCJJ · Post by **ProfCJJ** » Mon Dec 19, 2022 10:12 pm

Raj_UK wrote: ↑Mon Dec 19, 2022 8:53 pm That’s cool and looking forward to seeing it complete. Annoying that it’s Coolant ‘temperature’ but Oil ‘Temp’!

The system is full of little discrepancies like these - you will see there are no units to Miles section and the consumption is LPK even though it’s MPG

There are also some font anomalies too … but as long as it’s these things, these can be tweaked, I’ve drawn their attention to every issue I spot … but secretly I’m hoping I’ll be able to go in and alter them myself!!

Marcoose · Post by **Marcoose** » Tue Dec 20, 2022 2:56 am

Wow. That’s serious good work. I’ll watch this thread closely. Thank you very much.

Do all the warnings come through? Temperature, low fuel, low tyre pressure, etc?

When you switch from Comfort to Sport to Sport+, does the display change automatically for a more performance drive?

Thanks again.

Raj_UK · Post by **Raj_UK** » Tue Dec 20, 2022 9:33 am

ProfCJJ wrote: ↑Mon Dec 19, 2022 10:12 pm
Raj_UK wrote: ↑Mon Dec 19, 2022 8:53 pm That’s cool and looking forward to seeing it complete. Annoying that it’s Coolant ‘temperature’ but Oil ‘Temp’!
The system is full of little discrepancies like these - you will see there are no units to Miles section and the consumption is LPK even though it’s MPG

There are also some font anomalies too … but as long as it’s these things, these can be tweaked, I’ve drawn their attention to every issue I spot … but secretly I’m hoping I’ll be able to go in and alter them myself!!

Love a bit of reverse engineering and coding myself!

AnubisZed · Post by **AnubisZed** » Tue Dec 20, 2022 1:12 pm

Nice work that

Talking to Milo about the E89 specific version, they are developing it to have a UK English option.
They are also designing it so you don't need to cut anything to fit the cluster panel.

ProfCJJ · Post by **ProfCJJ** » Tue Dec 20, 2022 4:10 pm

AnubisZed wrote: ↑Tue Dec 20, 2022 1:12 pm Nice work that

Talking to Milo about the E89 specific version, they are developing it to have a UK English option.
They are also designing it so you don't need to cut anything to fit the cluster panel.

Good to hear! Is that the ID4Motion version? If so will it still cost an arm and a leg?

ProfCJJ · Post by **ProfCJJ** » Tue Dec 20, 2022 4:52 pm

Marcoose wrote: ↑Tue Dec 20, 2022 2:56 am Wow. That’s serious good work. I’ll watch this thread closely. Thank you very much.

Do all the warnings come through? Temperature, low fuel, low tyre pressure, etc?

When you switch from Comfort to Sport to Sport+, does the display change automatically for a more performance drive?

Thanks again.

The warnings do come through: I have tested low fuel, parking brake, one the workbench too.

Re the Comfort >> Sport >> Sport+ I assume its supposed to work as you say but I have not confirmed that yet - I'll let you know as soon as I do.

Cheers

AnubisZed · Post by **AnubisZed** » Tue Dec 20, 2022 5:48 pm

ProfCJJ wrote: ↑Tue Dec 20, 2022 4:10 pm
AnubisZed wrote: ↑Tue Dec 20, 2022 1:12 pm Nice work that

Talking to Milo about the E89 specific version, they are developing it to have a UK English option.
They are also designing it so you don't need to cut anything to fit the cluster panel.
Good to hear! Is that the ID4Motion version? If so will it still cost an arm and a leg?

No not the iD4Motion one, this is the one from the original supplier of the Android screen, as per my original post.
It's still in development (presumably screen size and integration with the cars systems), then all being well they'll be sending me one over to fit, test and see how it all works, of course I'll make a video of it

but we're looking into the new year anyway so I won't have anything concrete yet unfortunately

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