AiM Sportline Data Loggers and Dashes Explained

AiM makes some of the most common data gear in club paddocks — and there’s a lot of it. This is the plain-English guide we wish we’d had when we started: what the products are, how they differ, and what to buy first.

The payoff is simple: log a session and you can see exactly where the lap went. The headline is delta time — a running comparison against your best lap that shows, corner by corner, where you’re gaining or losing. Add the GPS line (the path you actually drove) plus throttle and brake traces, and “I’m slow in turn 5” becomes “I’m braking 30 feet early.” The hardware below is just how you capture that.

Quick overview: dashes, loggers & lap timers

AiM’s catalog looks sprawling, but for track use it comes down to a handful of products in two families. Here’s the whole field — and the prices — before we dig into each one.

Installed vs. portable

The first question is just where the device lives — something portable you move between cars, or a dash wired into one? Everything else hangs off that.

Portable — a self-contained unit you mount and move:

• GPS lap timers (Solo 2, Solo 2 DL). Its own screen, battery, and GPS; suction- or roll-bar-mounts and swaps between cars in minutes. AiM calls these lap timers, but they record too: the Solo 2 logs your GPS track, speed, and g-forces for later analysis, and the Solo 2 DL adds a connection to the car’s ECU (engine control unit — the computer that runs the engine) for data like RPM and temperatures.

Installed — wired in as your dashboard, drawing power and usually reading the engine. AiM lists all of these under one store category, “Display Dashes and Loggers,” split by screen type:

• TFT dash loggers (MXS, MXP, MXG, MXT). Bigger full-color screens, the same internal logging, sized by how much you want to see at a glance.
• LCD dash loggers (MXm, MXq). Compact screens that log internally; the MXm carries more inputs, the MXq is its lighter, cheaper sibling.
• Display-only dashes (Strada, Strada Lite). Look just like the TFT loggers but record nothing until you add a separate logger kit — a dash, not a data system on its own.

So the decision tree is short: portable or installed; and if installed, one that logs (an LCD or TFT logger) or one that only displays (a Strada). AiM also makes screenless “black box” loggers — the EVO and XLOG line — for dedicated builds, but they’re beyond this guide.

AiM at a glance

Objective facts only — no scores, grouped the way AiM splits the line. A price of “varies” means we couldn’t confirm a current US figure.

Model	Type	Display	US price (approx)
TFT displays: dash + logger
MXS 1.3 Logger	Display Dash + Data Logger	5″ TFT	$2,899
MXP 1.3 Logger	Display Dash + Data Logger	6″ TFT	$2,899
MXG 1.3 Logger	Display Dash + Data Logger	7″ TFT	$3,249
MXT 1.3 Logger	Display Dash + Data Logger	10″ TFT	$3,599
TFT displays: dash only
MXS 1.3 Strada	Display Dash Only	5″ TFT	$1,499
MXP 1.3 Strada	Display Dash Only	6″ TFT	$1,499
MXG 1.3 Strada	Display Dash Only	7″ TFT	$1,799
MXT 1.3 Strada	Display Dash Only	10″ TFT	$1,999
MXS Strada Light	Display Dash Only	5″ TFT	varies
MXG Strada Light	Display Dash Only	7″ TFT	varies
LCD displays: dash + logger
MXq	Display Dash + Data Logger	LCD	$1,199
MXm	Display Dash + Data Logger	LCD	$1,448.99
GPS lap timers
Solo 2	GPS Lap Timer	Compact LCD	$498.99
Solo 2 DL	GPS Lap Timer + Data Logger	Compact LCD	$898.99

Display dashes & data loggers — the MX Series

These installed dashes are the heart of the AiM lineup — the family AiM calls the MX Series. Two choices decide which one is right: how big a screen you want, and whether it logs or only displays. AiM sorts them by screen technology — full-color TFT and compact LCD — so we’ll take them in turn, splitting the TFT dashes into the ones that record and the display-only versions.

