OBD2 scanner software recommendation

[Shaun K]

I have a 1989 325is with an OBD2 M52B28TU. The car was tuned last summer in Portland, and then shipped out to me in October. Since it arrived it's been having a hot start issue, which the tuner claims is likely some kind of crank sensor problem. He sent me a cable to scan for codes, but I have yet to get it to connect to anything so far.

I've tried the following with a K+DCAN cable connected to the port in the engine bay:

-BMWLogger on Mac OSX (10.11.6 and 10.9.5)
-BMWLogger on Win XP
-ProTune Logger on Mac OSX (10.11.6 and 10.9.5)
This is basically the same software/drivers as BMWLogger, from what I understand

None of them connect or see the ECU, despite installing several sets of drivers for USB-to-serial emulation.

I'm kind of new to this, so does anyone have a recommendation or best practice for getting codes from the ECU? I'm kind of surprised that it's this difficult, but maybe I'm doing something wrong.

[ba114]

do you have an android phone? If so, buy a bluetooth OBD2 scanner for a couple of buck off ebay and use torque pro on your phone.

Otherwise get inpa setup on your pc

[exhaust]

do you have an android phone? If so, buy a bluetooth OBD2 scanner for a couple of buck off ebay and use torque pro on your phone.

Otherwise get inpa setup on your pc

+1 for Torque. I use it all the time. Incredibly useful especially if you have a good mount since you get real time diagnostics. I haven't looked to hard but I haven't seen anything really comparable for iOS. Another option is to buy a cheap, used Android tablet on eBay / Craigslist and just keep it with the car

[Northern]

+1 to what ba114 said, INPA with your current cable, or torque/torque pro with a bluetooth dongle.

[Klug]

Are you running MS41.1? If so check out RomRaider- its for subaru's but they used the same MS41.1 DME's as the ODB2 M52/S52's...gives some great logging

Otherwise for coding specifics- Torque and Inpa are my go-to's

[pazi88]

It doesn't have to be ms41.1. It works for ms41.0 too. And also testo software works great too. And it's wery easy to get working.

https://youtu.be/NC2kJDoWTqg

Oh you have m52tu. In that case it's ms42 and the romraider logger doesn't yet work well in that. But testo works.

[Shaun K]

Sorry for the delay in response everyone...thanks for your input. Finally warm enough to try this out again.

do you have an android phone? If so, buy a bluetooth OBD2 scanner for a couple of buck off ebay and use torque pro on your phone.

Otherwise get inpa setup on your pc

I have an Android phone and an Android tablet. I do not have a PC. I have a Macbook with a WinXP VM, that has worked for me in the past when needed. No BT scanner here, and was hoping that I wouldn't need to buy anything else since I already have a cable and a laptop.

+1 for Torque. I use it all the time. Incredibly useful especially if you have a good mount since you get real time diagnostics. I haven't looked to hard but I haven't seen anything really comparable for iOS. Another option is to buy a cheap, used Android tablet on eBay / Craigslist and just keep it with the car

I use a Nexus phone and have a Nexus tablet, but I don't have a BT transmitter. I had hoped to just use my existing laptop and cable, and I really don't need constant diagnostics since I don't DD the car and it sits in storage for 5 months out of the year anyway. I really just need to diagnose this hot-start issue.

+1 to what ba114 said, INPA with your current cable, or torque/torque pro with a bluetooth dongle.

I'll try INPA, but are there any caveats or requirements for this? I don't have a Windows computer, but I do have a Windows VM running on my Macbook.

Are you running MS41.1? If so check out RomRaider- its for subaru's but they used the same MS41.1 DME's as the ODB2 M52/S52's...gives some great logging

Otherwise for coding specifics- Torque and Inpa are my go-to's

I am running a '99 M3 DME, so I assume that is MS41.1?
I tried installing RomRaider, but it requires Java. That's ridiculous, nobody needs that kind of shit on their computer.


If I can't get anything working either via Torque (which will require a BT scanner) or the other recommendations, I guess I will have to buy a Windows laptop.

[Jaker]

I bought a WiFi adapter off ebay for $15. It's even cheaper now:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/WiFi-ELM327-Car-OBD2-OBDII-Diagnostic-Scanner-Tool-For-IOS-iPhone-Android-Mobile-/291630517885?hash=item43e6888e7d&item=291630517885&vxp=mtr

[Northern]

MS41.x comes in .0 (euro 328), .1 (US/Can 328), and .2 (US M3)
Same hardware (besides very early 41.0 with the unflashable chip) with different flashes on them.

I assume INPA only runs on windows, but I imagine a VM is sufficient. Then you need to find it somewhere online (downloads get removed fairly frequently), and the OBD2-USB cable. Not sure if one of the VAG com ones will work, or if the INPA K+DCAN ones are actually different.


If all you want is to read codes, Torque/Torque Pro is probably the easiest to set up. Bluetooth dongles are really cheap on ebay/amazon (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Super-Mini-O...cAAOxyc2pTXwPE). INPA will just have more functionality, since it's the actual software for that engine.


For either of these you either need to wire up an OBD2 port(which is pretty easy, and worth it in the long run) or run one of the "BMW 20 pin to OBD2" adapters.

[Shaun K]

I'm back...sorry about the delay in replies, been traveling a lot lately and haven't had much time.

I bought a WiFi adapter off ebay for $15. It's even cheaper now:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/WiFi-ELM327-...517885&vxp=mtr

Thanks Jacques, I'll take a look at those. Are you using Torque as well?

MS41.x comes in .0 (euro 328), .1 (US/Can 328), and .2 (US M3)
Same hardware (besides very early 41.0 with the unflashable chip) with different flashes on them.

I assume INPA only runs on windows, but I imagine a VM is sufficient. Then you need to find it somewhere online (downloads get removed fairly frequently), and the OBD2-USB cable. Not sure if one of the VAG com ones will work, or if the INPA K+DCAN ones are actually different.


If all you want is to read codes, Torque/Torque Pro is probably the easiest to set up. Bluetooth dongles are really cheap on ebay/amazon (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Super-Mini-O...cAAOxyc2pTXwPE). INPA will just have more functionality, since it's the actual software for that engine.


For either of these you either need to wire up an OBD2 port(which is pretty easy, and worth it in the long run) or run one of the "BMW 20 pin to OBD2" adapters.

So since I am using a 99 M3 DME, that's an MS41.2? I have a 20-pin to OBD2 adapter now, along with the K+DCAN cable. Can't imagine doing any sort of datalogging or street tuning with this setup, since you can't close the hood when the cable is plugged in. Whose idea was this anyway :)

Sounds like I should just get a Bluetooth adapter and try out Torque. Maybe I can use it on my Allroad and F150 as well, since those both have CEL's at the moment too :|

[Jaker]

I've been using OBD Fusion, but I haven't spent any time looking at/trying other apps.