headworks

Having tested the voltages to the chip, I found nothing wrong as such.
However I have found a slightly different set of wiring mapings. The only difference is this one suggests pin 7 and 8 ISO are linked, and these map to pins 15, 17 and 20 BMW 20 pin socket, which also are linked.
Do any of you know if this works?
The diagram is for another reader but shows the pinouts:
http://www.one-stop-factory.com/big....3783scheme.gif

ALPINA

Hi I have made a interface which has ( x2 ICs ) 7407 / max232. but i need software to run it on my ( E36 320i ) bmw. Can you help.

shoulders

get hold of ediabas / inpa . this is the stuff the use in the factory and works with a simple K line interface (not elm, this is only OBDII) , failing that a couple grand for BMW GT1 system they use at the dealers.

shoulders

ALPINA

Thanks Shoulders.

headworks

Are you in the US or Europe? US and the ELM software might work, most US BMs apparently are compatible with the ELM protocol.
If you are in the UK then I suspect that "Shoulders" suggestion is probably a good start.
You could search for software that is "Carsoft" / ODBII compliant and give it a try. I think carsoft might be available for a 30 day trial.
I gave up on the ELM inteface, I am saving it for the day I get a newer compliant BMW (after 2003 I think) ELM software looks really fun... speedos, vacuum fuel use, speed / acceleration tests and much more so I am looking forward to it!
I found an interface on EBAY which works much like Carsoft and it has more than paid for its self! 3 times re-set of airbag light (my wife leaves water bottles on the floor which roll around and knock the wires under her seat and set off the air bag light), BM charge £30 or more for the job!
Diagnostics, I found that my cam pos sensor was faulty (a brand new one!) I recomend to buy these from BMW others just cook in seconds.
I am able to watch the oxygen sensors voltage - sad really, but it helped me justify the cost of new ones, the old ones had reached end of life, although a quick burning with a gas torch made them improve a little.
Through diagnostics I have improved my fuel consumption... and increased my average speed, from 22.6 miles to the gallon to 28.4 miles to the gallon which is £280 saving in the last year (25000 miles)
/ headworks

UKOBD

If you are in the UK then we are the distributor for the Peake Research range of tools - please contact us if you have any queries.

Gareth
UKOBD

shoulders

ELM does not have its own protocol. it is just a brand of interface. in the US it was made law that all new cars from 1996 were obdII compliant. which means some cars in europe from 1996 onwards were obdII compliant, i think obdii compliance in europe came in in 2003 (not sure though).

there are 3 types of hardware obdii but they effectively all transmit the same data to the computer via an interface. the elm327 reads all 3 obdii protocols. TunerTools is right, elm or other obdii interfaces will only read obdii codes, these grow in number the newer the can is until EOBD (extended obd).

Carsoft needs its own interface to work, however as always there are ways round that.

Ediabas and inpa will work with an interface you can buy of ebay. read up on it but i think the tacho pro will suffice will the right obdii to 20 pin bmw dlc connector (round plug under the bonnet).

i personnel like using a laptop with an interface and software rather than a handheld device, if something goes wrong it is easy and cheap to fix.

knave

I have a degree in Computer Engineering...you would think it would be easier to get my head around this.

I have a 2000 E39 M5 and would like to be able to read ODBII codes, BMW Factory codes, and log any available performance data while driving.

It sounds like I need a simple hardware interface that will read data from the car and push it to my laptop without interfering and trying to interpret the codes.

Once I have the interface (cable?, device?) I'm happy to write my own software to query and log data or fool around with whatever I can download. Of course this requires knowledge of the protocol/process. Is it query based? How do I know what the imcoming data means, etc.

So the questions I have are:

1. What interface would meet these requirements?
2. I'm sure I can find BMW factory codes, but what performance data is available for my vehicle?
3. What is the data protocol once I have the laptop connected? How do I query the computer? etc?

Sorry for such newbie questions. Some people want to read codes. Some people want to log data. Some people have BMW's...I just haven't gotten all of this to intersect well enough to get a good answer.

Thanks!

Knave

knave

Thanks for the quick response.

For the sake of better understanding, what is the difference between the Mongoose, the ElmScan ISO USB and the ElmScan 5 USB?

They all seem to hook to the car at one end and a laptop at the other...are there differences in data rate? Do some of the devices not pass all of the data? Can I not write my own interface to some?

Thanks for any input.

Knave

knave

By the way, the software you suggested recommends ODBPro USB...

These devices run from $50 to $300 and I just don't know what to look for to understand the value differences. Without any further info, I would tend toward the lower cost, but if I better understand the capabilities then I may know why I should spend the ~$300.

Thanks again.

Knave

knave

OK - 10x faster is easy to understand. I haven't really figured the desired bandwidth yet but that is good to know.

When you say they don't come with software that reads enhanced BMW codes, I assume you mean they can read them but don't know what to do with them. I have found various sites with databases of BMW codes which I assume I could reference and therefore solve this problem. Just want to make sure I can read them in the first place.

My car is a 2000 M5...from another source I read that it uses ISO 9141-2 which I think is some strange baud rate like 10.3k or something. If this is true then I may be limited by my car and the faster Mongoose would not do me any good. I guess it would be important to confirm this before making any decisions.

If the above is correct, then I would probably look more closely at the ElmScan products. The ElmScan seems to have some "smarts" built into it which might be bad...would the ELM327 filter out the codes it does not understand? Would it block the BMW enhanced codes altogether or would it pass them through?

knave

Well - I feel I'm on the right track here.

I'll researcha bit more to make sure I understand but will keep TunerTools in mind when I'm ready to buy...those guys answer questions after midnight on a weekday!

Thanks again.

Knave

michbound

All the interfaces you mentioned automatically allow you to get additional data beyond the standard OBD II data, the trick is knowing what commands to send to the bus when it comes down to data beyond the standard OBD II commands.

I do not know of any third party software that allows you to get at the OEM specific data in the case of a BMW, so unless you have access to a BMW expert you will be limited in the amount of data you are able to see.

Out of the Box the OBDPro scantools can "monitor" the bus using a simple terminal like hyperterminal without any programming, so any messages that are sent between modules on the BMW will be visible, also at 10.3 KBPS the OBDPro can easily keep up with all traffic being exchanged on the ISO BUS.

Thanks
Paul
www.obdpros.com

joeyoravec

The BMW factory software works with J2534 tools. But one of the guys here had a miserable experience trying to install the software on windows vista. I'm not sure what to blame, the software or microsoft in that case.

hrodgmc

Contact Jay @ autoenginuity. He started his business wanting a way to log BMW's. It can do more than alot of high end scanners.