BMW E90 OBD2 scanner options and feedback.
Option 1. Blue Driver
feedback: Everybody should get one of these. They cost a couple of bucks $50-S100 & could save save you a lot in the end.
Personally I have a Blue Driver it saved me twice this month.
For the 1st one: Engine light went on it was a Small Evap Leak meaning I didn’t tighten my gas knob enough, it was loose.
2nd One: Cylinder 6 Misfire – Just changed the coil & it was fixed! Actually I did change all the sparks plug once I was at it my car as only 60K miles for a 2009 E91 which is ridiculous
If I didn’t know what the faults were It could have cost me a fortune at any garage.
Option 2: BMW INPA and a 10GBP cable if you had a old computer.
*A much cheaper and basically has all the coding functions is INPA. The only problem is that even though INPA can do all basic stuff that you need but it seems complicate to operate than other scanners.
*INPA full diagnostic for BMW is excellent software, though some limited release models tend not to be covered but it works well on E-series cars. In short, INPA is cost-effective for economic nervous people.
* Inpa is the best for diagnosis of BMW cars because it is made for bmw. Sure that it is possible to access all units and that the faults are displayed correctly. Also you can get the cables for the older models very cheap and the software even for free in the Internet.
The negative aspect is that it requires a computer and will not work on smartphones. Not much convenient.
*INPA is an excellent product, but does not have full model/variant coverage and being a factory product can be difficult to keep updated.
I assume that people focus on their own model, so INPA is for me the best regarding price and functionality if you only need it for your own model or a (small) range of models.
Source: http://www.obd2shop.co.uk/wholesale/inpa-k-can-allows-full-diagnostic-for-bmw-with-ft232rl-chip.html
Option 3: Carly BMW and a smart phone!
Feedback:
Just ordered the Carly for the fun as it seems to be able to change the coding of some parameters that I would like to change on my car.
I’m just recommending BMW specific scanners – normal OBD2 scanners won’t pick up some manufacturers’ codes.
Option 4: Foxwell 510 scan tool for BMW
Feedback: OBDII doesn’t pick up any manufacturer codes. Manufacturers
have trouble codes for OBDII system trouble codes.
I recommend a Foxwell 510 scan tool as it can do both manufacturer codes and OBDII.
Feedback:
Yep! I second that! Foxwell NT510 loaded with BMW software is the best scanner period. 129GBP shipped and not VIN locked. Do pretty much everything the dealer can do. Reads both generic OBD2 codes and BMW specific codes. Battery registration and a shit ton of other stuff.
Pros: As a professional technician, I will say Foxwell NT510 scanner tool can do roughly 80% of what our factory systems are capable of doing. For the price, it’s impressive. All the important service functions are there i.e coding, abs bleeding, battery register, DPF, injector correction and so on.
Cons: Here is what I don’t like, and maybe someone can respond if this has also happened to them. I have the BMW program installed. The only way to read any codes is to do the auto scan, which can take several minutes if you’re working on a late model car with 20 or 30 control units. It will give you the option to instead go into specific control units, but what you select ‘read codes’, a warning pops up that it is about to erase the codes and asks if you want to continue. If you select continue, it erases the codes without even displaying them or telling you what they are. So again, you have to do the complete auto scan and then read all the codes, you can’t read codes for a specific control module only.
Source: http://www.obd2shop.co.uk/wholesale/foxwell-nt510-multi-system-scanner.html
To sum up:
Bavtech is a joke and can only be used on 1 vehicle (VIN LOCKED) those greedy bastards. Not to mention you need a windows laptop. WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT GET THE BAV TECH. IT’S A FUCKING RIP OFF.
Carly for BMW is ok…$50ish but that make you pay more for stuff like battery registration, so you really end up paying about $100 also.
INPA + CABLE + Windows Laptop is going to be the cheapest option if you are tech savvy enough to set it up and know how to use it.
