What I've Bought
 

Just bought this thing, don't know when it'll be delivered yet. Will let you know how I get on with it.

http://www.carsoftsales.com/bmw/index2.htm

Sounds pretty cool but seems pretty pricey. Hopefully it is as good as they say it is. Keep us in the loop.

Update
 

The Carsoft package has been a disaster. At present I am trying to get a refund out of the vendor (Carsoft themselves) and they are ignoring me. I have started taking some legal consumer advice because this was a pricey piece of kit.

The item arrived promptly and I tried installing it. All the way through installation there were bugs and glitches. I know a bit about computers and if I didn't I wouldn't even have gotten as far as firing up the software. In any case I found it unacceptable that the software did not install as per the instruction manual.

The real killer was the fact that the software did NOT support the E53. There seems to be different file libraries in the software for all the different models and the files for the E53 were missing. I spoke to the Carsoft guy on the phone who used Teamviewer while I had the car hooked up. He said that it was strange that the files were missing and he would have his development department contact me the following morning. In the meantime he said the control modules for the E39 were practically identically and I should select that model in the software in the meantime. Now, I am well aware of how these pieces of kit have the potential to fry a control module so I did not do that and waited for the proper E53 files to be supplied which never happened. They never arrived, nor did I ever hear from the development department. That was last November and they've been ignoring me ever since.

My advice - well I don't need to tell you really. I wouldn't go near these guys again if my car's life depended on it. More hassle than it could ever be worth and now I'm left consulting legal people in Ireland to see how I can force a company in Belgium to give me a refund. Not pretty at all. :(

My mac wont even play there demonstration video download

It's not a video, It's a .EXE file. Using that file on a Mac, you need virtualization software.

Their site states under - Products:
'The latest editions are covering all 1991 - 2011 Mercedes- & Sprinter vehicles and 1988 - 2010 BMW- and Mini vehicles.'

Then under - BMW & Mini Coverage Version '10':

'Vehicles*:

1 Series - E81 - E82 - E86 - E87
3 Series - E30 - E36 - E46 - E90 - E91 - E92 - E93
5 Series - E34 - E39 - E60 - E61
6 Series - E63 - E64
7 Series - E32 - E38 -E65 - E66
8 Series - E31
X1 - E84
X3 - E83
X5 - E53 - E70

*) the functions and coverage of the above listed vehicles may vary, depending on the type and year of the vehicle.'

Why write E53 when it might not be supported? I find it very fishy indeed, hope you get your money back or that they finally deliver what you paid for!

That sucks. How much was it if i may ask?

Took me 2 hours to get my mac to talk to my htc so Ive no chance of opening that EXE. thingy . I dont want one anyway I was only being nosey.:dunno:

Holy canolli Batman! I just read your post then was about to reply with the fact I bought something similar for my X from 'Crapsoft' a few years back. I was just about to say how shit it was and in the end I just threw it away because it never worked, and the fact I didn't get any response.... but then I see that you have already found this fact out yourself!

I hope you get your money back from the theiving sheisters!

I paid EUR900 for it, approx USD1,200.

While there is free trade across Europe there is no common legal framework. However there are pan European internet trade guidelines which is what I hope will get my money back for me. To be honest even if they were to supply the missing files at this stage I don't want the damn thing. I just want a refund and be finished with it.

Interesting. So it seems they make a habit out of selling crap and then ignoring you. Well I'm not going to starve without my €900, but I fully intend being a complete pain in their arse for every day they don't refund me. Along with pursuing them via the European consumer agency.