Proper connection of a non-BMW provided GPS receiver to specific BMW plug

[runnerhiker]

One comment about the CanBus.  On my S1000XR, the BMW Nav looses power immediately upon turning off the ignition.  The Zumo XT mounted on the BMW GPS OEM mount does not loose power immediately upon turning off the ignition, it takes a variable length of time, 30-60 seconds.  That means the CanBus recognizes the BMW Nav as a GPS, but it only sees the Zumo XT as an accessory connected to the electrical system.

Hmmmm ... that is not the behaviour on my RS with its BMW GPS Prep. 

My BMW Nav VI does not lose power immediately after the bike is shut off. It does its countdown, and I can elect to keep it on. The behaviour is the same as on my Tiger where the CAN-Bus system is bypassed, and the Nav VI is powered directly from the battery, via a Healtech Thunderbox power distribution module. 

In other words, on both my bikes, the Nav VI's own battery power controls its shutdown after the bike is shut off, and the CAN-Bus system is not involved.

You are correct, let me clarify.  I think the Nav VI message with the countdown to shut down happens as soon as the GPS has lost power from the motorcycle.  This sequence is powered by the GPS battery.

When I turn off the ignition on the XR with the Nav VI on the BMW mount, the CanBus turns off power immediately and the Nav VI shutdown message appears on the Nav VI right away, powered by the Nav VI battery.

The Garmin XT has a similar sequence for shutting down as the Nav VI.  But shutting off the motorcycle ignitions does not begin this sequence right away, the XT is still fully powered on as though the ignition had not been shut off.  The appearance of that sequence does not happen for 30 seconds, 1 minute, maybe 2-3 minutes later.  The CanBus is leaving that circuit on for a short time, it is definitely not shutting down this circuit as soon as the ignition is turned off.

I think this is a CanBus design.  A person that install a not BMW GPS on a CanBus controlled circuit will think they have done something wrong because the GPS is not going to its shutdown sequence right away.  If the battery on the Garmin XT is very low, the CanBus will leave this circuit on for 10-15 minutes and then you'll think you did something really wrong on the installation.

This topic has been discussed at length in the K1600 forum, my 2022 K1600 cannot be fitted with a BMW GPS cradle, many, like me, have installed a Garmin XT powered by a CanBus controlled circuit, and this different behavior has caused some concern until the installer understands what's going on.  If the OP installs an XT on a CanBus circuit, he will run into this and wonder what is going on.

The CanBus is like black magic because we don't know how BMW coded the controls.  But BMW has definitely coded something that leaves CanBus circuits on after the ignition is turned off.