F10 how to revert to original

hi all

i did some programming, and of course i did NOT read all the doc and manuals real men just don't read manuals ...

i was able to do some coding (enabling sli, digital speedo ...), but i'm not 100% sure what i did change and i maybe changed some values i shouldn't have touched. you know: real men don't do backups

so i wanted to start from the very beginning. and do it all with a more methodical and revertible approach.

afaik you can code the original setting. so what i did was:

open e-sys
connect
read vehicle order
activate fa
right click SVT -> read coding
click on the ECU itself - NOT the CAFD_****
click on CODE
did this with all ECUs i played with

so everything is back to how i received the car. all new features are gone, and the car looks like original.

is it? could anyone confirm that i did it right?

thanks
regards izeman

Real man just don't answer for your question.

Originally Posted by izeman

hi all

i did some programming, and of course i did NOT read all the doc and manuals real men just don't read manuals ...

i was able to do some coding (enabling sli, digital speedo ...), but i'm not 100% sure what i did change and i maybe changed some values i shouldn't have touched. you know: real men don't do backups

so i wanted to start from the very beginning. and do it all with a more methodical and revertible approach.

afaik you can code the original setting. so what i did was:

open e-sys
connect
read vehicle order
activate fa
right click SVT -> read coding
click on the ECU itself - NOT the CAFD_****
click on CODE
did this with all ECUs i played with

so everything is back to how i received the car. all new features are gone, and the car looks like original.

is it? could anyone confirm that i did it right?

thanks
regards izeman

Yes, but just to clarify, what you are doing is VO Coding, so the FA (VO) you use, in this case one read from the car, is what the ECU will be coded by. So if the FA in the car is factory orihginal, then yes, you will get factory deafult ECU settings. If the FA in your car has been modified, well, then you will get something else based on the modiffied FA.

@shawnsheridan: thanks for clarification. to repeat: if i alter the FA, and start coding, then want to restart from the beginning and re-read the FA, this FA is altered, and not what i want. correct?
what i did was make a backup of the FA when i first connected my car. so if i load that .xml in the fa/vo window and then code all ECUs i should be fine. correct?

Originally Posted by izeman

@shawnsheridan: thanks for clarification. to repeat: if i alter the FA, and start coding, then want to restart from the beginning and re-read the FA, this FA is altered, and not what i want. correct?
what i did was make a backup of the FA when i first connected my car. so if i load that .xml in the fa/vo window and then code all ECUs i should be fine. correct?

Not exactly. The FA in the car will not be altered by normal FDL Coding, and for most people it will remain factory original. However, it can be altered, and some people do alter to add options (4U2, 6NR, etc.), and that can be written to the car. So, if that is done, you would no longer have a factory FA in the car, so reading FA and VO Coding an ECU will not produce factory results in the modified FA affected that particular ECU.

So, as you did, you make a back up of your original FA that you can always use to VO Code your ECU's. You simply need to load it and VO Code the modules. You can leave the altered VO written to the car as is.

Shawn,

In a related matter, if I backed up all the CAFD files before doing any coding, am I able to restore those CAFD files and therefore bring my car back to factory settings?

If yes, what is the process of restoring the backup CAFD files?

Thanks.

Originally Posted by docvenzon

Shawn,

In a related matter, if I backed up all the CAFD files before doing any coding, am I able to restore those CAFD files and therefore bring my car back to factory settings?

If yes, what is the process of restoring the backup CAFD files?

Thanks.

When you right click on any CAFD file and select Read Coding Data, it reads the "as coded" data from the ECU, and saves it as an .ncd (net coding data) file.

So to restore that data or ECU state, in place of selecting Read Coding Data, select New and point to the saved .ncd file with the corresponding CAFD name in your backup folder and proceed with the regular steps of saving and activating FA and FDL Code the ECU.

That makes sense. I realized I was misreading after this post and reading through everything again.

One last stupid question regarding saving a backup of the FA.

I assume I just click the save button after reading the FA and assume that is more of a saveas which will save to the HARD DRIVE on my laptop and not the car?.

