My E90 M3 Dedicated Track build (with pix!)

[dogbone]

I received my AIM Solo 2 DL yesterday and I've been diving into the new device. There's quite a bit different about it from the original Solo DL, and I've run into a few issues during setup.

I want to talk about two topics now, and I'll post more impressions later:

-DCT Temp - YAY!!------There's a new parameter shown in the BMW PT6 ECU list called "DCT Temp". However, when I connect the Solo 2 DL to the car, the parameter doesn't show any data (It just shows dashes).....I talked to AIM tech support. They're reporting it to Italy as a bug. Hopefully, we'll hear more about this in the next couple weeks. Fingers crossed! I really would like to have that parameter available. (btw, I need to credit AIM again for having the friendliest tech people.).

-A direct WiFi Connection between an AIM Solo 2 DL and a MacBook Pro running VMWare Fusion with Windows 8.1 Pro (64-bit) IS POSSIBLE: I was struggling to connect my Solo 2 DL with my Mac. I called tech support and three people told me I needed to use a WiFi Router as a go-between. That seems impractical. How do you power a WiFi Router at the track?? The User Guide shows some steps to connect via Parallels, but I use Fusion.

So, after talking to them, I started digging into VMWare Fusion and I figured it out. I can connect an AIM Solo 2 DL directly to the Mac with 100% reliability. It connects every time in just a few seconds, and it performs all functions--firmware updates, track map transfers, session downloads, transfers of device configs, setting up custom welcome logo. I've been able to do it all with the Mac running Fusion. It's easy to setup.

Here are the steps: (Let's assume Race Studio 3 is already installed.)

1. Turn on AIM.

2. On the Mac, in the WiFi selector menu, choose the AIM device

The Wifi strength indicator will not look like it "locked" to the AIM network. It may constantly move up and down looking like it's searching. Or it may look like this below with the exclamation, but it actually is connected:


3. You can verify the connection by going to System Preferences--->Network. Click on WiFi on the left of the window and seeing this information:

Seeing this means you're connected to the AIM----Status: Connected. "WiFi is connected to AIM Solo2DL-501575 and has the IP address 10.0.0.10".

4. Launch Fusion and the Windows virtualization. In Fusion, start with Single Window mode.


5. Click the Wrench icon:


6. You'll get this window. Click on "Network Adapter"


7. When you get onto the Network Adapter window, the top option "Share with my Mac" will be selected. We want to change that to the "Wi-Fi" option. You actually have to click the little round button to choose Wi-Fi. And you will have to put in the computer password to allow the setting to change.


Here's what it should look like when you are done:


8. I got this warning window as well on the Windows side after the setup change. I clicked Allow access.


9. Launch Race Studio 3.

10. In the top right corner, click on the Wifi symbol:


Click on "WiFi Settings". Check the box in the window that pops up and click Ok.

Setup is done. And you only need to do this setup stuff once. Of course, you have to select the AIM's WiFi network (Step 2) every time you want to connect to it.

Once the AIM connects, it will show up in the Connected devices section:


I have tried on this on 2 Macs here at my house---a MacBook Pro 2017 and a 2013 iMac. It works great on both. If someone reading this has an AIM Solo 2 DL, a Mac and Fusion/Windows, I'd love to hear if this works for you. I guess it doesn't have to be a Solo 2 DL. It could be any Wifi enabled AIM device that uses Race Studio 3. Anyway, curious to hear if it works for you guys.

[inTgr8r]

I've had the Solo2 DL all season & love the wifi connectivity.
I'm Windows based, so no issues for me at all.

,,Same thing for me with DCT, has the field but no data.

Initially battery life was very poor but with latest firmware all is good.

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by inTgr8r

I've had the Solo2 DL all season & love the wifi connectivity.
I'm Windows based, so no issues for me at all.

,,Same thing for me with DCT, has the field but no data.

Initially battery life was very poor but with latest firmware all is good.

Thanks for the feedback.

