Anyone bought a ODBII scanner for our z4

[mybank2828]

Anyone bought a ODBII scanner for our Z4 that can catch all the check engine code? Please provide a link of where you brought it. Also can you tell me where that plug is, I don't see it under the steering wheel directly. Is it in that rubber cover which seems to be tough to open.

[cuddapah]

Which year is your Z4 ? Mine is 2011 Z4 35i. It is next the driver door. You will see a small rectangular plastic door kind of thing. If yours is 2011 model, I can post a picture.

Originally Posted by mybank2828

Anyone bought a ODBII scanner for our Z4 that can catch all the check engine code? Please provide a link of where you brought it. Also can you tell me where that plug is, I don't see it under the steering wheel directly. Is it in that rubber cover which seems to be tough to open.

[mybank2828]

cuddaph, mine is 2013. Please post a picture Thanks. Did u buy the scanner also?

[Asbjorn]

My friend bought some very cheap OBD2 adapters named iCar on www.taobao.com (only works if you are based in China)

The OBD2 port is at the same place in my 09 as cuddapah's 11. Follow the arm rest on the driver's side door all the way down to where it ends. Take note of that location when opening the door. Then, as said, look for a small plastic lid next to the door.

We tested both a wifi version and bluetooth version of the iCar adapter. The bluetooth version seems to make better logs (higher actual resolution data points), but it has the disadvantage of conflicting with the phone bluetooth (which is why I use the wifi version for daily use).

BMWhat is probably the best scanner phone app btw, but it certainly does not work with wifi versions like mine. I had connection success with the BMWhat lite app and the iCar bluetooth version though. BMWhat also provide their own adapter at a premium.

Cheaper apps are available. But the problem with for instance "Torque" is that it can't even read the oil temperature or boost accurately on the Z4s with N54 engine (you are limited to very basic data like coolant temp, speed, iat etc). So I doubt it is capable of reading all of the BMW fault codes...

In conclusion, if you want to be sure you can do complete diagnostics/logging, get BMWhat app, a professional scanner or something like JB4. Personally I make do with the Torque app plus the iCar wifi OBD2 adapter.

[cuddapah]

Mine is 2011. Your 2013 may be different. But here is the picture .. it is next to the driver door. Please open the plastic door gently.
I used BMWhat iPhone App with this OBDII WiFi adapter from Amazon. In my picture it looks little different. But it the same model.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
This adapter is not fully compatible with BMWhat App. I think the App is coded to force buy BMWhat WiFi adapter from them directly.
http://www.ivini-tech.de/en/adapter/...or-bmw/a-1003/
I bought their adapter and it worked fine with BMWhat App.
Please note that BMWhat doesn't detect some ECUs unless connection settings are tweaked. BMWhat developers can walk you thru the connection settings.

Did you try INPA and NCSExpert ? This software runs on PC (including Windows 8.1 64-bit). You can google for it. This software requires OBDII to USB cable (K + DCAN cable) as shown in the picture. I bought it from a friend. You can find these on eBay. Check with the seller to make sure the cable works with your car.

If you can afford, Autologic is the way to go. I took a demo and really impressed. But way too expensive for me. Here is the link if you are interested.
http://www.autologic.com/en-us/pages...mw-diagnostics

Originally Posted by mybank2828

cuddaph, mine is 2013. Please post a picture Thanks. Did u buy the scanner also?

[mybank2828]

Originally Posted by cuddapah

Mine is 2011. Your 2013 may be different. But here is the picture .. it is next to the driver door. Please open the plastic door gently.
I used BMWhat iPhone App with this OBDII WiFi adapter from Amazon. In my picture it looks little different. But it the same model.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
This adapter is not fully compatible with BMWhat App. I think the App is coded to force buy BMWhat WiFi adapter from them directly.
http://www.ivini-tech.de/en/adapter/...or-bmw/a-1003/
I bought their adapter and it worked fine with BMWhat App.
Please note that BMWhat doesn't detect some ECUs unless connection settings are tweaked. BMWhat developers can walk you thru the connection settings.

Did you try INPA and NCSExpert ? This software runs on PC (including Windows 8.1 64-bit). You can google for it. This software requires OBDII to USB cable (K + DCAN cable) as shown in the picture. I bought it from a friend. You can find these on eBay. Check with the seller to make sure the cable works with your car.

If you can afford, Autologic is the way to go. I took a demo and really impressed. But way too expensive for me. Here is the link if you are interested.
http://www.autologic.com/en-us/pages...mw-diagnostics

Thanks for the great information cuddapah! They are very helpful. I have never tried INPA and NCSEpert. Will definitely look into it alone with the autologic. The pictures definitely help. Much appreciated!

[Lambobimmer]

Buy a Cobb Accessport so you can tune, log and read/clear codes.