Just want to make sure I don't make a a bonehead mistake with that assumption and start saving something back to the car.

Thank you, again for all the help...

Originally Posted by Glock 32

That makes sense. I realized I was misreading after this post and reading through everything again.

One last stupid question regarding saving a backup of the FA.

I assume I just click the save button after reading the FA and assume that is more of a saveas which will save to the HARD DRIVE on my laptop and not the car?.

Just want to make sure I don't make a a bonehead mistake with that assumption and start saving something back to the car.

Thank you, again for all the help...

Yes, "Save As" is just to your local HD. If you want to alter your FA, and actually write it to the car, that can be done through E-Sys' VCM module.

From the e-sys manual:

• Selection of individual CAFD entries
Control unit is read out with the selected CAF
• Selections at Basic Variants level
Control units are read out with all CADs listed below the selected basic variants
• Selection at ECU or SVT level
All control units with valid CAFD entries with green check mark in the SVT view
are read out.

It appears instead of holding the ctrl key, I can select the SVT folder or ECU subfolder and all will be read...

My only concern now is that 20 to 30 second per roughly 40 CAFDs equals about ~ 15 to 20 minutes and likely the car will turn off prior to completing. I assume that would not be tragic if only reading CAFDs and not coding the FDLs(?), but still do not want something to glitch. Is there anyway to make sure the car stays on besides running the engine at idle for 20 minutes or so(?) or do you think it will actually be a lot quicker than this(?)

If I were to read only half of them (or if the car turns off halfway through), do I then turn off the car (wait, already off, haha) turn back on the car and then reconnect e-sys, read, read VCM, etc and somehow start where I left offt(?), which leads to another question...

What is the proper way to disconnect from the car after coding(?), simply turn off the car and disconnect the cable or is there a disconnect button in e-sys to properly disconnect (e.g. worried about some sort of write cashing not completing as can happen with usb flash drives, etc. if I pull the plug to early).

Do I simply shutdown the car and pull the plug once e-sys FDL code completes and I close the Report dialog(?)

I am sure I am overthinking this now... I promise, this is my last batch of questions before I dive in

Originally Posted by Glock 32

From the e-sys manual:

• Selection of individual CAFD entries
Control unit is read out with the selected CAF
• Selections at Basic Variants level
Control units are read out with all CADs listed below the selected basic variants
• Selection at ECU or SVT level
All control units with valid CAFD entries with green check mark in the SVT view
are read out.

It appears instead of holding the ctrl key, I can select the SVT folder or ECU subfolder and all will be read...

My only concern now is that 20 to 30 second per roughly 40 CAFDs equals about ~ 15 to 20 minutes and likely the car will turn off prior to completing. I assume that would not be tragic if only reading CAFDs and not coding the FDLs(?), but still do not want something to glitch. Is there anyway to make sure the car stays on besides running the engine at idle for 20 minutes or so(?) or do you think it will actually be a lot quicker than this(?)

If I were to read only half of them (or if the car turns off halfway through), do I then turn off the car (wait, already off, haha) turn back on the car and then reconnect e-sys, read, read VCM, etc and somehow start where I left offt(?), which leads to another question...

What is the proper way to disconnect from the car after coding(?), simply turn off the car and disconnect the cable or is there a disconnect button in e-sys to properly disconnect (e.g. worried about some sort of write cashing not completing as can happen with usb flash drives, etc. if I pull the plug to early).

Do I simply shutdown the car and pull the plug once e-sys FDL code completes and I close the Report dialog(?)

I am sure I am overthinking this now... I promise, this is my last batch of questions before I dive in

I always code with my Engine running, except when I am messing with my DME Module. The last thing you want is the car dropping below 13.6 volts while you are coding it.

There are no delayed write issues. When you FDL Code an ECU, you will see the progress in the TAL report window, and when it is done it will show it was successful. So to disconnect, you can just disconnect from the OBDII port or the Laptop port so long as no Tal is executing.

