Beginner's Guide to BMW ISTA+

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Reclaimer

Discussion Starter · Oct 25, 2016 (Edited by Moderator)

BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO BMW ISTA+ (INTEGRATED SERVICE TECHNICAL APPLICATION)

This beginner's guide was created considering the number of questions that have been coming up recently whether related to installation, configuration and/or usage. The guide attempts to answer fundamental questions on what the tool is for, what can you do with it and how to configure it so that you can connect to the car and run diagnostics on all cars and in the case of F/G/i/Mini/RR cars, programming.

The information in the guide is based primarily on publicly available knowledge and experiences that have been consolidated into a single dynamic document that can be used to get going with ISTA+.

This document is not definitive and will never be. It is to get the reader to a position where they are comfortable with utilizing the features and functions of the tool. As things change in the program or based on feedback, updated versions might be posted.

The following caveats apply:

Installation of ISTA+ discussed in the document is limited to sources obtained from the Rheingold/ISTA-D thread in this forum only.
If you got it from somewhere else, you're on your own. You will probably get help but without knowing where it was obtained, it is hard to tell how to install or configure it.

Try to ask questions in this thread so that other folks who are just starting out will know what issues can pop up and how to deal with them. Over the next few days, a few frequently used procedures will be posted. As with everything else, I'm no expert in ISTA+ but I'm confident many other forum members will contribute to the learnings in this thread.

Finally, while acknowledging the many people who shared their knowledge, big thanks to the following individuals for their support in the creation, sources and the dialogue behind it:

Amaretto
Ashley
Shawn Sheridan
ruben_17non
about fad

If this document helps, post your comments, experiences etc. so that other people can learn and share, and the document itself can be evolved. Contributions to procedures/programming knowledge are most welcome. Good luck!

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Reclaimer

Discussion Starter · #2 · Oct 25, 2016 (Edited)

Programming with ISTA+

Programming fundamentals with ISTA+
NOTE: Programming with ISTA+ is only possible with an ICOM and a 70+ amp rated Power Supply. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO PROGRAM WITH ISTA+ WITHOUT THESE TWO ITEMS!

Programming can be accessed via the "Vehicle management" / "Software update" menu.
The planned actions are initially produced in the measures plan. The measures plan determined after the vehicle test can be done directly in the "Comfort" tab, or added to manually beforehand in the "Advanced" tab, then calculated and executed.

The car can be programmed to the latest I level using the comfort software update without any further actions based on the measures plan which has already been determined.
It is not possible to select additional actions manually in this menu.
Initializations and follow-up operations that might be required are automatically added during the measures plan calculation.

All other modes of programming and pre/post requirements are discussed in detail in the Help Document located at ~\Rheingold\Help folder.

Software update

[*]Comfort - as per the suggested measures plan
[*]Advanced - with broadened scope
[*]Additional software (range of functions is not active yet)
Control unit replacement

[*]Before exchange (preparation) - control unit read-out for the exchange
[*]After exchange (subsequent evaluation) - control unit configuration after exchange
[*]Vehicle modification
[*]Retrofit
[*]Conversion
[*]Conversion (only coding)
[*]Backfitting
[*]Immediate measures

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shawnsheridan

· #3 · Oct 26, 2016

Nice work! :thumbup:

T_love

· #4 · Oct 26, 2016

Thanks for putting this together Reclaimer, and all those who helped.

One thing I might add to the install instructions is a suggestion to run 7Zip as admin. I had files unblocked and everything seemed to be working fine except it never completely unzipped one of the databases. Running as Admin solved it. Not sure if it's a Windows 10 quirk or just something about my laptop or I overlooked that in the instructions somehow

Also, for Step 10, there's a difference in phrasing between the instructions and the program. It didn't ask for a dealer ID, I can't recall what it actually said but I kinda assumed that meant the same thing as dealer ID

Reclaimer

Discussion Starter · #5 · Oct 27, 2016

shawnsheridan said:
Nice work! :thumbup:

Thanks Shawn!

T_love said:
Thanks for putting this together Reclaimer, and all those who helped.

One thing I might add to the install instructions is a suggestion to run 7Zip as admin. I had files unblocked and everything seemed to be working fine except it never completely unzipped one of the databases. Running as Admin solved it. Not sure if it's a Windows 10 quirk or just something about my laptop or I overlooked that in the instructions somehow

Also, for Step 10, there's a difference in phrasing between the instructions and the program. It didn't ask for a dealer ID, I can't recall what it actually said but I kinda assumed that meant the same thing as dealer ID

Thanks for the feedback, Step 4 has that info:
Extract Rheingold.7z using 7zip ONLY. You may have to give admin privileges for extracting. Location doesn't matter, but preferred location is C:\. If extracting to this location, you will need admin privileges for 7zip before extracting the file.

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mengman

· #6 · Oct 27, 2016

Hi, sorry for the stupid question. Can ISTA+ do programming on E series currently?

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shawnsheridan

· #7 · Oct 27, 2016

mengman said:
Hi, sorry for the stupid question. Can ISTA+ do programming on E series currently?

No. Need ISTA/P for E-Series.

mengman

· #8 · Oct 27, 2016

Thanks Shawn,
I have ISTA+, INPA / EDIABAS and NCS installed,
Do I really need ISTA/P for just a couple of functions to activate? such as, door locking automatically, window closing using key and a few others.

shawnsheridan said:
No. Need ISTA/P for E-Series.

shawnsheridan

· #9 · Oct 27, 2016

mengman said:
Thanks Shawn,
I have ISTA+, INPA / EDIABAS and NCS installed,
Do I really need ISTA/P for just a couple of functions to activate? such as, door locking automatically, window closing using key and a few others.