TFT displays: dash + logger

The TFT dashes are the big full-color screens, sold as full data Loggers: each records internally, with 8 analog inputs for extra sensors, internal GPS and motion sensors, and the GPS module and sensor harness in the box. They all share that logging core, so the choice between them really comes down to screen size — how much you see at a glance. The ladder runs MXS (5″) → MXP (6″) → MXG (7″) → the extra-large MXT (10″).

MXS 1.3 Logger

• Display: 5″ color TFT
• Logging: built-in · 8 analog inputs · internal GPS + IMU
• Price: ~$2,899

The compact entry to the full-size loggers — a popular pick where dash space is tight.

MXP 1.3 Logger

• Display: 6″ color TFT
• Logging: built-in · 8 analog inputs · internal GPS + IMU
• Price: ~$2,899

A bigger 6″ screen for the same money as the MXS — the mid-size step.

MXG 1.3 Logger

• Display: 7″ color TFT
• Logging: built-in · 8 analog inputs · internal GPS + IMU
• Price: ~$3,249

The big-screen all-rounder — a wide, easy-to-read 7″ face, and the one we’d point a full build toward.

MXT 1.3 Logger

• Display: 10″ color TFT (extra-wide)
• Logging: built-in · 8 analog inputs · internal GPS + IMU
• Price: ~$3,599

The extra-wide 10″ flagship: the most data at a glance, priced to match.

TFT displays: dash only

Each of those same TFT dashes also comes in a display-only “Strada” version — identical screen, but it records nothing on its own until you add an external Strada Logger kit. The standard Strada keeps the 8 analog inputs; the entry-level Strada Lite (AiM spells it “Strada Light”) drops to 4. They cost less and are fine if you just want a clean digital dash — but if you’re here for data, get a Logger, or a Strada plus the add-on logger kit.

MXS 1.3 Strada

• Display: 5″ color TFT
• Records: not on its own — add a Strada Logger kit · 8 analog inputs
• Price: ~$1,499

The 5″ display-only MXS — identical screen to the Logger, but it records nothing until you add the logger kit.

MXP 1.3 Strada

• Display: 6″ color TFT
• Records: not on its own — add a Strada Logger kit · 8 analog inputs
• Price: ~$1,499

The 6″ display-only dash — same price as the MXS Strada.

MXG 1.3 Strada

• Display: 7″ color TFT
• Records: not on its own — add a Strada Logger kit · 8 analog inputs
• Price: ~$1,799

The big 7″ display-only dash.

MXT 1.3 Strada

• Display: 10″ color TFT (extra-wide)
• Records: not on its own — add a Strada Logger kit · 8 analog inputs
• Price: ~$1,999

The extra-wide 10″ display-only dash.

MXS Strada Light

• Display: 5″ color TFT
• Records: not on its own · 4 analog inputs (entry)
• Price: varies (no current US price)

The bare-necessities 5″ display — fewer inputs, lowest cost; sold mainly outside the US.

MXG Strada Light

• Display: 7″ color TFT
• Records: not on its own · 4 analog inputs (entry)
• Price: varies (no current US price)

The entry-level 7″ display.

LCD displays: dash + logger

The LCD dashes are the compact, lower-cost way in. The MXm and its lighter sibling the MXq are 268×128 screens (not full TFT) with built-in logging and no Strada variant. The MXm carries 4 analog inputs; the MXq trims that to one and costs a few hundred less — both are logger-only, a tidy way into a wired-in logging dash when you don’t need a big screen.

MXq

• Display: 268×128 LCD
• Logging: built-in · 1 analog input · GPS
• Price: ~$1,199

The lighter, cheaper LCD logger — trimmed to a single analog input.

MXm

• Display: 268×128 LCD
• Logging: built-in · 4 analog inputs · GPS
• Price: ~$1,449

The compact LCD logger with four analog inputs.

GPS lap timers — the Solo 2 series

Solo 2 — GPS lap timer

• Display: compact backlit LCD
• Records: GPS lap times + GPS/motion data (no ECU)
• Price: ~$499

The Solo 2 is the portable starting point: a GPS lap timer and logger. It figures out your lap and split times from satellite position (25 Hz GPS, with an onboard database of track start/finish lines so it knows where the line is) and records the GPS path plus motion from a built-in IMU — an inertial measurement unit, the cluster of accelerometers and gyroscopes that senses how hard you’re cornering, braking, and accelerating. What it does not do is read your engine; there’s no connection to the car at all, which is why it’s so portable.