So, with the new firmware, can you make it through a whole track day? And can you leave the backlight on? Last night, I still had the old firmware and the device was chewing through battery pretty quick.

I'm hoping we can get a fix from AIM on the DCT Temp. Would be a great addition. I hope they don't come back with something like, "oh that was only for an M4....." That would stink.

[inTgr8r]

Yes, no problem getting through the day now.

One other thing I want to do b4 next season is add a couple relays to disconnect the CAnbus & 12v when the car is powered off.
Right now anytime there is bus activity it keeps triggering the unit on and I get a bunch of garbage sessions.
So, for now I unscrew the bus connector after each session.

[4M]

Thanks for the info Dogbone - very helpful and as a Mac lifer, this is way more convenient than messing around with a PC (which I had tried). When you contacted the Mothership, did they offer any news/predictions on when the App will be available??

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by 4M

Thanks for the info Dogbone - very helpful and as a Mac lifer, this is way more convenient than messing around with a PC (which I had tried). When you contacted the Mothership, did they offer any news/predictions on when the App will be available??

They said the iPhone app is still being developed, and at least 3-4 months away.

[inTgr8r]

...waiting for the app as well

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by inTgr8r

One other thing I want to do b4 next season is add a couple relays to disconnect the CAnbus & 12v when the car is powered off.
Right now anytime there is bus activity it keeps triggering the unit on and I get a bunch of garbage sessions.
So, for now I unscrew the bus connector after each session.

Isn’t there a setting in RS3 that tells it not to record until a certain RPM and speed are reached?

[inTgr8r]

Yes , thats right.
I think I still have mine on default...... need to use the custom setting.

Aside from that the unit keeps cycling on/off with the car turned off.
From talking to others its due to activity on the bus that keeps waking it up.
Others have resolved it by using bus isolation relays.

[dogbone]

I've had a chance to run the AIM Solo 2 DL at a second track--Chuckwalla.

Holy cow. The device is SUPER fricking accurate when it has an open view of the sky. The first event was at Sonoma, which is built into the side of a mountain, has walls, is hilly, and has billboards and grandstands everywhere. And it was pretty darn accurate at Sonoma. But it was dead-on accurate at Chuckwalla which is a flat desert track. Many laps were the same as the transponder. Virtually all laps were within 2/100th of a second of the transponder

So, now that I've used it a couple times, I have a few thoughts about it.

Pros:
-Very accurate
-Has an option that allows you to compare your current lap to the best lap of the day, instead of only being able to compare to best lap of the session like the original Solo DL.
-The 5 lights that go up both sides of the screen are a handy tool for quickly checking your current lap to your best lap. The lights could be shift lights but I don't need that. So, I set the lights up so that each of the 5 lights represents 0.1 sec. If you see three green lights rising up, that means you're 0.3 sec faster than your fastest lap of the day. If you see 4 red lights rising up, that means the current lap is 0.4 sec slower than your fastest lap of the day. All it takes is a super quick glance to see how the current lap is going.
-The AIM displays time of day in the bottom right corner of the screen. I know it sounds dumb, but I've been wanting a clock in my car but have been too lazy to install one. Problem solved!!
-I'm fine with the whole Wi-Fi thing now. At first I wasn't sure if I'd like it, but it's actually quite stable and works fine--even on my MacBook Pro with Fusion.
-RaceStudio3 is a step up in experience over RaceStudio2.
-It is nice that you an see a few parameters from your laps on the device itself like top speed. It's a bit limited, but still better than nothing. I'm hoping that the iPhone app can see more stuff. Ultimately, with the Wi-Fi, it's not hard to just bring the laptop over to the car and download the laps so you can analyze full data.
-I think it's hilarious how the Track Manager tool on the device shows you how many miles you are from the track. I'm sitting here in Colorado so the distances are quite sad. Maybe this feature should be a con!