You asked about Programming. That is Coding, and that can be done with NCS.

Reclaimer

Discussion Starter · #10 · Oct 28, 2016

FAQ: Evaluate SOC and Battery Registration with ISTA+

Checking your State of Charge and Battery Registration with ISTA+

Connect to the car using your preferred cable.

Do a vehicle test
After a vehicle test, go to Vehicle Management --> Service functions tab.
Next select Body, then Voltage Supply
Then select Battery

Here you will be presented with 2 options:

Option 1 is to test SOC. Choose Evaluate Battery State of Charge OR
Option 2 - Register Battery Replacement
Then click on <Start Search> at the bottom right. The ABL/FUB/REP and/or SSP will be populated. Select the FUB or REP to learn more OR select the ABL and run it.

NOTE: If changing battery types, coding is required before you can register battery replacement.

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Reclaimer

Discussion Starter · #11 · Oct 28, 2016

FAQ: Steering Angle Sensor Adjustment

Steering Angle Sensor Adjustments:

Go to Vehicle Management --> Service Functions
Select Chassis and Suspension
Select Steering Angle Sensor
Select Steering Angle Sensor Adjustment
Then click on <Start Search> at the bottom right. The ABL/FUB/REP and/or SSP will be populated. Select the FUB or REP to learn more OR select the ABL and run it.

mengman

· #12 · Oct 28, 2016

Thanks Shawn,
I tested the KDCAN cable + ISTA+ yesterday
It worked on E90 but didn't read out VIN on E83, showing
"The vehicle could not be identified. Please check the access to the vehicle and check whether the testing-analysis-diagnosis has been activated."
What could be wrong?

shawnsheridan said:
You asked about Programming. That is Coding, and that can be done with NCS.

shawnsheridan

· #13 · Oct 28, 2016

mengman said:
Thanks Shawn,
I tested the KDCAN cable + ISTA+ yesterday
It worked on E90 but didn't read out VIN on E83, showing
"The vehicle could not be identified. Please check the access to the vehicle and check whether the testing-analysis-diagnosis has been activated."
What could be wrong?

Not for sure, but 2/2007 and older vehicles requires the DCAN pin 7 and 8 to be bridged to work..3/2007 and later requires pin 7 and 8 to be separate.

mengman

· #14 · Oct 28, 2016

E83 is from 2010, which is quite new.

shawnsheridan said:
Not for sure, but 2/2007 and older vehicles requires the DCAN pin 7 and 8 to be bridged to work..3/2007 and later requires pin 7 and 8 to be separate.

Reactions: 1

shawnsheridan

· #15 · Oct 28, 2016

mengman said:
E83 is from 2010, which is quite new.

Then I have no idea why one works and the other does not.

Reclaimer

Discussion Starter · #16 · Oct 28, 2016

Possibly cable fault, if it worked on one car and not the other. Program connection settings shouldn't change with model series of the car.

Thorsten

· #17 · Oct 28, 2016

HI,

about this:

BUT program only F-/I-/G-/Mini/RR se

Mini R50, R56 not possible and same with older RR too.

Thorsten

Reclaimer

Discussion Starter · #18 · Oct 28, 2016 (Edited)

Thorsten said:
HI,

about this:

BUT program only F-/I-/G-/Mini/RR se

Mini R50, R56 not possible and same with older RR too.

Thorsten

Thanks for the info, Thorsten.

From the release notes, following series are supported for programming in ISTA+ and iLevels for each series:

F001 (F0x, RR4, RR5) F001-16-11-501
F010 (F06, F1x) F010-16-11-501
F020 (F2x, F3x, F80, F82, F83, F87) F020-16-11-501
F025 (F15, F16, F25, F26, F85, F86) F025-16-11-501
F056 (F4x, F5x, F6x) F056-16-11-501
S15A (G1x, G3x) S15A-16-07-506
I001 (I03, I08) I001-16-07-506

The following Mini/RR programming is not supported in ISTA+

R056 (R55, R56, R57, R58, R59, R60, R61)
RR01 (RR1, RR2, RR3)

You can use ISTA/P to program these cars.

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Bravarian_Rohan

· #19 · Oct 29, 2016

Rheingold troubleshooting

First off, thank you Reclaimer for compiling all this very helpful and useful information for a first time user of ISTA+ like myself. Also much thanks to all those who contributed to the manual. You contributions are invaluable to those of us who either don't have the time to devote to learning/researching and or do not have the technical expertise.

I was wondering if you or someone could point me to the Rheingold/ISTA+ troubleshooting forum thread.

I received the below error message when attempting to run a test plan on the ACSM module to clear the Airbag fault/warning as a result from coding that module with E-sys.

A technical error appeared while loading the "ABL_DIT_AT6577_ACSM31.dll".

After closing this message, close the procedure with "x" right above. Terminate ISTA and execute a repairing installation.
If the problem is not solved, send a feedback to the technical support.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

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Bravarian_Rohan

· #20 · Oct 29, 2016

FAQs

Also, is there a general FAQ section for coding/diagnostics/programming?

Wanted to know if ISTA+ and E-sys could be run at the same time.

Sorry, I'm new to Bimmerfest and the forums.

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