OBD2 Scanner....?!?

@ 1/15 the price of Bavarian Technic, I got doubts - anyone use THIS?

yeah, i have one. only reads out basic OBDII data and resets SES faults. thats it. cannot communicate with any other module in the car, cannot read shadow faults, activations, etc.

Originally Posted by CALWATERBOY

@ 1/15 the price of Bavarian Technic, I got doubts - anyone use THIS?

On that topic: my understanding is that the Bav Tech only works on the older e90s. Is there anything equivalent for the last few years?

http://www.e90post.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=368

also

bmwcoders.com

The above two links are places to find a total diag setup cheap with some hacking.

The elm bluetooth module is only good for generic codes the common obd ones that must
be standardized. What it is good for is using the torque app.

Originally Posted by Squidget

On that topic: my understanding is that the Bav Tech only works on the older e90s. Is there anything equivalent for the last few years?

You must mean N54 vs N55 - does work on mine. And, gotta say, pretty good juju....

I talked to the guys at BavTech and they said that it would work on my 2007 335i (N54) and my 2013 X5 (N55) equally well.

Will the BavTech really pull codes other OBD readers cannot? My ELM 237/ Torque say it can pull historic codes.

$735 is a bit steep for me to justify on an in warranty car - will go another route if replace the battery. Wish the dealer would sort it out without multiple visits; they've lost the sale of a 2013 Wagon to me by not sorting this seemingly trivial issue out.

Originally Posted by CALWATERBOY

@ 1/15 the price of Bavarian Technic, I got doubts - anyone use THIS?

At that price, the Bluetooth OBD modules are Chinese knockoffs that don't reliably communicate at full speed. The "real" ones run around $80 - $100.

FWIW, I have one of the knockoffs and use it with Torque. I've pulled codes on my wife's Subaru with it, and used it to overlay the ECU data with camera video on last summer's Mt. Washington ride:



It works. Nothing to write home about, but it works. Cute toy for $30 if you have an Android phone.

Originally Posted by MP3_E46

Will the BavTech really pull codes other OBD readers cannot? My ELM 237/ Torque say it can pull historic codes.

$735 is a bit steep for me to justify on an in warranty car - will go another route if replace the battery. Wish the dealer would sort it out without multiple visits; they've lost the sale of a 2013 Wagon to me by not sorting this seemingly trivial issue out.

Got mine when my ride was new, just to satisfy curiosity. Note the price - still a lump, gotta be motivated.

$24 ELM let me know the coolant temp moves a good bit in the first mile so was well worth it. Needle does not move until pulling into work...

Already have a USB OBDII scanner I paid ~$400 for in 2004... not rushing to spend real money on one again unless absolutely necessary. I think every semi-enthusiast should buy the $23 one and order the BavTech or play with the hacky options if something looks really broken.. or they are really curious too

Also until proved otherwise I am still sure the $23 one pulls all codes even it cannot decode all of them. We won't know what some mean like the errors I had a few weeks ago but I'd wager it pulls them

I have the PLX Kiwi bluetooth. I'm not sure how deep into the code world it can go, but I have been happy with this device.

http://www.plxdevices.com/

Originally Posted by MP3_E46

$24 ELM let me know the coolant temp moves a good bit in the first mile so was well worth it. Needle does not move until pulling into work...

Already have a USB OBDII scanner I paid ~$400 for in 2004... not rushing to spend real money on one again unless absolutely necessary. I think every semi-enthusiast should buy the $23 one and order the BavTech or play with the hacky options if something looks really broken.. or they are really curious too

Also until proved otherwise I am still sure the $23 one pulls all codes. We won't know what some mean like the errors I had a few weeks ago but I'd wager it pulls them

I saw the depth and breadth o'info BT delivers. Of course, their web site's needed to retrieve all. Amazing what can be seen & modified, many makes & models. Like the up-to-date info base.

Not sure what you mean. The website is only needed to check for software updates and download them to your laptop/desktop/tablet.

Originally Posted by CALWATERBOY

I saw the depth and breadth o'info BT delivers. Of course, their web site's needed to retrieve all. Amazing what can be seen & modified, many makes & models. Like the up-to-date info base.

Originally Posted by Wihelm G

Not sure what you mean. The website is only needed to check for software updates and download them to your laptop/desktop/tablet.

Exactly - with all translation tables for mfg specific codes & features; I/O

Just wanted to weigh in on a code reader solution I got that seems to work great on my 2004 Tundra and also on my wife's 2006 BMW X3. It's a Bluetooth OBDII connector that you pair up to and Android powered smart phone. Here is a little write up/review I did for it and for the Torque Pro app, hope it helps some folks, reading these codes and being able to get information from your ECU is awesome! I was able to read some codes on the X3 (the seemingly common P0174 and P0171 Too Lean Bank 1 and 2 codes) and clear them which turned off the SES light.


ELM327 Bluetooth OBDII Reader and Torque Android App Review

Originally Posted by jvest2000

Just wanted to weigh in on a code reader solution I got that seems to work great on my 2004 Tundra and also on my wife's 2006 BMW X3.

Wow. Kindly list the proprietary BMW codes it reads.