Global_Rider Posted December 15, 2005 Share Posted December 15, 2005 When it came time to install the driving light relay and AutoSwitch, I began to look for the most convenient location where they would be easily accessed and out of the elements. The choice was simple; the BMW Fuse and Relay Box and for more reasons than those just mentioned. Read on! The AutoSwitch required two connections where tapping into the BMW factory wiring was necessary. Tapping into factory wiring isn't my style, so I came up with a solution. Instead of tapping into the turn signal cancel wire somewhere in the wire harness, why not perform a non-destructive tap at the BMW Turn Signal Relay within the BMW Fuse & Relay box. The switched power for the AutoSwitch is discussed further down. After removing the BMW Turn Signal Relay from the fuse box (talk about an over engineered connector), I removed the cover from the relay. The 4th pin from the left, top row, is where I tapped into. The wire was then looped through a groove in the base plate after the thin plastic was cut out... Molex connectors were used so that the AutoSwitch could more easily be replaced in case of failure. Gold plated pins were crimped and the wire ends where they protrude were soldered for a long lasting, trouble free electrical connection. Once the relay cover was replaced, the completed BMW Turn Signal Relay looked like this... The modified AutoSwitch... Wiring from top to bottom: Orange wire: this wire connects to the wire exiting the BMW Turn Signal Relay, Black wire pair: this wire pair connects to the AutoSwitch LED, Black wire (covered in rubberized heat shrink): this wire connects to the ground bus on my Blue Sea Systems Fuse Block, Violet wire: this wire connects to the driving light relay coil, Red wire (covered in rubberized heat shrink): this wire connects to switched power in the BMW Fuse & Relay Box. The AutoSwitch LED was installed in the right side windshield mount. Note: the wire covered in rubberized heat shrink fit nicely in the channel of the instrument panel. It was tucked under the instrument panel and then tie-wrapped to a factory harness to keep the wire snug... The BMW Fuse & Relay Box with the Hella FF50 driving light relay above the row of fuses (blue) and the AutoSwitch to the right of the row of fuses. Both are held in place with 3M Dual Lock. The BMW Turn Signal Relay is above the red fuse puller... Not easily visible is the switched power wire from the AutoSwitch that is connected to the fused side (back of the bike) of fuse #8 (counting from the left). This was done by stripping about 1/2" from the switched power wire of the AutoSwitch. After the fuse was removed, the wire strands of the switched power wire of the AutoSwitch were fanned out, then placed across the fuse socket and the fuse pressed in to make the contact. Any wiring exiting the BMW Fuse & Relay Box does so via the rubber grommet at the front left. There are two smaller holes where the rubber can be punched out to route additional wires (the main harness feeds through the larger center hole). The grommet can be removed by splitting the BMW Fuse & Relay Box. Wiring exiting the BMW Fuse & Relay Box are: - main power wire to the driving lights, - main power wire to the driving light relay from the auxilliary fuse block, - main ground wire to the driving light relay from my auxilliary fuse block, - ground wire to the AutoSwitch from my auxilliary fuse block, - LED wire pair from the AutoSwitch to the instrument panel. All other wiring connections (Molex) between the AutoSwitch, Hella relay socket and BMW Turn Signal Relay are nicely housed within the BMW Fuse & Relay Box. I hope this provides some ideas to anyone installing driving lights and using the AutoSwitch to activate them. Link to comment
Ken H. Posted December 15, 2005 Share Posted December 15, 2005 Alex you've got to quit posting here, like now! ( Just kidding.) I thought I knew how to wire (well actually I do) but your stuff is putting ALL of us to shame! I hand the "Wiring King" crown (which I never had to give away anyway) to you! Top notch work. Seriously though, keep it coming, we're all learning from you. Link to comment
Global_Rider Posted December 15, 2005 Author Share Posted December 15, 2005 Top notch work. Seriously though, keep it coming, we're all learning from you. Thanks Ken, but that is the way I like to work. The secret is patience and discipline. That means taking your time and thinking about how you are going to tackle something. I know if I slap something together just to get it working, I won't sleep well. Worse yet, I have absolutely no patience for doing things twice. So if a wire wears through and shorts out because I didn't take the time to completely cover a wire with rubberized heat shrink or to route and tie-wrap it correctly, I'll be cursing myself...one day. Plus I think wires of different colors look tacky...so the heat shrink. Many will say that I shouldn't solder the tip of the wire exiting a crimp connector or it'll break. Sure it will, if you feed tons of solder down into the wire...all you need to do is add heat first and then dap a small amount of solder to the wire end for a smooth solder connection. Link to comment
Kevin McKenna Posted April 22, 2006 Share Posted April 22, 2006 Does anyone know if the 2002 RT has the same Turn Signal Relay? And is it the same Pin-Out? Rgrds, Kevin Link to comment
Ken H. Posted April 22, 2006 Share Posted April 22, 2006 Yes it does. In this respect, all R1150xx are the same. Link to comment
Kevin McKenna Posted May 12, 2006 Share Posted May 12, 2006 What Gauge Wire is on the AutoSwitch? I want to pick-up the Molex connectors on the way home.... Link to comment
Kevin McKenna Posted May 13, 2006 Share Posted May 13, 2006 Alex. nice post. How did you do the wiring in the fuse / relay box? Does the it lift up out of the bike somehow? Rgrds, Kevin Link to comment