Solo 2 DL — lap timer + ECU connection

• Display: compact backlit LCD
• Records: adds engine data off the ECU
• Price: ~$899

The Solo 2 DL is the same unit with one big addition: it connects to your car’s ECU and reads its data, so your laps now come with RPM, throttle position, and temperatures layered on top of the GPS and motion data. The “DL” pulls those engine channels over CAN (Controller Area Network — the standard data bus cars use to move sensor values around), RS232, or K-Line, across thousands of ECUs. A channel, by the way, is just one stream of measurements: RPM is a channel, brake pressure is a channel, GPS speed is one too.

So: Solo 2 for lap times and the driving picture, moved between cars; Solo 2 DL if you want engine data too. AiM isn’t the only game here — Racepak, MoTeC, and Garmin’s Catalyst coaching device all live in this space — but this guide focuses on AiM because it’s what we see most in club paddocks.

The AiM ecosystem

Race Studio 3 is AiM’s free desktop software, and where the data pays off. You configure the device on the laptop, then after a session open your laps and overlay them, lining up your best lap against the others to read the delta and see where the time went. It also builds math channels: new channels the software calculates from existing ones, so you’re not limited to what the sensors measure.

Around that sit a few add-ons. The current GPS09c module is the basis of all the lap and split timing (the older GPS08 is the prior generation), and Channel Expansion adds 4 more analog channels — two settable as digital inputs for things like wheel speed — when you run out. AiM also sells the usual track sensors (oil and water temperature, oil pressure) that wire into those inputs. And the dash connects to the car with a single cable to the ECU’s serial/CAN or OBD-II port, reading channels like RPM, throttle, temperatures, gear, and lambda (the air-fuel reading that shows whether the engine is running rich or lean) across more than a thousand ECUs.

What we’d actually buy

You’ve seen the whole lineup and the prices. Here’s where we’d actually put the money:

• Getting started — a Solo 2 DL. For HPDE or club days, the DL is the sweet spot: portable, moves between cars, proper lap timing and the GPS-and-motion picture, and engine channels off the ECU so you’re not blind to RPM and temps. The plain Solo 2 is cheaper if you only want lap times, but the DL is the one we’d point a beginner toward. Budget caveat: it roughly doubles the Solo 2’s price, plus the ECU cable for your car.
• Dedicated race build — an MXG (or MXS) Logger. For a committed build that’ll log engine and chassis channels, a full dash logger earns its keep: replaces the dash, records internally, and adds 8 analog inputs for sensors the ECU doesn’t cover. Go MXG for the big 7″ screen if budget allows; the MXS Logger does the same job behind a 5″ screen for several hundred dollars less. Budget caveat: it’s a four-figure purchase before sensors and install — a step you grow into, not your first track day.

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Running AiM gear, or have a setup tip? Get in touch with the Intown Racing team — we’re learning this as we build, and we’ll keep the guide updated.

And if track days are how you’re getting into all this, our sister project trackday.directory is a good place to find events near you.

Sources

• AiM Solo 2 — AiM Technologies
• AiM Solo 2 DL (ECU connection) — AiM Shop
• AiM MX Series (dash loggers) — AiM Technologies
• AiM MX Strada Series — AiM Technologies
• AiM GPS09c module & Race Studio 3 — AiM Sportline
• AiM MXL2 (out of production) — AiM Sports
• US pricing cross-checked at BimmerWorld, Discovery Parts, Competition Motorsport, Pegasus Auto Racing, and several other US dealers.
• Official AiM store (full catalog; prices in EUR, handy as a sanity check) — store.aim-sportline.com
• Product photos courtesy of AiM (aim-sportline.com).

Prices and specs as of June 2026 — AiM uses dealer pricing, so confirm current figures before buying.