Bafang M500 - BESST and limits

[thaeber]

I am waiting for my Besst Tool and can't wait to upgrade and test the new firmware for my m500 ☺. Yesterday i made a nighride with steep uphills and sometimes I wished to have some more power to be able to ride together with friends on bosch or brose ebikes. I would like to thank @Kyokushin for his great support and time to explain in detail how to use Besst tool without the password and login (specially because i asked directly to bafang already weeks ago without any response yet ?).

My Besst is on the way from Netherlands, expected to be here latest Tuesday! Thanks to Kyokushin and the Gang for all Your support!

 

[Kyokushin]

Surely and without a doubt is better to have more than less and M600 than M500. The only matter i picked the M500 is the M500 is legal in EU for use in 'bike' and M600 does not meet the 'pedelec' requirements.

 

[thaeber]

Surely and without a doubt is better to have more than less and M600 than M500. The only matter i picked the M500 is the M500 is legal in EU for use in 'bike' and M600 does not meet the 'pedelec' requirements.

Same for me. And in case of an accident using an illegal electric powered vehicle you are in deep shit here in Germany.

 

[Kyokushin]

Same for me. And in case of an accident using an illegal electric powered vehicle you are in deep shit here in Germany.

In Poland there is no issues so far because ebike community is very responsible on roads here.

However it will end soon because cyclist here in overall are completely mindless and because of that also e-bike community will get a hit from gov.

 

[markvanhaze77]

I just had my first proper ride on the M600 E10. For me, the power I get on level 1 is already too much so I would like to adjust that. On my old BBSHD2 I could do that using the serial to usb cable so am I right that I need the BESST tool to do this on the M600?

 

[Kyokushin]

I just had my first proper ride on the M600 E10. For me, the power I get on level 1 is already too much so I would like to adjust that. On my old BBSHD2 I could do that using the serial to usb cable so am I right that I need the BESST tool to do this on the M600?

No, on besst you only set up the circumference, wheel size, speed limit and upgrade/downgrade firmware, thats all.

 

[markvanhaze77]

No, on besst you only set up the circumference, wheel size, speed limit and upgrade/downgrade firmware, thats all.

Thanks. So is there a way to adjust the power levels?

 

[Kyokushin]

Thanks. So is there a way to adjust the power levels?

No. You only can write to Bafang and ask them for firmware adjustments.

 

[markvanhaze77]

Thanks for the info. I think Ill have to do a bit of Endlesssphere digging here as this seems to be a bit of a pain in the ass. Overall I am not that impressed with the M600 when I compare it to my BBSHD2. Naturally, the torque sensor is a different world but apart from that, the M600 is louder due to the metal cog (I will be swapping that asap to the polymer one) and not being able to adjust the power levels is just disappointing.
Edit: Just saw we can plug a canbus interface in so Ill give that a go.

 

[SchadowMaster]

Do you know where I can find official firmwares for Bafang M300 ?

 

[Kyokushin]

Do you know where I can find official firmwares for Bafang M300 ?

I saw something only here:

https://leaderfox.cz/data/file/BESST%20Bafang%20mid%20motor%20%20firmware%20AJ.zip

But never tested, never used and i know nothing about M300.

 

[SchadowMaster]

Thanks for your quick reply!
I have another bike (City Bike) with Bafang M300 which is also a powerful motor (80 NM) and I want to try other firmwares with it.

 

[ornias]

Using the M600 at full power on the long climb on open fields ( it’s about 80m vertical ) near my house I was still at 33kph at the top, sort of good fun doing it on the way home from the pub, but would I say it was necessary to have that power, probably not as there’s been many a night coming home from the pub where even walking speed is too fast, but on steep single track I use more like 400W’s and very high gears.

You know that in most countries even using a bike while under the influence is a crime right?

 

[Waynemarlow]

You know that in most countries even using a bike while under the influence is a crime right?

Ornias you must be about the only person on this forum who hasn’t ridden his bike with one too many sherbets ?

 

[ornias]

Ornias you must be about the only person on this forum who hasn’t ridden his bike with one too many sherbets ?

I indeed have never ridden a bike while under the influence.
That being said: I would at the very least not ride an E-Bike while under, normal bikes i don't really have a problem with though.

 

[Kyokushin]

Personally i never drove a car, ebike, classic bike, motorboat, sailboat or anything under the % influence. It may be funny but also never back home drunk on foot. Always wife took me or i took uber/taxi.

Here in Poland we have very sctrict rules about this, you cannot have more than 0.2% and that means no even half of beer or pack of % chocolates.
Drunk cyclist are the issue, same as drunk drivers, thera are cases when drunk cyclist caused an accident where someone in car got killed.