Cons: There are a number of things that are not my favorite:

-Battery life. I have the most current firmware in my device. There's no way I can make it through a whole day. I don't know how others are doing it. I guess I have to connect the power in to the AIM in my car. Which leads me to my next issue:
-No USB charging possibility provided by AIM. The charging cable provided is hard-connected to a 110v wall adapter. Problem is that you don't have super easy access to a wall outlet at most tracks. But, everyone brings USB charging packs. I decided to ask my [electrical engineering] friend if he could build a USB charging cable. I already had an AIM CAN cable installed in my car prior to owning the Solo 2DL, so the one that came in the box was a "spare". My friend built me a USB charging cable from that CAN cable. Works great! (see pic below)
-Screen space is largely wasted. The new AIM has a larger, colorful screen. Great. But most of the screen space is wasted because you can't size the parameters on the screen. I complained to AIM, and they claimed they are "working on it". I want to be able to choose the number of parameters on the screen, and then size them to use the whole screen. Heck, the original AIM Solo DL used screen space better than the Solo 2 DL.....(all the promo pictures of the Aim Solo 2 DL showed a screen configuration that currently isn't possible on the device!)
-The AIM unit turns on at the slightest whiff of CAN data, even when the engine is not running. This wastes battery. AIM strongly suggests connecting the CAN cable to power so the AIM gets power from the car. I will have to get that setup soon. Another member talked about setting up relays to prevent the device from turning on.......that sounds like too much stuff to setup for a lap timer......I wish they would have a setting that allows you to set the device so that it only turns on when you press the power button.
-Creating new tracks is funky. On the old AIM Solo DL, you could just press a button and create Start/finish line. On the Solo 2 DL, you have to drive past a point twice for the device to create a track. Problem is that the first point that you repeat is nowhere near the actual Start/Finish. Let's use Laguna Sec as an example. You enter the track between Turns 2+3. When you come around, the first repeated GPS will be between Turns 2+3 and that will be your start line........Yes, you can edit the start point on the screen after you drive, but good luck getting close to the real Start/Finish on that little graphic......
-DCT Temp is a listed parameter but we cannot get it working. I even tried starting from scratch with an AIM tech using data from a forum member, but it still does not work......frustrating....
-If you've setup templates for videos and on-screen gauges, the csv export is different than it used to be and several gauges don't work. I'm going to have to "fix" my templates to work with Solo 2 DL.
-EDIT: (one more con): The tracks I created in the original AIM Solo DL cannot be exported or transferred to Race Stdio 3 or the AIM Solo 2 DL. I had to re-create all 15 tracks from scratch in RaceStudio3. It's not the end of the world, but it was a pain in the ass and took awhile because I include 4-5 split segments per track, so there was a lot of GPS points to duplicate. They couldn't have made an export/translation tool or something???

Ultimately, I'm feeling a few growing pains with the Solo 2 DL. I know the most important thing is accuracy, and I think the device is quite good in that department. But I think AIM has a bit more work to do to make it feel polished. I spent a bunch of time on the phone with them listing out my requests.

I'll be using the device again on Saturday at Buttonwillow. I'm curious to see how accurate it is at another flat, open desert track.

Here's a pic of my AIM Solo 2 DL charging off a USB charging pack. But also look at how much screen space is wasted with that 2-parameter page. AIM should let us resize the top line to be smaller, so we can make the bottom line larger.

[XCUSE_M3]

Originally Posted by dogbone

I've had a chance to run the AIM Solo 2 DL at a second track--Chuckwalla.

Holy cow. The device is SUPER fricking accurate when it has an open view of the sky. The first event was at Sonoma, which is built into the side of a mountain, has walls, is hilly, and has billboards and grandstands everywhere. And it was pretty darn accurate at Sonoma. But it was dead-on accurate at Chuckwalla which is a flat desert track. Many laps were the same as the transponder. Virtually all laps were within 2/100th of a second of the transponder

So, now that I've used it a couple times, I have a few thoughts about it.

