JUNE 2020 UPDATE

For the time being I am "retiring" this product. A few have gone missing or been severely delayed due to the ongoing coronavirus situation.

If you have placed an order and not received your item, please get in contact via email with your order number. tindie@iamorion.co.uk

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What is it?

This is a CAN-Bus shield, designed with novices in mind and so uses 99% THT (Through-Hole Components) that is designed to be used with any of Adafruit's Feather range.

Why did I make it?

As part of my car project I have going, I wanted to add a BMW iDrive unit into a vehicle that was not a BMW. I also wanted to use it as, initially, a USB input device, I then progressed to using it as a Bluetooth HID device that can be used with anything really.

I designed the PCB in Fritzing - I never intended to create a product to sell, but when I first completed my project many people asked me for a PCB so I had loads created.

These are all I have remaining. Once they're gone, they're gone

My base code is available on GitHub and provides 90% of code required, with the last 10% of work being making it work for your specific needs such as changing what keys etc it sends.

Please note, this code was specifically written for a feather that supports BLE. I have tested and used it personally with both the Feather 32u4 BLE and also the M0 BLE. Links to both are below in the resources section along with my github link.

I'm not an expert coder, so the code is not at a professional level however it worked perfectly for my needs.

What makes it special?

I made this because I was limited on space and because there's no CAN bus shields available for Adafruits range of feathers.

It's based on an open source CAN Bus schematic

What do I get?

This is for the bare PCB ONLY (1st Picture) - All other pictures are for reference only unless buying the pre-assembled PCB with iDrive controller

If you choose the Assembled PCB + iDrive kit, then you are getting 1 x pre-assembled Feather CAN Bus shield and the iDrive controller that has been tested working with the unit. NO ADAFRUIT FEATHER IS INCLUDED

BOM (Bill of Materials -> Components Needed)

• 1 x Generic male header - 2 pins pin spacing 0.1in (2.54mm) (CAN JP Connection)
• 2 x 1206 100nF Capacitor
• 1 x 10kΩ Resistor
• 1 x 120Ω Resistor
• 1 x 16MHZ Crystal, pin spacing 5.08mm;
• 2 x 1kΩ Resistor
• 2 x 22pF Capacitor
• 1 x 47kΩ
• 1 x Generic male header - 2 pins
• 1 x Screw terminal - 2 pins
• 1 x Red (633nm) LED
• 1 x Blue (633nm) LED
• 1 x MCP2515 I/P MCP2515 P/DIP
• 1 x MCP2551 MCP2551 P/DIP

I recommend either of these Adafruit Feathers (You can use any, but my code on GitHub is specifically for either of these)

Adafruit Feather 32u4 Bluefruit LE

Adafruit Feather M0 Bluefruit LE

Personally, I highly recommend the Adafruit Feather M0 Bluefruit LE as it has more memory space for larger sketches etc. More room to grow your project

Resources

GitHub Code https://github.com/IAmOrion/BMW-iDrive-BLE-HID

Adafruit Feather 32u4 Bluefruit LE https://www.adafruit.com/product/2829

Adafruit Feather M0 Bluefruit LE https://www.adafruit.com/product/2995

Videos

I'm no videographer - in fact, I hate making videos, I don't have the equipment nor the editing skills (or even phone holding skills) to pull off good videos. That being said, here are a few videos demoing the iDrive controller as a HID device. Videos are oldest first to newest last. You can see my "progress" so to speak as I experimented

1st Vid - BMW iDrive Controller Bluetooth BLE HID Device - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4mQjArEeuE

2nd Vid - BMW iDrive BLE HID 1 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEgWAtOnxkA

3rd Vid - BMW iDrive BLE HID 2 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMOqGpXcwaw