Quote:
Originally Posted by Sparafucile
Software won't install correctly. The top level menus all install, but all the underlying APIs fail to install. And since the installation is "1-click", there's no parametric change that will increase chances of success.
The company has been of no help, letting my last four emails go without any reply.
My only recourse is a credit-card chargeback.
|
For a 2013 summer project I am doing a evaluation of BMW diagnostics/coding packages. I am testing out solutions with a K+D Can cable only with software from the Internet/Torrents, BMCables (1-click)
www.bmcables.com , BM Technics (1-click)
http://bmtechnic.co.uk/ .
So far here is what I can summarize for readers so far:
Cable Install INPA NCS DIS TIS SSS
K+D Can cable Works Manual Manual Manual Works TBD
BMCables Works Problems Problems NO Works TBD
BM Technics TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD
Test boxes used:
Thinkpad T61 Win 7 Ultimate 32bit, XP SP3
Acer Netbook Win 7 Ultimate 32bit, XP SP2,
FW disabled, no AV was loaded, I set each box up with required OS and patches and then saved the image to quickly restore the images to do repeated tests.
K+D Can Cable solution Notes:
Bought the cable for approx 100.00 US dollars (Delivery time was about 1 week). Came with drivers on a DVD, no other software. Cable was a few inches longer than the BMCables (which is pretty short) and the wire is thicker. Easy to find INPA, NCS, DIS, SSS etc and install guides via torrents and internet (though confusing at times). This is to be expected but you do learn a lot. Anyways, the most popular apps INPA, EDIABAS, NCS work fine after a bit of tweaking. This method worked on both the Thinkpad and Acer for both Win 7 and XP. For DIS I ended up scrapping the Fister diag head approach(didn’t seem to work for me) and just ended up using the BMW Diagnostic 1.2 program to get DIS to work properly. Also I found that after everything I wanted was working, I backed up the image (to be safe) and then I installed vast AV and turned it on and every thing still worked.
Support: None, just what you read from the internet/Forums.
Suggestions: Read the forums. Get your hands on the M3 Cutters install guide and the BMW DIS V57, SSS Progman V32 and TIS V8 install guide by David Holdings. I found those 3 components invaluable as I muddled my way through this exercise.
Verdict: Not for the weary, but if all your looking for is INPA, NCS Expert then this will do.
BM Cables Solution Notes:
Bought cable and apps (2 CDs) for about 60.00 US Dollars including shipping. Cable is blue, rather short and cheap looking. The physical install went fine. I had to manually tweak the cable parameters. But it was definitely one click for each module to install. But after the physical install of the apps it was quite a nightmare from that point onwards. I plugged the USB cable into the computer (but not the car yet) and as soon as I ran INPA, I get 2 black dots. This sent up cautionary flags on this product right away. I then plug the cable head to a e90 and try to run a simple status on the engine. I get initialization errors right away. It was quite disappointing to see all the different models in INPA (including X3/X5s) and then see the API error messages pop up one after another. It pretty much went downhill from there. Took a lot of tweaking before I could get INPA working. I spent a lot of time re-imaging and retesting this product. Although DIS and SSS installed, they didn’t work. TIS worked fine though (manual). A few other things of note that make this a less than desirable solution is the fact they put passwords on some of the install files so you can’t even try to manually install. Same issues for both Win 7 and XP versions on both boxes.
BTW, during testing of the K+D Cable solution, I tried using the BMCables cable (uninstall and delete K+D Cable drivers provided and then reinstall BMCable drivers). It doesn’t work (no surprise there).
On a positive note, I did get the cable 3 days after I ordered it, that was probably the best experience of this solution.
Support: limited. Tips where pretty much useless IE. Here is a link to Bimmerforums, check your com port etc..,
Suggestions: Vendor should provide a Troubleshooting guide for their product. I kept wondering why it creates 2 EDIABAS copies. They should also point to any file links where their customers could download debugged software.
Verdict: This solution is eye candy at best. Not for the weary, 1-click installs work but that’s about it. Oh, the TIS piece works but won’t interface with the car through the DIS program (which by the way, DIS V57 doesn’t work either). I can't wait to test the BMTechnics solution next
BM Technics
I have the package but have not tested yet. Will do this in a week or so and update my post.