[cuddapah]

Quick notes on each one of them ..
1. BMWhat App - Diagnose, clear fault codes, easy coding. You need to purchase App and OBDII adapter.
2. INPA/NCSExpert/Coding S/W - Diagnose, clear fault codes, all possible coding some of which BMWhat can't do. You need to purchase K+DCAN cable. Google for software.
3. Autologic - Diagnose, clear fault codes, software updates. Coding not possible. This tool is designed for independent repair shops. You need to buy the unit and subscribe.

Originally Posted by mybank2828

Thanks for the great information cuddapah! They are very helpful. I have never tried INPA and NCSEpert. Will definitely look into it alone with the autologic. The pictures definitely help. Much appreciated!

[cuddapah]

I read that COBB leaves behind codes which the dealer can see and void warranty. Did you have any problems ?
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=510634

Originally Posted by Lambobimmer

Buy a Cobb Accessport so you can tune, log and read/clear codes.

[Lambobimmer]

Originally Posted by cuddapah

I read that COBB leaves behind codes which the dealer can see and void warranty. Did you have any problems ?
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=510634

I have never had any issue and I had a lot of warranty work. However, my dealer is open minded about mods and would let me remove mods and bring it back in for work. They also did a lot of work on my car with most of the mods still on the car. I am sure that they can find anything that they want to if they look long and hard enough. If you blow your engine or turbos then I am sure that they are going to look and probably find something. I am out of warranty but I never worried about this when I was still in warranty.

[mybank2828]

Originally Posted by Lambobimmer

I have never had any issue and I had a lot of warranty work. However, my dealer is open minded about mods and would let me remove mods and bring it back in for work. They also did a lot of work on my car with most of the mods still on the car. I am sure that they can find anything that they want to if they look long and hard enough. If you blow your engine or turbos then I am sure that they are going to look and probably find something. I am out of warranty but I never worried about this when I was still in warranty.

That's good to know Lambobimmer, I will look into that also

[mybank2828]

Originally Posted by cuddapah

Quick notes on each one of them ..
1. BMWhat App - Diagnose, clear fault codes, easy coding. You need to purchase App and OBDII adapter.
2. INPA/NCSExpert/Coding S/W - Diagnose, clear fault codes, all possible coding some of which BMWhat can't do. You need to purchase K+DCAN cable. Google for software.
3. Autologic - Diagnose, clear fault codes, software updates. Coding not possible. This tool is designed for independent repair shops. You need to buy the unit and subscribe.

Thanks for the notes cuddapah

Basically, you only use this to diagnose when the engine check light is on , right?

[cuddapah]

Originally Posted by mybank2828

Thanks for the notes cuddapah

Basically, you only use this to diagnose when the engine check light is on , right?

Yes, I also use when I feel something is wrong with the car and before/after dealer does any service/maintenance to make sure they are fixing what they have to under warranty.

BTW, you can easily enable some cool features using BMWhat App
You can read more about them here:
http://www.ivini-apps.com/coding.html
click on Z4 (E89) tab.
You can enable many more features using INPA/NCSExpert/Coding s/w

[jparnes1]

If you've never coded before I would thoroughly familiarize yourself with this. There's a huge coding sub forum on the 3 series forum that is a great resource. Don't brick your car

[mybank2828]

Originally Posted by cuddapah

Yes, I also use when I feel something is wrong with the car and before/after dealer does any service/maintenance to make sure they are fixing what they have to under warranty.

BTW, you can easily enable some cool features using BMWhat App
You can read more about them here:
http://www.ivini-apps.com/coding.html
click on Z4 (E89) tab.
You can enable many more features using INPA/NCSExpert/Coding s/w

Wow, I took a look at the features like getting the alarm active so the speaker will tell you alarm on or off it's pretty cool.. I sometime having too car don't remember if I look this one or not, that would be cool. How does it execute? When you open the door, it will say "alarm is off" or something like that?

[cuddapah]

Originally Posted by mybank2828

Wow, I took a look at the features like getting the alarm active so the speaker will tell you alarm on or off it's pretty cool.. I sometime having too car don't remember if I look this one or not, that would be cool. How does it execute? When you open the door, it will say "alarm is off" or something like that?

I didn't notice that feature.

[mybank2828]

Originally Posted by cuddapah

I didn't notice that feature.

it said it in the link http://www.ivini-apps.com/coding.html you gave me

[cuddapah]

Originally Posted by mybank2828

it said it in the link http://www.ivini-apps.com/coding.html you gave me

By default that page shows E46. Click on Z4(E89) right below E46.

[mybank2828]

Originally Posted by cuddapah

By default that page shows E46. Click on Z4(E89) right below E46.

OK, I see what you meant now