Anyone update Mahle x35 firmware themselves?

[Lentilbake]

Firmware updates are recommended by Mahle to keep the system up to date and may include improvements in efficiency and/or fixes for problems. My wife's Ribble has the pink flashing over voltage error every time it's charged up to 100% and my Ribble won't work reliably with the Pulsar One display/controller, both of these problems are supposed to be fixed by updating to the latest firmware. I too have bought a GCU cable (from Velo-Store in France) and hope to report success here soon.

The latest update, vQ3.2, will update the Joystick data firmware to iM2EM126 and the Battery Data firmware to 4B, the Controller Data firmware will stay the same at 4107 (eventually extracted that info from a long series of emails to Mahle tech support).

 

[Lentilbake]

UPDATE: Mahle have now issued Q3.3 of the firmware and, using my new GCU cable I followed the exact procedure given on the Website to update my wife's bike. On the first attempt the Joystick controller was updated to iM2EM126 (success!) and the lights on the GCU were flashing alternately red/green indicating that one update had failed (I was expecting this) so I went through the procedure two more times with the same result, the Battery controller firmware remained at 45. I've tried reformatting and re-copying the files. Awaiting a response from Mahle about this.

 

[Lentilbake]

UPDATE: (does anyone actually care about this ^_^).

Mahle came back and explained that:

Just on Thursday the IT team made a adjust in the patch, that's why the information is a little bit different iM2EM126 for the joystick, this doesn't change

Regarding the colours

Alternating green and red*: Generally all updates end this way. The red light on the GCU at the end of the process means that some task was ignored, not necessarily because of an error, it is because the bike does not need that specific task. The green light means that a task was applied successfully.
I was puzzled that the battery controller didn't update even after several attempts and they explained that:

All is ok
Is not a problem with the battery
The patch is made for all type of batteries that we have in the market, C, D, E, and F
The system will ignore the task that are not for the specific bike
The important thing is the firmware of the joystick.
So, there are different batteries even in very similar bikes.

So my next job was to carry out the update on my Ribble bike. The firmwares listed for my bike were exactly the same as on my wife's (Battery 45, Joystick iM2EM126, Smart controller 4107) but the battery information in the app says its some 8 months older (interesting, because I got my bike about a year after my wife's!) so I guess its a different version of the battery.

I ran the update exactly as described on the website with a freshly formatted pen drive and freshly copied installation files. The update finished with a solid green indicator on the GCU cable and when I checked in the app I had iM2EM126 and battery 51 firmwares, the smart controller stayed at 4107. Success!

Mahle also said that:

For the update is very Important:

1. pen drive or USB 32 GB or less
2. Format the pen drive to FAT32 before load any files. This is really important to do every time and for each bike
3. Unzip the files in the laptop or PC and copy and paste the files in the USB stick
4. leave in the pen drive just 17 files, no folders or additional files
5. Once you finish the update, Close app>shut off bike > turn everything on. Then pedal > Run a new diagnosis and verify if all works ok and f the firmware 126 is there
Just hoping now that the 'problems' I had with the bikes have been cured. Will report back.

Hope all this helps someone out there!

 

[Lentilbake]

After that success I've had a bloody disaster! I tried to update the wife's bike one more time to get the battery firmware updated with a freshly formatted pen drive (they seem very keen on this on the website although I can't image why) and the update failed leaving the bike in 'safe mode' with the iWOC button showing pink continuously. I think the GCU cable failed and took the pen drive with it or vice versa, either way the cable is now dead (no lights when connected) and I can't read the pen drive! on my PC. I've taken the bike to my local dealer to see if they can fix it, they have access to the Dealer App and a good technical contact at Mahle. I guess the battery will have to be disconnected to power down and reset the system.

 

[dutchman388]

Firmware updates are recommended by Mahle to keep the system up to date and may include improvements in efficiency and/or fixes for problems. My wife's Ribble has the pink flashing over voltage error every time it's charged up to 100% and my Ribble won't work reliably with the Pulsar One display/controller, both of these problems are supposed to be fixed by updating to the latest firmware. I too have bought a GCU cable (from Velo-Store in France) and hope to report success here soon.

The latest update, vQ3.2, will update the Joystick data firmware to iM2EM126 and the Battery Data firmware to 4B, the Controller Data firmware will stay the same at 4107 (eventually extracted that info from a long series of emails to Mahle tech support).

I am awaiting my nearest electric bike shop dealing with Lapierre to get the appropriate cable and flash the firmware. I too had the flashing pink light which menat that no electrical power could be obtained. I connected the bike via bluetooth to the phone app and after 2 days the battery had fallen to 96% and the pink light stopped flashing, making the bike rideable once again. However, until the firmware is sorted out, I shall not be able to give the battery a full charge, in case it fails to the pink flashing again. This does not set a good precedent for Mahle and other manufacturers - we expect more from a non-Chinese company. I know that the X20 system is supposedly upgradable by end users, but there must be a lot of X35 systems still out there.
David

 

[Hoggdoc]

This is why I would NEVER buy a buy with a system like this on board.

 

[Lentilbake]

I am awaiting my nearest electric bike shop dealing with Lapierre to get the appropriate cable and flash the firmware. I too had the flashing pink light which menat that no electrical power could be obtained. I connected the bike via bluetooth to the phone app and after 2 days the battery had fallen to 96% and the pink light stopped flashing, making the bike rideable once again. However, until the firmware is sorted out, I shall not be able to give the battery a full charge, in case it fails to the pink flashing again. This does not set a good precedent for Mahle and other manufacturers - we expect more from a non-Chinese company. I know that the X20 system is supposedly upgradable by end users, but there must be a lot of X35 systems still out there.
David

Re The Pink Flashing Light,: we found that just riding the bike for a few minutes while the light flashed cured the problem. Annoying but not too much of a problem.

