Anyone used a OBD reader on a GT?

There's at least a couple of companies that make OBDII and CANBUS readers for smartphones and laptops or pads. Has anyone used one on their GT? Some of them utilize an ELM327 BT dongle that fits into the OBD port so you don't have to deal with a cable.

If anyone has used either the software for their phone or an ELM327 BT dongle, I'd appreciate their thoughts on how it worked, and the specific s/w and device used. While I don't have any problems, it is more for interest to view the status of things. The stuff I looked at that's available for my phone (a Nokia N8) is OBDDoctor. But, I think there are others that would work, especially if I used my laptop verses the phone. I'm not sure all s/w can read the BMW specific codes, but the 'generic' stuff is still interesting.

Originally Posted by jadnashuanh

There's at least a couple of companies that make OBDII and CANBUS readers for smartphones and laptops or pads. Has anyone used one on their GT? Some of them utilize an ELM327 BT dongle that fits into the OBD port so you don't have to deal with a cable.

If anyone has used either the software for their phone or an ELM327 BT dongle, I'd appreciate their thoughts on how it worked, and the specific s/w and device used. While I don't have any problems, it is more for interest to view the status of things. The stuff I looked at that's available for my phone (a Nokia N8) is OBDDoctor. But, I think there are others that would work, especially if I used my laptop verses the phone. I'm not sure all s/w can read the BMW specific codes, but the 'generic' stuff is still interesting.

jad, if I had any idea what you're talking about, I'd gladly tell all, but your message was entirely Greek to me! Hope someone here can shed some light for you!

All cars built for the last number or years are required to have an On Board Diagnostics port. The original spec's been updated to OBD II (version II). In addition to that info, many (including BMW) also use a CANBUS accessable from the same connector (it's behind a panel to the left of the LHD vehicle's steering wheel.

The factory computer the dealer has (and available for big bucks on the aftermarket) can read and adjust lost more things than the 'standard' OBD functions. Some of the aftermarket readers can access at least some of those details and some can adjust the parameters.

Anyway, the app for my phone is in the $10-15 range, and some adapters to make the connection to the phone cost less than $10 as well. Dedicated OBD readers can be had on sale for as little as $40 or so, and can run up to thousands, depending on their functionality and capabilities. But, the BT dongle lets you use the nice display of the phone (or laptop or tablet) to see more and have more capability and likely updates to the info's database.

Some will let you access the outputs of the accellerometers, give a remote speedometer, tacometer, brake force, fuel pressure, fuel gauge, and lots of other stuff that is interesting, if nothing else. It will also let you read the error codes stored in the vehicle's computer, and reset error codes, if you wish. Some will let you adjust parameters (like speedometer correction factors).

Was hoping someone had tried this on their vehicle...it should work and isn't much of an investment, so I may just try it, but I like to do research first.

There are a few of us F07 owners who are getting into the coding process using an OBDII cable and windows. If you dig through the coding thread over in F10/F11 you'll catch some of the conversation. Not sure about any app or i-stuff for this. (But it just screams for an iPad app.)

FWIW
DLM

There are apps for most smart phones to access the OBD and CAN-BUS data. I ended up ordering a BT dongle...I'll let you know how it works out once I get it and play a little.

I've been working on an android app using a $30 ebay OBD2 bluetooth unit, I get pretty good results from my E92.



aCarputer
You can grab the beta for free from the android google store