Pros:
-Very accurate
-Has an option that allows you to compare your current lap to the best lap of the day, instead of only being able to compare to best lap of the session like the original Solo DL.
-The 5 lights that go up both sides of the screen are a handy tool for quickly checking your current lap to your best lap. The lights could be shift lights but I don't need that. So, I set the lights up so that each of the 5 lights represents 0.1 sec. If you see three green lights rising up, that means you're 0.3 sec faster than your fastest lap of the day. If you see 4 red lights rising up, that means the current lap is 0.4 sec slower than your fastest lap of the day. All it takes is a super quick glance to see how the current lap is going.
-The AIM displays time of day in the bottom right corner of the screen. I know it sounds dumb, but I've been wanting a clock in my car but have been too lazy to install one. Problem solved!!
-I'm fine with the whole Wi-Fi thing now. At first I wasn't sure if I'd like it, but it's actually quite stable and works fine--even on my MacBook Pro with Fusion.
-RaceStudio3 is a step up in experience over RaceStudio2.
-It is nice that you an see a few parameters from your laps on the device itself like top speed. It's a bit limited, but still better than nothing. I'm hoping that the iPhone app can see more stuff. Ultimately, with the Wi-Fi, it's not hard to just bring the laptop over to the car and download the laps so you can analyze full data.
-I think it's hilarious how the Track Manager tool on the device shows you how many miles you are from the track. I'm sitting here in Colorado so the distances are quite sad. Maybe this feature should be a con!



Cons: There are a number of things that are not my favorite:

-Battery life. I have the most current firmware in my device. There's no way I can make it through a whole day. I don't know how others are doing it. I guess I have to connect the power in to the AIM in my car. Which leads me to my next issue:
-No USB charging possibility provided by AIM. The charging cable provided is hard-connected to a 110v wall adapter. Problem is that you don't have super easy access to a wall outlet at most tracks. But, everyone brings USB charging packs. I decided to ask my [electrical engineering] friend if he could build a USB charging cable. I already had an AIM CAN cable installed in my car prior to owning the Solo 2DL, so the one that came in the box was a "spare". My friend built me a USB charging cable from that CAN cable. Works great! (see pic below)
-Screen space is largely wasted. The new AIM has a larger, colorful screen. Great. But most of the screen space is wasted because you can't size the parameters on the screen. I complained to AIM, and they claimed they are "working on it". I want to be able to choose the number of parameters on the screen, and then size them to use the whole screen. Heck, the original AIM Solo DL used screen space better than the Solo 2 DL.....(all the promo pictures of the Aim Solo 2 DL showed a screen configuration that currently isn't possible on the device!)
-The AIM unit turns on at the slightest whiff of CAN data, even when the engine is not running. This wastes battery. AIM strongly suggests connecting the CAN cable to power so the AIM gets power from the car. I will have to get that setup soon. Another member talked about setting up relays to prevent the device from turning on.......that sounds like too much stuff to setup for a lap timer......I wish they would have a setting that allows you to set the device so that it only turns on when you press the power button.
-Creating new tracks is funky. On the old AIM Solo DL, you could just press a button and create Start/finish line. On the Solo 2 DL, you have to drive past a point twice for the device to create a track. Problem is that the first point that you repeat is nowhere near the actual Start/Finish. Let's use Laguna Sec as an example. You enter the track between Turns 2+3. When you come around, the first repeated GPS will be between Turns 2+3 and that will be your start line........Yes, you can edit the start point on the screen after you drive, but good luck getting close to the real Start/Finish on that little graphic......
-DCT Temp is a listed parameter but we cannot get it working. I even tried starting from scratch with an AIM tech using data from a forum member, but it still does not work......frustrating....
-If you've setup templates for videos and on-screen gauges, the csv export is different than it used to be and several gauges don't work. I'm going to have to "fix" my templates to work with Solo 2 DL.
-EDIT: (one more con): The tracks I created in the original AIM Solo DL cannot be exported or transferred to Race Stdio 3 or the AIM Solo 2 DL. I had to re-create all 15 tracks from scratch in RaceStudio3. It's not the end of the world, but it was a pain in the ass and took awhile because I include 4-5 split segments per track, so there was a lot of GPS points to duplicate. They couldn't have made an export/translation tool or something???