wolcott Posted May 14, 2006 Share Posted May 14, 2006 Alex: Thanks for your help on my wiring, installation of hella ff50's, and autoswitch questions. With an upgraded bulb, the eastern beaver headlamp relay harness, and the hella ff 50's, the bike really lights up the night. Kevin: The autoswitch wires are 20 gauge, I believe. To get the top of the fuse box off, you will see 2 allen bolts on each side of the fuse box (one on each side of the bike). Take them out and 2 little screws up under the rear fender that screw into little white retainers. Then, there are 4 phillips screws on top of the fuse box that are a hassle to get at. Helps to have one of those small, chrome, ratcheting, screwdriver jobs with a #1 phillips on one end and a #2 phillips on the other. Ever seen em? Home Depot has em I think. About 4" inches long with a little lever to reverse direction. Bit is at 90 degrees to body of tool. After all those fasteners are out, then you can slide the bottom part of the fuse box down about 2". You can mount an autoswitch or a driving lamp relay in the box. I'm sure Alex or someone will tell you the tricks on the grommet, so you can snake your wires through. Also, to get at the turn signal relay, there is a black plastic arm retainer hook thing that holds it in position. If you take a small screwdriver, and push it gently to the side- then you can pull the turn signal relay straight up. There is some slack in the wires. I cheated- I do not have the wiring or soldering skills of a lot of you- I put my autoswitch and hella relay in the fuse box but used posi-locks wiring connectors (available now at wal-mart). Link to comment
Global_Rider Posted October 25, 2006 Author Share Posted October 25, 2006 Does anyone know if the 2002 RT has the same Turn Signal Relay? And is it the same Pin-Out? I'm sure it does, but you can always check the part number on the MAX BMW on-line parts micro-fiche. Also see if that pin goes to ground when the turn signal cancel switch is pressed with the ignition on. Use the Ohns function of your DMM and don't short the probes to adjacent pins. Get an extra set of hands. Does anyone know if the 2002 RT has the same Turn Signal Relay? And is it the same Pin-Out? What Gauge Wire is on the AutoSwitch? I want to pick-up the Molex connectors on the way home.... Oops, I never got back to you or the others that posted questions. Sorry, but I was busy preparing for a tour overseas. The wiring on the AutoSwitch is all 20 gauge. It doesn't supply any high currents, so 0.062 pins are all that are needed. On the AutoSwitch... ------------------------------------------------------------ Orange & violet wire: Molex 1 circuit receptacle PN: 03-06-1011 (2 required) Molex 0.062 female gold contact PN: 02-06-5135 (2 required) Corresponding wire on BMW turn signal relay wire (orange wire cut from length of AutoSwitch wire) and Hella driving light relay wire (green): Molex 1 circuit plug PN: 03-06-2011 (2 required) Molex 0.062 male gold contact PN: 02-06-6103 (2 required) ------------------------------------------------------------ Black wire pair on the AutoSwitch: Molex 2 circuit receptacle PN: 03-06-1023 (1 required) Molex 0.062 female gold contact PN: 02-06-5135 (1 required) Black wire pair on the LED lead: Molex 2 circuit plug PN: 03-06-2023 (1 required) Molex 0.062 male gold contact PN: 02-06-6103 (1 required) ------------------------------------------------------------ A Molex connector was used at each driving light to ease replacement, should it become necessary. Each connector was tie wrapped to a pair of tie wrap pads placed under my TerraNova light bar. 0.093 contacts were used to handle the higher current. On the driving lights... ------------------------------------------------------------ Molex 2 circuit plug PN: 19-09-2029 (2 required) Molex 0.093 male gold contact PN: 02-09-6106 (4 required) Coming from the harness... Molex 2 circuit receptacle PN: 19-09-1029 (2 required) Molex 0.093 male gold contact PN: 02-09-5106 (4 required) ------------------------------------------------------------ Double the order of contacts, if you think you'll need a few spares due to mistakes. All of the above can be ordered from Mouser Electronics with no minimums. Link to comment
Global_Rider Posted October 25, 2006 Author Share Posted October 25, 2006 Alex. nice post. How did you do the wiring in the fuse / relay box? Does the it lift up out of the bike somehow? Rgrds, Kevin Kevin, On my R1150 GS Adventure; other models may be similar... There is a socket head cap screw on each side of the BMW fuse box that screws through a tab in the frame that you remove (see last photo in my first post above). The BMW fuse box can then be lowered along with the attached rear fender. The four screw, two on each side (see last photo in my first post above) holding the top of the BMW fuse box on can now be removed with a 90° Philips screw driver. This now enables you to seperate the top from the bottom of the BMW fuse box giving you a couple of inches to get your hands in and to remove the rubber grommet to punch out the additonal two holes. All the wiring from the driving light relay and the AutoSwitch is fed in through the top of the BMW fuse box. All that remains to be done is to connect the Molex connectors between the BMW turn signal relay, the driving light relay, the AutoSwitch and the connector to the LED. All these Molex connectors reside within the BMW fuse box. All that exit the grommet in the BMW fuse box are the wires as stated above in the original post. There should be five wires exiting the BMW fuse box: the wire to the LED, ground wire to the AutoSwitch, power wire and ground wire to the driving light relay and power wire to the driving lights. The wires on the driving light relay and AutoSwitch that have a Molex connector are 6 inches long. Link to comment
DiggerJim Posted October 26, 2006 Share Posted October 26, 2006 Does anyone know if the 2002 RT has the same Turn Signal Relay? And is it the same Pin-Out? Kevin Too bad you're not at the Northeast Tech Daze this weekend - I just added lights, relay & autoswitch to my 02 RT. Works like a dream & not that hard to do. Jim Link to comment
Slyder_Steve Posted July 22, 2007 Share Posted July 22, 2007 Anyone know what the proper term is for the "post" thing is on the circuit board? I'm trying to replicate this mod, but need a bone thrown my way. TIA, Steve the left, top row, is where I tapped into. The wire was then looped through a groove in the base plate after the thin plastic was cut out... Link to comment
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