What plug for glove box power socket?

Redgorilla

New member
Hi Guy's
Just got my C400 last week lovely ride and good economy.
One question what plug is used in the left hand glove box to connect to the power socket?
Its so far in I cant get a good look.
I've tried looking online but no help.
I wanted to get a USB plug so I can plug my phone etc into it.
Any help appreciated.
Gareth
 

mel1050

New member
It's a DIN socket which is on all BMW bikes. I have a plug that converts it to a car cigarette lighter socket and then a USB plug, but you can get DIN to USB direct on Amazon. Hope this helps.
 

OldDog

New member
My USB connection stays on after the bike is powered down. Is there a way of turning it off to prevent draining the battery?
 

wspollack

Active member
My USB connection stays on after the bike is powered down. Is there a way of turning it off to prevent draining the battery?
I don't want to say that you're wrong, so suppose we agree that you might be too impatient.

Here's a page from owner's manual, to show what I'm talking about:

Screenshot 2023-08-28 at 5.02.59 PM.png
 

OldDog

New member
I have the 2019 model which only has a hella Din plug. The manual does state a fifteen minute shutdown time. The reason I posted my question is that it was still live after 40 minutes. I had powered off, left the cubby hole open and taken the key inside. I was wondering if the cubby has to be closed?
 

wspollack

Active member
I have the 2019 model which only has a hella Din plug. The manual does state a fifteen minute shutdown time. The reason I posted my question is that it was still live after 40 minutes. I had powered off, left the cubby hole open and taken the key inside. I was wondering if the cubby has to be closed?
I am somewhat familiar with the older C 400 models. That is, I rode a C 400 X in 2022 on two Edelweiss tours, and I rode one last month on another Edelweiss tour. In these cases, I was on a C 400 X. I don't know what model year these were, but they were old enough that they did not have USB ports in the cubby; all they had was that single BMW/DIN/Hella/Powerlet socket.

Now, as far as closing the cubby door, I did not notice any switch by the door hinge or the door clasp, so I'm really doubtful that the door's being open or closed comes into play. Plus, the door itself is not mentioned in any documentation I could find.

Speaking of documentation, I downloaded the X manual that was copyrighted in 2020 from BMW itself: https://manuals.bmw-motorrad.com/ma...-INTERNET-COM/PDF/C_0C33_RM_0920_C400X_07.pdf [PDF download, if you click]

That says the same thing that I posted yesterday.

So I searched a bit, and came across https://ownersmanuals2.com/bmw/c-400-x-2019-owners-manual-75342 . If you go to that site, there's a link there: https://ownersmanuals2.com/d/75342 [PDF download, if you click]

That gets you a manual that:

- Is copyright 2018

- Does not mention USB ports, i.e., it pertains to the older model that just has that single BMW/DIN/Hella/Powerlet socket.

Alas, this older owner's manual says the same thing as the newer ones, regarding automatic shutoff. Here are the pages from that manual:

Screenshot 2023-08-29 at 8.47.09 AM.png

Screenshot 2023-08-29 at 8.47.26 AM.png

So I'm at a loss to explain your situation, because the automatic shutoff seems to have existed from the onset of the C 400 line.

Could you tell me what device you have plugged into the DIN port, and what sort of state it's in (e.g., e.g., such-and-such a camera, in Standby mode, not recording)?
 

OldDog

New member
I think you may have hit on the problem. I have a din to USB adapter fitted with two usb ports on it and a blue tell tale light. I shall try plugging a SATNAV into it and see if that triggers an auto power off....
 

wspollack

Active member
I think you may have hit on the problem. I have a din to USB adapter fitted with two usb ports on it and a blue tell tale light. I shall try plugging a SATNAV into it and see if that triggers an auto power off....
I hope we can get to the bottom of this.

I'm aware of such devices. I used one myself -- a DIN to 2 X USB adapter -- on those Edelweiss tours, to power a GoPro all day. I mushed the cord in the corner of the cubby/door interface, and hoped for the best (it worked out okay). I always just turned off the camera for lunch stops, at the end of the day, etc., so I didn't do any scientific power-down tests. (On my own 2022 C 400 GT, I installed an external USB port, so I wouldn't have that mush-the-door problem.)

The thing is, USB adapters use a certain amount of power, even when nothing's plugged into them. This is generally called parasitic or quiescent draw. I'm not talking about the power for, say, a blue light. Rather, there are transformers in USB devices, to take the 12V down to whatever the USB uses (5V, I think), and they are active even when nothing's plugged in. So I'm still puzzled why the bike doesn't shut off the DIN port. I mean, maybe the power's too little for it to notice, but, even so, what about its supposed 15-minute rule?

So I'm still puzzled. And my apologies for jumping to the conclusion that you were unaware of that (alleged) 15-minute shut-down.
 

OldDog

New member
No worries Bill
I plugged my satnav in and came back 45 minutes later to find both it and the tell tales had gone out. Final test will be to plug in the lead and leave it overnight and see if it goes out. Bike is on a trickle charger so battery voltage will not drop. Could be that mine has a quirk?
 

OldDog

New member
Final report. The BMW system cannot detect the parasitic draw of the USB charger but turns off ok if a phone or similar is plugged in. Not a problem unless you leave the bike for a long while with no trickle charger.
 
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