Motogadget M-Unit Blue

[JeffersonRaley]

I started a new project while I'm waiting on my rebuilt engine from Quicksilver. I'm going to replace the engine wiring harness because I'm switching from my old Haltech ECU to Performance Electronics. As long as I'm rewiring, I decided to radically simplify the body harness too.

 

The Motogadget M-Unit is a solid state electrical control system designed for motorcycles. Our cars are only slightly more complicated, so I think it'll work out well. Benefits:

• Eliminate most fuses and relays because the M-Unit handles all of these natively
  
  • Fuel pump
    
  • Radiator fan
    
  • Starter
    
  • Ignition
    
  • Parking lights
    
  • Headlights
    
  • Highbeam
    
  • Brake
    
  • Horn
    
  • Turn signals/Hazards
    

   

  [*]Move all of my controls to the steering wheel to make me feel more like Kimi Raikkonen (turn, hazard, headlights, horn, starter and wiper all on the wheel)

  [*]Keyless start through smartphone paring

  [*]3-flash turn signals (or hold to flash for a designated amount of time)

  [*]1-button headlight control for on, off, flash, high beam, low beam

  [*]Built in alarm (which I'll probably disable)

 

Here is my (draft) body wiring diagram. It's not quite complete because I'll still need separate circuits/fuses for

• Main fuse
  
• Alternator
  
• Electric water pump
  
• Dash
  
• Reverse light
  
• Wipers
  

http://www.usa7s.net/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=14622&stc=1

 

And here is the steering wheel with buttons mounted and wired.

http://www.usa7s.net/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=14621&stc=1

 

I'm also replacing all of the gauges with an Aim MXS Strada. So that also cleans up loads of wires from under the dash.

 

Hopefully by the time I have all of this rewired the engine will be back and it'll be time to work on the engine harness.

 

If anyone is interested, I'll post updates as I uncover issues and resolve them. If this works I'll probably start putting M-Units in all of my race cars and hot rods. It packs a lot of functionality into a very small package at a reasonable price.

[panamericano]

Cool project. But, you'll never pass for Kimi, using so many words.

[escondidoron]

Very cool. I like your thinking here in the circuit layout. I'm presently building a cafe racer bike for a customer and installing the Motogadget M-unit Blue in it. I've been thinking of installing one in my Seven as it goes back together..... at least when I get as far as the wiring. Besides the small physical size of the Motogadget and the bluetooth features I particularly like LED circuit health displays. It's very easy to troubleshoot an issue as a result. Pricing is reasonable too ($300 for non bluetooth and $379 for the bluetooth unit). Conversely their speedo and tach are definitely pricey at $579 each!!!!

 

I have the same general concerns as you regarding the overall power handling capability of the unit. Do you know how much power the system can support? I have not seen that listed in the manual. But then again, I haven't sat down and studied it closely either. .... Based on the lack of clear definition that I've seen so far and the small wire size for the hot and ground leads I'm a little bit concerned about eliminating relays for the high demand circuits and about the overall power capability of the system as the installation manual notes that it can handle up to 200Watts for the headlight switching circuit (more than the 10Amps shown for the circuit breakers). So there is some inrush capability built into the system. Each of my 2 Spal fans draws about 7 amps steady state with significantly higher inrush current (maybe something like 40Amps each peak for a few milliseconds). Conversely the manual wiring diagram shows the various circuit breaker limits as 30 Amps for the starter circuit (probably not sufficient for my old Kent engine with hi-torque starter), 10Amps each for the 8 circuits for turn signals, low beam & tail lights, high beam, brake lights, horn, & aux1 and 20Amps for the two aux2 circuit posts.

 

For my customer's motorcycle I'm using a standalone starter relay and another Bosch-type for the cooling fan circuits with the Motogadget just driving the switching power to the relays. As a result I'm planning similarly to use the Motogadget to drive a conventional starter relay as well as a pair of normal Bosch-type square relays for the fans on my Seven. In the end, the relays are cheap. And letting the smoke out of the Motogadget is not ($379). I've been thinking that it's worth a call to the manufacturer to clarify the operating limits. I will at some point but I haven't gotten around to it yet. I'll just have to remember the 9Hr time difference from California to Germany when I get ready to call them.

 

Please keep us updated on your progress.

Edited October 6, 2018 by escondidoron

[JeffersonRaley]

@escondidoron - I have the same concerns. The amperage is fine for steady state, but may not be happy for the spikes when fans and pumps start up. I've emailed Motogadget to try to get more detail. Next weekend I plan to wire up what I can and see what happens. If I need to add relays I will, but I'd really like to keep the wiring loom as simple as possible.

 

I wish they made just a slightly more robust M-unit for cars (I guess that would be a C-unit). 2 more circuits and higher amp ratings, plus some software tweaks, would make it a hit for hot rods, Sevens and other kit cars. Still a bargain compared to MoTex PDM, RacePak Smartwire, Cartek PDP, or HPE Powerbox.

[JeffersonRaley]

I installed the M.unit this weekend and it is working perfectly. I contacted Motogadget to see what "spike" amperage the circuits could handle, but they did not have that information. I figured it would be fine since motorcycle lights, fans and pumps spike when first turned on too. Worst case is it'll trip the circuit breaker and I'll have to reset the unit. So far it powers my fan, headlights and fuel pump with no issues. I'm pretty sure I won't even need a starter solenoid. I just wish it had another AUX circuit to power my electric water pump.

 

Keyless start works perfectly, and everything is controlled from my steering wheel momentary pushbuttons.