I missed this in April1 "Coding made easy: Step by step instructions for Fxx Series":

12. Great, you coded one module. Disconnect E-Sys by clicking on top Connect button which is showing a red x. You are done.

Duh, I guess there is a disconnect option in e-sys.

BTW, April1, your trip to the PO was not in vain... I received the cable Monday (much appreciated!)

Thank you both for putting up with all my questions on top of everyone else's. I know it can get old answering newbie questions over and over, yet you do it without any sarcasm and a ton of patience... You have been a big help to all.

I am about to head out and start reading CAFD files for backup...

Originally Posted by Glock 32

I missed this in April1 "Coding made easy: Step by step instructions for Fxx Series":



Duh, I guess there is a disconnect option in e-sys.

BTW, April1, your trip to the PO was not in vain... I received the cable Monday (much appreciated!)

Thank you both for putting up with all my questions on top of everyone else's. I know it can get old answering newbie questions over and over, yet you do it without any sarcasm and a ton of patience... You have been a big help to all.

I am about to head out and start reading CAFD files for backup...

No problem and good luck.

Everything went fairly smooth...

The one click read of all CAFD only took a minute or so to read all 34... And I saved that report which gives me a nice list of all modules and the associated CAFD files for each module for my car. I was going to read one by one, but after reading the first one in only a few seconds, I decided to select the SVT folder and read all CAFD files.

Successfully enabled the video in motion and the sport display; however, the sport display does not seem to work with the M5. That would be cool if it did on the M5 at 560HP, oh well.

Will enable other stuff later...

Kind if spooky for a newbie when the NAV goes blank and "No Signal" appeared in the display for a few seconds... :o)

Thank you again...

Originally Posted by Glock 32

...Successfully enabled the video in motion and the sport display; however, the sport display does not seem to work with the M5. That would be cool if it did on the M5 at 560HP, oh well.

The Sport Displays work with the newer N55 and N63tu Motors, but not on the older N63 Motor, presumably because it lacks the data stream.

Hmmm (that is promising), I have a 2013 M5 (Sept production) and would think that is the newest motor.

The sport display shows and with correct units, but does not seem to work...

Originally Posted by Glock 32

Hmmm (that is promising), I have a 2013 M5 (Sept production) and would think that is the newest motor.

The sport display shows and with correct units, but does not seem to work...

What is your Short VIN (last 7)?

PM sent...

Originally Posted by Glock 32

If I am not mistaken (hopefully), ALL M5's should have the S63B44TU. Hopefully that is what you find. I think the S63B44 is what is in the M version of the X5 and has less compression, etc.

I think I threw up a little...

It does make me wonder if they changed something more minor (e.g. added pathway or software that is on the N63TU) at some point or maybe it takes a bit to start working?

Now I need to search if other M5 owners have this working or not...

I picked my September production M5 at a dealer and cancelled my December production (that just went into production) which is why I threw up a little when I started researching this technical upgrade (TU). If it is just software or an added pathway, no big deal.

I was referring to the new N63B44TU, and yes your M5 has the S63B44TU.

We know that Sport Displays work in the N55B30 used in the F10 535i, and the new N63B44TU used in the F06 650i GC, but they do not work in the older N63B44 used in the F10 550i, the F12 650i, and the F07 550i GT.

I find it odd though that the updated version of the N63B44 was made to support Sport Displays, but the updated version of the S63B44 seemingly was not. Maybe BMW just does not want Sport Displays working in the M5/M6.

If I am not mistaken (hopefully), ALL M5's should have the S63B44TU. Hopefully that is what you find. I think the S63B44 is what is in the M version of the X5 and has less compression, etc.

I think I threw up a little...

It does make me wonder if they changed something more minor (e.g. added pathway or software that is on the N63TU) at some point or maybe it takes a bit to start working?

Now I need to search if other M5 owners have this working or not...

I picked my September production M5 at a dealer and cancelled my December production (that just went into production) which is why I threw up a little when I started researching this technical upgrade (TU). If it is just software or an added pathway, no big deal.