Ultimately, I'm feeling a few growing pains with the Solo 2 DL. I know the most important thing is accuracy, and I think the device is quite good in that department. But I think AIM has a bit more work to do to make it feel polished. I spent a bunch of time on the phone with them listing out my requests.

I'll be using the device again on Saturday at Buttonwillow. I'm curious to see how accurate it is at another flat, open desert track.

Here's a pic of my AIM Solo 2 DL charging off a USB charging pack. But also look at how much screen space is wasted with that 2-parameter page. AIM should let us resize the top line to be smaller, so we can make the bottom line larger.

I have mine set up to the car for charging when connected just hook it up with the bus. You are right about the battery life just having it off, it will die within 2 days. Thats my only down side and the lights on the side are great for timing. Also cant wait for the phone app whenever that will be out will be nice to not bring a laptop to the track.

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by XCUSE_M3

Also cant wait for the phone app whenever that will be out will be nice to not bring a laptop to the track.

I would be surprised if the iPhone app removes the need for a laptop. Do you think it will be that powerful?

And besides, how would I make my overlay videos without my laptop?!

[XCUSE_M3]

Originally Posted by dogbone

I would be surprised if the iPhone app removes the need for a laptop. Do you think it will be that powerful?

And besides, how would I make my overlay videos without my laptop?!

Originally Posted by dogbone

I would be surprised if the iPhone app removes the need for a laptop. Do you think it will be that powerful?

And besides, how would I make my overlay videos without my laptop?!

I don't think it will be powerful at all but would be nice. I just want to be able to compare data with ease of just messing around on my phone vs a big laptop.

[dogbone]

I had to share this crazy photo from Chuckwalla this past weekend.

An incredibly powerful and concentrated rainstorm dumped 2" of rain in less than an hour the night before the event. The track didn't get any hail, but at the hotel in Indio, a crazy hail came down that damaged people's cars.

Anyway, we got to the track Sat AM and we heard that it's closed because of water. (There were road closure signs due to water damage on the way to the track, but we just drove around those silly signs and got to the track without any issues.) And then, someone produced this picture of Turn 10. It was a dang lake out there on Turn 10! Crazy! I was ready to go fishing when I saw that pic!

They were busting their butts to suck up the water and get the day going. On our first session at 1:45PM, it was amazing to see that they were able to remove it all. They setup a permanent Yellow flag at that corner because it was still wet and muddy. By Sunday, the turn was drivable and felt ok.

Anyway, that's the worst flooding I've ever seen on a track. I mean c'mon, that pickup truck is looking pretty tiny back there compared to the lake in front of it......that was a lot of water to get rid of. My hat is off to the track crew.

[roastbeef]

What did they do? Dig a hole with that backhoe for the water to "drain" into?

[inTgr8r]

wow... thats crazy!!!

[M3 Number 86]

Originally Posted by XCUSE_M3

I have mine set up to the car for charging when connected just hook it up with the bus. You are right about the battery life just having it off, it will die within 2 days. Thats my only down side and the lights on the side are great for timing. Also cant wait for the phone app whenever that will be out will be nice to not bring a laptop to the track.

I think I'll be sticking to my Solo DL. Too much time needed to make sure it'll be running correctly at the track. Currently keep having gopro issues each event so my footage is utter crap - this would just add another five check boxes to my list lol.

My brother has a Solo DL2 and I was planning on borrowing it. I charged it a while ago, never turned it on, and it was resting for a few weeks. I go to turn it on and battery was dead already. Plus the wifi is annoying because I was connected directly to the laptop but of course you can't google to research how to do something lol. I guess you need the dongle to connect to the unit, and leave wifi connected to your network?

