Carly coding and OBD related issues

angusmac100

angusmac100

Member
 Hertford
Had my E89 a week and enjoyed it despite relentless rain. I’ve read a lot of forum posts with a mixture of wonder at the technical knowledge out there and abject fear because so much of what is said makes no sense to the technically illiterate. Two questions I have:

I’ve seen that my car can be coded to drop the roof with the key and other clever little things like that, but that also most people don’t rate Carly and suggest not buying one and the subscription when only a one-off coding session is needed. How best then to get those little upgrades - via someone nearby with one and pay them?

Secondly, there are many mentions of fault code readers, is there any point in buying one of those if you have no idea what to do with the fault codes that it finds?

Be interested in your thoughts. Cheers
 
Get a cheap android tablet or phone. I have one just for this cost £100. Then use this. It has everything you will need as it calculates which modules need coding as sometimes you may need to code various to get what you need. It also creates backups.

www.bimmergeeks.net

ProTool | bimmergeeks

www.bimmergeeks.net www.bimmergeeks.net
 
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Car from the factory drops the roof on the fob…most coding options are pretty obscure / first world ..imho
 
Even if you can’t work out the codes you get, it is worthwhile to be able to read them and post on here for help.
If it turns out you have another member nearby that can help out then it’s not quite so essential to buy your own reader.
Although when you’re stuck miles away from anywhere you’ll wish you had a reader with you.
 
enuff_zed said:
Even if you can’t work out the codes you get, it is worthwhile to be able to read them and post on here for help.
If it turns out you have another member nearby that can help out then it’s not quite so essential to buy your own reader.
Although when you’re stuck miles away from anywhere you’ll wish you had a reader with you.
Click to expand...
Thanks, gonna take Reamesy advice and look for a cheap Android tablet and OBD link. As you say can always seek help here and gotta start somewhere. Cheers
 
On USA cars. The top does not drop with FOB. However, you can code this option. Also, it's impossible to code the top to go up on USA cars.

If I ever get my FRM reimbursement from BMW, I plan to get a SmartTop module.
 
I had a Carly and did everything I wanted on my e85 including sorting roof etc.
It reads the codes and gives you a basic diagnostic but you can google them and get a better one.
It ok for the first year but when it comes to another £80 you’ll buy a better one for £120.

Oh it don’t half chew though your phone battery though!!
 
Bimmerlink is another excellent tool for mobiles (iOS/Android), but unfortunately it doesn't work with E85/86 cars (already tested).

AFAIK it works fine on devices with UK/US language settings, as you can switch their homepage between Geman and English. Pay once, use lifetime.

Very useful is the configurable dashboard to track live data while driving. As Carly restricts it's liveview to only 6 parameters of a bunch of available ones, Bimmerlink allows an unrestricted collection, that easily can be reconfigured as well as resorted.

It works fine with several commonly used OBD adapters and is not restricted like Carly, that only accepts their own hardware.
 
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