 

[Nappy]

Thanks for the updates @Lentilbake!

So, are you saying the only update is on the battery firmware? From 45 > 51.

Battery 45, Joystick iM2EM126, Smart controller 4107

From the last update, I already have all those versions above.

Thanks!

EDIT: I just ran the update procedure on my 3T Exploro Boost.

First flash: The GCU light stayed RED after updating itself.

Second flash: I then reformatted the USB and put the original 17 files back in and began the process over again. This time plugging into the bike. The white status light on the GCU stayed white. Which the instructions says that the "update package has been ignored."

I suppose my particular battery doesn't need an update.

 

[Lentilbake]

Yes, It would seem that only some batteries need the latest battery firmware.

 

[maxbikes73]

Bonjours j'ai un soucis mise à jour x35 sur un argon 18 , je procède le cordon gcu , clé neuve formatée pour la mise à jour , décompressé les fichiers et lancé la procédure . Impossible de la faire , voyant sur vélo allumé rose fixe . Récupéré le fichier log pour transmettre au support mahle . Refait la procédure et miracle la mise à jour est passée mais voyant sur cordon clignote rouge vert. Comme je suis perfectionniste je recommence et là blocage complet , voyant sur vélo allumé rose violet fixe impossible a éteindre ,tout débranché rien n y fait , plus de possibilité de connexions avec l'appli . J'attends le retour du support et même en temps que le revendeur bike je coince . C'est la première fois que je trouve difficile de mettre à niveau un système

 

[Lentilbake]

That's exactly what happened to me. Your bike has gone into 'Safe Mode'. If you email Mahle they will send you a special patch file which should fix it. In my case, I took the bike back to my local dealer and they are trying to fix it with help from Mahle but so far they have had no luck. I don't know what went wrong with the update process but my GCU cable and the USB memory stick no longer work!

 

[maxbikes73]

C'est exactement ce qui m'est arrivé. Votre vélo est passé en « Mode sans échec ». Si vous envoyez un e-mail à Mahle, ils vous enverront un fichier de correctif spécial qui devrait résoudre le problème. Dans mon cas, j'ai ramené le vélo chez mon revendeur local et ils essaient de le réparer avec l'aide de Mahle mais jusqu'à présent, ils n'ont pas eu de chance. Je ne sais pas ce qui n'a pas fonctionné lors du processus de mise à jour mais mon câble GCU et la clé USB ne fonctionnent plus !

Merci pour l info , je suis revendeur argon et c est la première fois que j ai ce problème , ça sert les échecs , j attends le retour du support . Je vous tiens au courant

 

[Lentilbake]

Update: The dealer says my battery is no good. Mahle say that it had an error code back in July and could have gone wrong any time even if the update had worked. This will cost me about £600, the battery is out of warranty.

 

[maxbikes73]

J'ai eu la même réponse j'ai mis la pression au support ( très sympa) il ma parvenir à un fichier pour débloquer le système . Maintenant led blanche fixe sur vélo , il a renvoyé un autre fichier bms pour débloquer la batterie mais ça ne fonctionne pas . J attends demain pour résoudre ce problème.

 

[Lentilbake]

This is so frustrating! I would like to know exactly what is going wrong with these batteries.

 

[maxbikes73]

J'ai reçu la batterie neuve et un jour après 2 semaines d'attente . Remontage sur le vélo et test . Il faut dans les paramètres via l'application pro renseigner le numéro de série dans l'élément nouvelle batterie et tous se met à jour, tous les éléments sont reconnus. J'attends la réception du compteur pulsarOne pour livrer le vélo .
il faut insister par tel et mail avec l assistance en Espagne , ils font le maximum , la preuve .

 

[maxbikes73]

En faite ce n est pas la batterie mais le contrôleur dans le boîtier batterie qui bug d ou le changement de l ensemble

 

[Lentilbake]

I'm still waiting for the new battery to arrive from Mahle. I can't believe that after less than 3 years I'm having to pay £640 for a new battery when I've done nothing wrong and it's clearly a fault with the battery manufacturer.

 

[Lentilbake]

En faite ce n est pas la batterie mais le contrôleur dans le boîtier batterie qui bug d ou le changement de l ensemble

En faite ce n est pas la batterie mais le contrôleur dans le boîtier batterie qui bug d ou le changement de l ensemble

This is interesting, I'm sure it's the controller in the battery that is failing in some way. Mine failed during the firmware update and I can't see how a battery problem would cause this. The controller is part of the battery I have to replace the whole thing! I'm annoyed that in carrying out the firmware update (which is recommended by Mahle) the controller has failed.

 

[Lentilbake]

Don't suppose we'll ever know!

My local dealer told me that he's had seven X35 bikes in to fix the 'overvoltage' problem which is caused by one of the cells being 'out of balance'. Sometimes this can be fixed by a software patch supplied by Mahle and sometimes a new battery is required. When I went in to pick up my new battery he was patching a brand new Ribble that had the over voltage fault and the patch worked.

I don't suppose I'll ever find out why my battery failed during the update, destroying the GCU cable with it but my plan to update friend's bikes with my cable is certainly not going to happen now.