 

[ornias]

Drunk cyclist are the issue, same as drunk drivers, thera are cases when drunk cyclist caused an accident where someone in car died.

Agreed, it's not something to play with... but also depends a lot on the country, here in the netherlands we've so many insane cyclists, that a few drunks get ignored because they don't ride much worse than some people do while sober :')

But I would never also put a motor on it, that increases the risk for everyone.

 

[Kyokushin]

here cyclists in overall are killing more people yearly than drunk drivers or truck drivers at all. Cyclists here are very mindless and unresponsible group (except ebike community because its closed and small) and now people want registration plates for all bikes because cyclists often do hit&run. Anonymous and lawless.

 

[ornias]

here cyclists in overall are killing more people yearly than drunk drivers or truck drivers at all. Cyclists here are very mindless and unresponsible group (except ebike community because its closed and small) and now people want registration plates for all bikes because cyclists often do hit&run. Anonymous and lawless.

A quite typical government response: not building roads very well suited for cycling, which increases the amount of hits (and runs) and in response calling for bike registration plates.

So typical it's laughable, or just sad.

 

[Kyokushin]

most of hit&run are on the walkside. Cyclists here are not using cycle lanes even if the're avaiable but they're riding fast between pedestrians.
Idiots are hitting childrens, sometimes for fun, and run because they are anonymous. "they do because they can".

Bike lanes are also not safe because cyclists are completely unpredictable and they are do not respect any point of road law here.
Its much better to ride on road with cars than on cycle lane. At least its predictable somehow. Of course i am describing how it is in my country.

 

[Waynemarlow]

So guys, any update to how you are getting on with decoding and finding your way around the Bafang firmware. Sorry but my skills at programming are woefully poor and just interested whether you will go down the TSDZ2 route which has progressed into a very good suite of firmwares to suit most tastes.

 

[SchadowMaster]

I texted Bafang today and asked them for the latest firmwares for (Bafang M500 48V) and (Bafang M300 36V) motors.

They didn't send me any frimwares and the answer was:

"There won't be a latest one, but just suitable one, to us, the original one must be better, as it would have been test for the whole system, including your battery, display, and bike frame.
We would update the firmware only there is an error and we need to fix it, otherwise, the original one is the best to suit your system"

The question is what is the source of this other official firmwares like (CRX10NC4813i142015.8-28-2230-20210805.bin) and the most important question is it safe for all types of bikes??

 

[Kyokushin]

I have got it from Bafang. I have asked for 48V close in peak power to 36V 17A and i reported battery attenuation in original is annoying.

i have done around 400km on this 48i13 and so far so good.

technically M500 should be able to handle slightly over 1kW.

 

[SchadowMaster]

Looks like you tested the firmware well!

Have you noticed that the motor gets so hot that it cannot be touched when consuming more than 650 watts continuously, for example when climbing steep hills and pulling out all the power of the motor?

 

[Kyokushin]

Its getting same hot as on stock 10A from my perspective.

 

[thaeber]

I have got it from Bafang. I have asked for 48V close in peak power to 36V 17A and i reported battery attenuation in original is annoying.

i have done around 400km on this 48i13 and so far so good.

technically M500 should be able to handle slightly over 1kW.

Same here. Appr. 150 km done on new firmware, but also some excessive climbing and steepest uphill. Not only without technical issues, I‘m very very happy with the support and natural feeling, beside plenty of power!

 

[Laudix]

Great job guys, i think i will have to buy the BESST tool too and add my tests to yours. Also because my bike will have to climb mountains with my 115 kg. What better test?

 

[SchadowMaster]

So, I'll tell you my experience:
The 13A firmware is maybe a bit stronger at level 5 when starting uphill, otherwise everything is crap. Difficult to pedal the low Levels are dead, The fun is completely gone.
With 12A firmware it goes much better at all levels you realize how powerful it is, and it is very easy to pedal. The only strange problem is that it shows the original version again (10A).

It seems numbers aren't everything!!

Have you tried installing the 12A firmware for comparison?

 

[Laudix]

So, I'll tell you my experience:
The 13A firmware is maybe a bit stronger at level 5 when starting uphill, otherwise everything is crap. Difficult to pedal the low Levels are dead, The fun is completely gone.
With 12A firmware it goes much better at all levels you realize how powerful it is, and it is very easy to pedal. The only strange problem is that it shows the original version again (10A).

It seems numbers aren't everything!!

Have you tried installing the 12A firmware for comparison?

when you talk about 12A FW do you mean this?
CRX10NC4812i142015.5-12A-20210616.bin
I have a little confusion in my head.

 

[SchadowMaster]

when you talk about 12A FW do you mean this?
CRX10NC4812i142015.5-12A-20210616.bin
I have a little confusion in my head.

Yes I mean this firmware