 

I altered the setup slightly from the diagram above. The M.unit handles parking lights differently than most cars, keeping the headlight on dimly. For now I'll probably just leave them disconnected since I don't think I've ever used parking lights in my 30+ years of driving.

 

I won't be able to make much more progress until I get the engine and new ECU back.

[escondidoron]

Thanks for the follow up. I'm glad to hear that it is working well w/o additional components. That will simplify my installation too.Question: Are you using a key switch or are you going to use your phone for system activation?

[JeffersonRaley]

I'll mostly use phone, but I'll also have a hidden key switch.

[Certified Lotus]

Quicksilver has built two engines for me. They know what they are doing. Very high quality work.

[want2race]

Any updates on how this works?

I’m thinking about one and was concerned with how it would fire a fan etc.. do you use a relay?

[JeffersonRaley]

The M-Unit is working great. I have not needed to use a relay to power the fan because my fan is well within the specs for the M-Unit. I was a little worried that the circuit would trip from the power surge when fan starts, but no issues so far.

[want2race]

The M-Unit is working great. I have not needed to use a relay to power the fan because my fan is well within the specs for the M-Unit. I was a little worried that the circuit would trip from the power surge when fan starts, but no issues so far.

 

Thanks

 

Same with the starter solenoid?

 

Honestly the thing I don’t like is the wiring connector. Feels like it could be a problem if someone pulled a wire etc

[Brightonuk]

Basic Specs

The V.2, Blue, and Basic outputs have the same *maximum current (10A) and*minimum wire cross-sections (1.5mm²).

Start outputs for the V.2, Blue, and Basic are 30A and 2.5mm².

AUX outputs 20A

Starter relay for solenoid switch up to 30A switching capacity

Low and high beam control (up to 200W switching power) using just onepush button

 

Jefferson can you upload another image of your wiring but in a larger file?

 

This may be a new project any tips on things to watch out for?

Edited October 18, 2019 by Brightonuk

[Ferrino]

Did you end up installing the MXS Strada? Considering one and intrigued how it went.

[JeffersonRaley]

Basic Specs

The V.2, Blue, and Basic outputs have the same *maximum current (10A) and*minimum wire cross-sections (1.5mm²).

Start outputs for the V.2, Blue, and Basic are 30A and 2.5mm².

AUX outputs 20A

Starter relay for solenoid switch up to 30A switching capacity

Low and high beam control (up to 200W switching power) using just onepush button

 

Jefferson can you upload another image of your wiring but in a larger file?

 

This may be a new project any tips on things to watch out for?

 

I'm going to try running the starter straight off the M Unit. I have a small/light starter, and the M Unit is designed to run a motorcycle starter directly. If it doesn't work the M Unit circuit breaker should protect everything.

 

I attached a PDF that should give you better resolution. I've also updated it with new plans to improve the steering wheel controls. I couldn't get a wired solution to move smoothly and still have a removable wheel.

 

Unfortunately I've been waiting on my engine builder for over 18 months (and am now taking them to court), so I haven't really tested beyond what I can do without the car running. Everything works, but I don't know if it'll get temperamental when all of the circuits are hot and under load.

Wiring Diagram M-Unit.pdf

[JeffersonRaley]

Yep, the MXS Strada is in. Unfortunately I'm still waiting on my engine (see post above) and so I haven't been able to test the integration between ECU and MXS. It looks really pretty when I power it up to the boot screen though.

[escondidoron]

There is a VW-based dune buggy listed on BAT presently that has been re-wired using an M-Gadget Blu. Some nice pics of the interface can be seen in the BAT listing here.

[thetightlife]

I'm going to try running the starter straight off the M Unit. I have a small/light starter, and the M Unit is designed to run a motorcycle starter directly. If it doesn't work the M Unit circuit breaker should protect everything.

 

I attached a PDF that should give you better resolution. I've also updated it with new plans to improve the steering wheel controls. I couldn't get a wired solution to move smoothly and still have a removable wheel.

 

Unfortunately I've been waiting on my engine builder for over 18 months (and am now taking them to court), so I haven't really tested beyond what I can do without the car running. Everything works, but I don't know if it'll get temperamental when all of the circuits are hot and under load.

[ATTACH]16127[/ATTACH]

 

 

Would you mind sharing what gauge wire you used in the PDF? or a key/legend?

Thank you in advance

[jboogsthethug]

Curious how it has held up after the past year with it? Did you keep it? Also, do you have a high res copy of your wiring diagram?

[jboogsthethug]

So Sorry, The site is in a terrible formate for me currently, only laoding text. I didn't see there was a second page of the thread that answered my questions! Ignore my requests, sorry to hear about the problems. I am buying one of these for my Datsun 240Z and will be installing it, I can give my own update here when I do if you're interested?

[JeffersonRaley]

Quick update for everyone. I think I'm about 2 car work weekends (so 1.5 calendar months) from firing the car. The M-Unit is wired in and controls everything as I intended. The new Performance Electronics ECU is wired up and the sensors are calibrated. The AIM MSX Strada dash is in and talking to the PE ECU. Just a little more wiring, and calibration of things like the fuel level sender (right now the AIM just tells me how many Ohms of fuel I have....). A lot of what I'm waiting on is the silly stuff like trial fitting alternator belts until I find one that fits and adding diodes so that the AIM dash can show turn signal lights. Oh, and I think I'm going to add Cartek steering wheel controls because I want to keep my dash completely clean. And I need to install pico injectors so that my fuel rail fits under my hood. And fab a mount for my MAP sensor and fuel pressure regulator. and... and... and. Maybe more than 2 weekends....