OBD DOA
 

After getting my x5 back from the shop recently i noticed I can no longer connect any devices to the OBD2 port. Neither my Scanguage or my Bluetooth dongle seem to be able to communicate however both are getting power. Could it possibly be a fuse or something? Also my odometer seems dimmer than usual...

Also reading about this 20 pin DataLink Connector (DLC) under the hood they prob connected to that to read the codes for the rear suspension module maybe since the port inside the cabin is primarily for emissions control. Maybe they didn't close it properly. Where is this located exactly??

Is this question like who is bury in Grant's tomb?? LOL

On my X the 20 pins is on the driver side of the engine, but I have the 3.0 engine.

If you have the 20 pin DLC in the engine bay...look for a round cover similar to the one circled in the image below...as upallnight indicates...the location is different based on which engine you have...but the round cover & design of the 20-pin DLC is the same regardless of which model/engine you have.

And by all means...yes, definitely check the fuse if you think there's an electrical issue. Since you have the 20-pin DLC...you may have a different fuse layout...but as you can see in the image below...for my 2006 e53...the diagnostic plug is fuse #52...but again, I only have the 16-pin DLC on the inside of the cabin.

If you have a 2001-up BMW (or build date from 6/00 or 9/00 depending on which model)...BMW discontinued the 20-pin DLC in the engine bay except for the e38 and Z3 which continued with the 20-pin DLC up to the end of production for those models. See the info below about the 16 pin OBD II connector for the 2001-up model years.


http://bimmerboard.com/members/q/ori...%20Diagram.jpg


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Yep - I know I have seen this round plastic thing in the engine bay before.

I've checked all the fuses that are related - both "Diagnostic plug" and more importantly "On-board diagnose" they are all fine. So not sure what is going on with my 16 pin OBDII port in the cabin. I will take a look at the 21 pin under the hood - I heard somewhere if it is not "closed" properly it could cause the OBDII port inside the cabin to not work properly. I have no idea why/how this is. I'm guessing the shop connected their GT1 software tool here to read the suspension module.

Worst case scenario they make an adapter for this so I can use my bluetooth module again:

20 to 16 Pin Scanner Cable Adapter for BMW OBD2 Scan E36 E46 E38 E39 E53 x5 Z3 | eBay

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTAwMFgxMD...UL4lj/$_57.JPG

I would just bring it back to the shop and explain what you told us here. That the OBD II connector in the interior is no longer working and prior to having them work on the car you were able to use it.

I opened the hood and found the round plastic plug on the driver side. The cap was not closed properly - the cap itself has 3 metal pins on it and a plastic middle piece.

I'm willing to bet this will fix the issue with my OBD port. I am working on the air suspension in the rear right now so I will find out when I start her back up later today.

Now I am curious if I can have 2 OBD ports by getting that adapter. Guessing plugging the adapter in at the round port will render the interior OBDII port useless again. I know using a splitter on the interior OBDII doe doesn't work.

The middle piece is sometime refer to as the PACMAN since it resemble the Pacman character in the game.

The OBD II is basically just for any trouble codes for the engine and evap system. The 20 pins connector will get you into the rest of the BMW specific modules, but you will need to have BMW specific software/scanner to be able to access those modules. Sticking just a generic OBD II connector into that dongle will only read what the OBD II connector can read.

Yep tightening that plug down has fixed my OBDII port. Good info!