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  #1  
Old 02-12-2021, 04:16 PM
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A good BMW scanner for the picky E53 4.4?

Hey ppl,

You guys recommend a decent scanner / tester for a BMW?

I have been using a basic one for a while and the more complicated things I started to work on, the more I needed to test properly and the basic tool would not help anymore. I have also been using INPA successfully but I don't like carrying a laptop around for this.

Also, my E53 4.4 seems to be picky on scanners with the setup it has. It is a 00/06 production and I have both the 20 pin under the hood and 16 pin inside connectors. I have already tried Foxwell NT530, AutoPhix 7910 and iCarsoft BMM v3.0. Only Autophix works giving me basic functionality but I am looking for graphing and module actuation functionality as well.

Also, I have tried all of the different connections on 20 pin and 16 pin including shorting certain pins (20 to 17, 7 to 8 etc) and that did not work either. I can't even get live data from those so called (NT530 and iCarsoft) BMW specific tools. I finally traced all the pins on 16 and 20 sockets and built my own 20 to 16 pin adapter, matching each of their pin functionality using the info I found on the internet and failed once again.

Again, INPA seems to work fine although there is no graphing there, very limited actuation and once again I do not like carrying a laptop for that.

So, I would like to hear your experiences with other scanners around or under $1000. I am willing to spend such money as long as the tool does what it says it would..

I have been looking at some Autel and Launch products but hesitant because this buying and returning process has become very annoying..

Experiences?

Cheers,

Ozzie
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  #2  
Old 02-13-2021, 03:56 AM
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I'm try to remember who it was, but they said that to use the OBD2 you have to connect a wire jumper inside old 20 pin cap to allow full functionality.*

Also I believe there's a difference in what the NT-530 can do (less than 510/520)


*I could be completely wrong on that so hopefully someone will chime in with confirmation or the correct answer.

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Old 02-13-2021, 10:40 AM
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A good BMW scanner for the picky E53 4.4?

AWR-fix: 20 pin under hood OBD tweak
https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink/top...ink_source=app

I jumped the pins in the cap on my wife's 00/07 build and now can access all modules with NT-510 from inside the cabin. I believe I used 24ga wire from an Ethernet cable.

It feels like their is some missing connection in your setup.

I can try to stop by as soon as this weekend to plug in my 510 with and without the 20-pin adapter to confirm if there is a problem with the 530 vs. the 510.
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Old 02-13-2021, 12:18 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by andrewwynn View Post
AWR-fix: 20 pin under hood OBD tweak
https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink/top...ink_source=app

I jumped the pins in the cap on my wife's 00/07 build and now can access all modules with NT-510 from inside the cabin. I believe I used 24ga wire from an Ethernet cable.

It feels like their is some missing connection in your setup.

I can try to stop by as soon as this weekend to plug in my 510 with and without the 20-pin adapter to confirm if there is a problem with the 530 vs. the 510.

I have tried every possible wiring including your setup without success unfortunately. Only INPA works from under the hood. 530 is already gone and I am about to return icarsoft 3.0 too.


Thanks,


Ozzie
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Old 02-13-2021, 12:34 PM
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If you've tried his jumper setup and you still can't get full connection through the OBD2 then you might have a cracked OBD2 block like I did. I grabbed a block from a wrecked vehicle and rewired it.

No guarantees that this is your issue but all it takes is someone to wiggle the shit out of the block with a cable installed and stuff gets moved out of the pin holders. (For me at least)

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Old 02-13-2021, 01:31 PM
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Originally Posted by EODguy View Post
If you've tried his jumper setup and you still can't get full connection through the OBD2 then you might have a cracked OBD2 block like I did. I grabbed a block from a wrecked vehicle and rewired it.

No guarantees that this is your issue but all it takes is someone to wiggle the shit out of the block with a cable installed and stuff gets moved out of the pin holders. (For me at least)
Interesting ... I agree, with multiple scanners failing, it seems to point to a problem on the car side.

Do you think this could explain the recent issue I've been having with OBD? In chronological order:

(BTW, my 2001 was built in June 2001, and does not have the 20-pin round connector in the engine bay)

- Foxwell and PASoft both worked flawlessly, although sometimes giving slightly different results (which I think is to be expected).

- PASoft suddenly stopped working completely. Green light on box still on, but could not connect to the car.

- Foxwell was still working fine as far as I could tell, and then suddenly one day (between the beginning of the day and the end of the day) about half of the functionality stopped working. For example, it can no longer read the VIN.

I had originally blamed Windows Update on the PASoft not working (running it with Win10 since the beginning), but since the Foxwell problem, it sure seems to be on the car side. Would love for it to be something as easy as the connection block.

EDIT - UPDATE 9/27/2021:
My daughter has the car off at school right now. Called me in a bit of a panic due to warning lights. She plugged in the Foxwell, and found about 30 error codes. Reset, none came back right away. And everything that used to work with the Foxwell seems to work again - it reads the VIN for the first time in about a year, and now completes all 16+ sections of the Auto testing, vs. during the dead period, it would only complete testing with results on about the first 4 sections.

So it fixed itself.

Once the car and I are both back home, I will see if PASoft works again as well. I expect it will.
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Last edited by oldskewel; 09-27-2021 at 04:56 PM.
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Old 02-13-2021, 01:43 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by EODguy View Post
If you've tried his jumper setup and you still can't get full connection through the OBD2 then you might have a cracked OBD2 block like I did. I grabbed a block from a wrecked vehicle and rewired it.

No guarantees that this is your issue but all it takes is someone to wiggle the shit out of the block with a cable installed and stuff gets moved out of the pin holders. (For me at least)

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Here are the photos of the connectors. I even thought they were missing pins or something but the photos did not look like it.

For the wiring process, I did the 20 pin connection of 20 and 17 and I read somewhere else that another guy was successful shorting 1 and 2, 4 and 5, and 7 and 8 on the 16 pin connector to the 20 pin adapter to use 20 pin adapter connections to the engine (20 pin has more connections to the engine than the 16 pin).

Once again, INPA works with 20 pin and does most of the job including some activations and Autophix 7910 works good there as well but it is a very limited tool. NT350 did not have the option of 00/06 production (but 00/03 and 00/09 and I tried both without success).

My X5 is picky indeed..

Cheers,

Ozzie
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Old 02-13-2021, 02:03 PM
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I would trace the pins. Tis show the exact pins on the DMV and a 20 pin connector. It feels like there's a wire not connected. Has noise on it but noise should be a problem with the engine not running


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Old 02-13-2021, 02:07 PM
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Also I am in Rogers park. I can come by sometime in the next 2 days and plug my 510.

@oldsck: never been able to read VIN on wife's car neither from the 20 pin port or the 16 pin port.
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Old 02-13-2021, 03:28 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by andrewwynn View Post
...@oldsck: never been able to read VIN on wife's car neither from the 20 pin port or the 16 pin port.
Good to know, but for me it was very clear ... it used to work with the VIN reading and a ton of functionality, and then suddenly no VIN reading and limited functionality.
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