Active Backrest Retrofit
#81
New Members
@NoQuarter , I am very impressed with the work you did here. I just bought some LCI M5 seats that have active backrest and ventilation, I got them to replace My LCI E61 comfort seats because I want ventilation. The backrest part doesn't matter much to me unless it's not too much work. By the sounds of it I may need to run 3 new wires to the seat harness? I'm also torn on which buttons to purchase because the various options on RealOEM don't mention which ones have the DTC button on them. Some of the M5s I see have the TPMS button on the top left but I need DTC. I see you got DTC, backrest, and heater on your buttons. Too bad the part numbers don't all have pictures with them. I'd be fine skipping the backrest as well, but still having trouble identifying the correct part number.
Edit: sorry, I see you answered the question about the CAN-bus wiring in post 70.
Edit: sorry, I see you answered the question about the CAN-bus wiring in post 70.
Last edited by kd7iwp; 08-19-2020 at 07:03 AM.
#82
New Members
Active backrest width adjustment will need PT CAN line as it gets its data directly from DSC which tighten the side bloster on turn. PT CAN line can be taken from KGM.
On X275 PIN 20 is WAKEUP line connect this to PIN 27 of KGM X16760
X16760 on KGM (first big connector from left) PIN 30 is PT_CAN_L and PIN 29 is PT_CAN_H and on X275/X279 PIN 16 PT_CAN_L and PIN 15 PT_CAN_H. Connected them togather.
On X275 PIN 20 is WAKEUP line connect this to PIN 27 of KGM X16760
X16760 on KGM (first big connector from left) PIN 30 is PT_CAN_L and PIN 29 is PT_CAN_H and on X275/X279 PIN 16 PT_CAN_L and PIN 15 PT_CAN_H. Connected them togather.
I also see that the M5 seats have a variety of pins in them (x275) for which my wiring harness does not, like 1, 12, 14, 15, 16 (I think 15/16 are the PT_CAN lines I need to add), 20 (wakeup, which I need to add), 23, 24, and 25. See below, the red dots are wires which are present in the M5 seats, the blue dots are wires which are currently present in my wiring harnesses from the body.
Last edited by kd7iwp; 09-04-2020 at 08:11 AM.
#83
New Members
Further, when I look at the circuit diagram legend of newtis, I see this item 9 here which leads me to believe this means the pins, perhaps 15/16 in this case are internally connected together, but that doesn't make sense to me since one should be PT_CAN_L and the other PT_CAN_H, at least how I understand it.
Does this mean that the pins are not electrically connected, but are perhaps physically connected (because they are twisted pair)?
Does this mean that the pins are not electrically connected, but are perhaps physically connected (because they are twisted pair)?
Last edited by kd7iwp; 09-04-2020 at 08:10 AM.
#84
New Members
The original link is broken but you can now access at https://www.newmaterials.com/News_De...seats_9392.asp
#85
New Members
I know I'm resurrecting an old thread, but am currently in the process of adding M5 active backrest/ventilated seats to my E61. Do pins 15 and 16 on x275/x279 connect to plugs x13827 and x13826? It sounds like @AI001 put the PT_CAN lines into x275 but this diagram below is confusing me. I can clearly see that x13826 and x13827 get their PT_CAN from x275 somehow, but I can't figure out what pins 15-18 on x275 (circled) in red are all connected to. Are 15/17 connected together and 16/18 also together?
#86
New Members
I just completed the retrofit this weekend. Needed to go to my dealership for a few pins (the tiny ones in the x275/x279 connectors are part 61 13 1 383 776 and they also work in the body gateway module connector if you decide to use some there). Also needed a few 61 13 8 364 838 (the medium sized pin in x275/x279) and also a few of the largest pins in that connector but don't know the part number. You would help yourself out to locate another E60/E61 or E46 and cut off the pigtail from the carpet for its seats since that will give you a lot of these pins already and save some money.
I used ethernet cables since they already have twisted pairs in them and ran a separate cable to each seat from the body gateway module. At the body gateway module I took 3 little wires and soldered them together. Then soldered a little wire with one of the 61 13 1 383 776 pins mentioned earlier as a pigtail. This way I could put the little pigtail into the module and connect the original wire as well as one of each of the ethernet wires to it. Then I put shrink wrap over the pins to keep them all together. Now if I had a problem with a seat and needed to disconnect I could just cut off the heat shrink and plug the cables back in as normal.
Each seat already has a power wire coming into it and a ground, I tapped into those to provide power to the x275/x279 connectors for the active backrests. As others mentioned, I also added 4MF to my VO, bought the correct center console switches, and it's working great. It's a somewhat gimmicky feature to have in my family-hauler wagon but I'm a person who needs all of my buttons and features to work. I originally purchased these seats because I wanted to try out ventilated seats and then discovered the active backrest module underneath and so then bought the correct switches accordingly. That said, it does feel nice to go around a curve and have a solid support on your side to lean into. Knowing me, I'll use it because I like having features. Can't say too much about the ventilated seat part as it really doesn't seem to do much.
This is the new pigtails I made that go into the body gateway module connector
All the body gateway pigtails taped together.
New PT_CAN wires going into the passenger side x279 connector as well as power.
I used ethernet cables since they already have twisted pairs in them and ran a separate cable to each seat from the body gateway module. At the body gateway module I took 3 little wires and soldered them together. Then soldered a little wire with one of the 61 13 1 383 776 pins mentioned earlier as a pigtail. This way I could put the little pigtail into the module and connect the original wire as well as one of each of the ethernet wires to it. Then I put shrink wrap over the pins to keep them all together. Now if I had a problem with a seat and needed to disconnect I could just cut off the heat shrink and plug the cables back in as normal.
Each seat already has a power wire coming into it and a ground, I tapped into those to provide power to the x275/x279 connectors for the active backrests. As others mentioned, I also added 4MF to my VO, bought the correct center console switches, and it's working great. It's a somewhat gimmicky feature to have in my family-hauler wagon but I'm a person who needs all of my buttons and features to work. I originally purchased these seats because I wanted to try out ventilated seats and then discovered the active backrest module underneath and so then bought the correct switches accordingly. That said, it does feel nice to go around a curve and have a solid support on your side to lean into. Knowing me, I'll use it because I like having features. Can't say too much about the ventilated seat part as it really doesn't seem to do much.
This is the new pigtails I made that go into the body gateway module connector
All the body gateway pigtails taped together.
New PT_CAN wires going into the passenger side x279 connector as well as power.
Last edited by kd7iwp; 10-11-2020 at 06:40 PM.
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Arbuz (10-12-2021)
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