Originally Posted by The Cleaner

I use the Peake and Auto Xray OBDll scanner. I like the Peake for it's BMW specific use (resetting oil and inspection lights). It's very capable for the scanning as well. It's draw back is that it's BMW specific. Not a draw back if you only work on BMW's. The Auto Xray scanner is about 300.00 and it's a good partner to the Peak because it has live data. It will also reset other makes and will give you transmission codes.

An example of when Live data is important is when you get more than one code, say a lean bank 1 and O2 sensor. Many people would do the sensor because that appears to be a clear failure. That can be up to 200.00 worth of wasted parts. If you monitor the live data you could see the voltage on the O2 sensor is fine, it’s throwing a code because something else is out of spec Like a MAF or throttle position switch etc.