HEX ezCAN Installation

I have a couple of questions regarding the HEX ezCAN on Hexheads. Has anyone installed the ezCAN on a Hexhead without ABS or on one with iABS Gen 1? If so, were you able to make the brake light function work?

You do understand that the HEX ezCAN only works with auxiliary brake lights, correct? It has no ability to control the OEM brake light.

True. My question is, does this function work for ezCANs installed on Hexheads without ABS or with iABS Gen 1?

No takers? I guess these things aren't as popular as I thought.

I think you made your question a little too specific.

Besides the ease of Plug-N-Play connections, much of the appeal of the EzCAN comes from the Wonderwheel integration, which was not available on the Hexhead models. Initially, the EzCAN was Wethead-only. By the time a compatible EzCAN was available for the older Hexheads, most of us had found other solutions for adding our electrical farkles.

Hexheads came with ABS as standard equipment, so you will not find many owners of bikes without it. Hex Microsystems does not make a distinction between the types of ABS systems when they list compatible bikes, so I would expect it to work. Best way to be absolutely certain would be to email them at contact@hexezcan.com.

Hexheads did not come with ABS as standard. Models on the dealers' showroom floors may have all had ABS, but you could still special order a bike without it. In fact, all model year 2007 STs had to be special ordered. ABS only became standard a few years ago.

I'm aware that Hex Microsystems doesn't distinguish between ABS systems when listing compatibility. Unfortunately, the differences have a significant effect on compatibility. The ezCAN functions by reading various data frames on the CAN bus. On 2007 and later Hexheads, with Gen 2 ABS, there are no brake switches on the front brake lever or rear brake pedal. The ABS controller senses brake application and communicates that on the bus to the ZFE, which activates the brake lights. The ezCAN reads this data frame and activates the aux brake light function. On bikes without ABS, or with Gen 1 ABS, brake switches on the front brake lever and rear brake pedal are wired directly to the ZFE to illuminate the brake light. As best as I can determine, there is no CAN bus data frame on these bikes that would allow the ezCAN to activate the aux brake light function. I asked Hex Microsystems this question, and their reply was that it should work, but they had not tested the device on Gen 1 ABS systems or bikes without ABS, so they don't really know. Hence my original question. Before I pay good money for the device, I would like to know if it will work as advertised. If my time as a military and civilian test pilot taught me anything, it's don't assume anything.

My mistake, I did not read your signature line and was assuming you had an RT. Apparently ABS was also optional on the early Hexhead GS's as well, though most (84%) had it along with 92% of the STs. The ST is a not a common model, so not many will have experience with it, and it's possible Hex had never heard of it.

As best I can tell by comparing part numbers at realoem.com the ABS controllers are the same for ST, R, RT, GS and GSA models. (Clicking the part # here will show other models using the same part.) This is the same controller as on my '06 RT, and my bike also has the brake light switches wired directly to the ZFE. I can connect my GS-911 to the bike and see the status of the brake light switches (inputs) and watch the tail light pulse width (output) change from 27% to 100% as the brake is applied. This is all information obtained by reading the CANBUS data at the diagnostic port, so there has to be suitable data on the CANBUS. I don't think it matters which controller (ABS or ZFE) generates the data since all the data is available to all the controllers on the bus.

Larry,

That's a great update, and it's exactly the information I tried but failed to get from Hex Diagnostics. Now if I could find the same information for bikes without ABS.

Larry,

I hate to say it, but I think I found a glitch in your last post. The GS911 doesn't connect to the CAN bus. It connects to a special diagnostic line to the ECU and, for Hexheads with Gen 1 ABS, to a separate ABS diagnostic line. Looking at the function charts on the Hex Diagnostics web site, I can see where the GS911 can check the brake lights as part of the ZFE output tests on Hexheads. But the GS911 can also test the horn output on these bikes, and there is no horn signal on the CAN bus. That's the reason why the ezCAN modules for Hexheads have a discrete horn input line that connects to the factory horn. It may be that information available as diagnostics is not be available during normal operation. I could be back where I started, but I'll continue my research.

OK, I can see what you are saying. No horn signal on the bus - the ZFE has the input, produces the output, no other controller needs to know the status. The diagnostic connector is getting data from the controllers directly.

Considering the difficulty of getting authoritative information from BMW, it might be simplest to just order up an EzCAN and test it (after verifying return policies). After all, Hex says it should work.

I suspect you're right. I'll just have to bite the bullet and try it out.