[M3 Number 86]

Originally Posted by dogbone

I would be surprised if the iPhone app removes the need for a laptop. Do you think it will be that powerful?

And besides, how would I make my overlay videos without my laptop?!

I am NOT re-doing my overlays

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by roastbeef

What did they do? Dig a hole with that backhoe for the water to "drain" into?

I never saw them working on it, but we did see a very busy water truck running to and from the unwanted lake. So, I'm assuming they were sucking the water into the water truck and releasing it somewhere else. And the tractors I guess were scooping up water and spreading it around? Not sure.

It was definitely a ton of work for them to clear that up as fast as they did. The track had no standing water on it when we went out at 2PM. The pavement was wet and a bit muddy, but they cleared it all.

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by M3 Number 86

I think I'll be sticking to my Solo DL. Too much time needed to make sure it'll be running correctly at the track. Currently keep having gopro issues each event so my footage is utter crap - this would just add another five check boxes to my list lol.

My brother has a Solo DL2 and I was planning on borrowing it. I charged it a while ago, never turned it on, and it was resting for a few weeks. I go to turn it on and battery was dead already. Plus the wifi is annoying because I was connected directly to the laptop but of course you can't google to research how to do something lol. I guess you need the dongle to connect to the unit, and leave wifi connected to your network?

Wi-Fi is the ONLY way you can connect a computer/RaceStudio3 to the AIM Solo 2 DL. You do setup, firmware, track management ALL through Wi-Fi. That's why I was so desperate to get the Mac laptop working with he AIM. It's the ONLY way. There is no USB port or anything like that for data. They provide a specific charging cable, but there's no data going on that. And the CAN cable connects to the device so it can log the car, but again, there's no computer data. So, the ONLY way to connect to an AIM Solo 2 DL to transfer data to and from it is via Wi-Fi. Once the laptop is connected to the AIM, then it can't get on the internet.

Yeah, the setup of the device takes awhile, especially if you want the exact same track GPS points as your old AIM Solo DL tracks because you gotta re-create all the points from scratch. (15 tracks, times 5 GPS points per track with start/finish and 4 split points, times 2 (7-digit) numbers for each GPS points is 150 GPS numbers that need to be re-entered. So much fun.) So annoying they don't have an export or import tool in RaceStudio3. And, in the car, if you don't have power wired into the device on that CAN cable, then you are running for recharging in the middle of the day. And you gotta run to a wall outlet because there's no USB charging option.

I know it sounds like I don't like the device. Actually, I love that it's so accurate, so I'll go through the growing pains.

[Shmelgy]

dogbone you going to Laguna Seca with speeddistrict December 8-9?

[M3 Number 86]

Originally Posted by dogbone

Wi-Fi is the ONLY way you can connect a computer/RaceStudio3 to the AIM Solo 2 DL. You do setup, firmware, track management ALL through Wi-Fi. That's why I was so desperate to get the Mac laptop working with he AIM. It's the ONLY way. There is no USB port or anything like that for data. They provide a specific charging cable, but there's no data going on that. And the CAN cable connects to the device so it can log the car, but again, there's no computer data. So, the ONLY way to connect to an AIM Solo 2 DL to transfer data to and from it is via Wi-Fi. Once the laptop is connected to the AIM, then it can't get on the internet.

Yeah, the setup of the device takes awhile, especially if you want the exact same track GPS points as your old AIM Solo DL tracks because you gotta re-create all the points from scratch. (15 tracks, times 5 GPS points per track with start/finish and 4 split points, times 2 (7-digit) numbers for each GPS points is 150 GPS numbers that need to be re-entered. So much fun.) So annoying they don't have an export or import tool in RaceStudio3. And, in the car, if you don't have power wired into the device on that CAN cable, then you are running for recharging in the middle of the day. And you gotta run to a wall outlet because there's no USB charging option.

I know it sounds like I don't like the device. Actually, I love that it's so accurate, so I'll go through the growing pains.

Too much for me. Enough headaches already lol

I really love the term "set it and forget it"