[Driftaround]

Hi all
Seen the BMW DOCTOR demolish the Carly app for the possibility of destroying the modules it codes, and suggest that the software for coding is more easily available.
ISPA, Bimmergeeks etc.

Anyone who uses something besides Carly prepared to discuss and point me in a similar direction please?

Ian

[rasa bmw]

not tried it yet,,but ista is the best,ive got it downloaded onto laptop and have cables for my cars,,but just not tried or learned how to do it yet

[aaronblack]

Originally Posted by Driftaround

Hi all
Seen the BMW DOCTOR demolish the Carly app for the possibility of destroying the modules it codes, and suggest that the software for coding is more easily available.
ISPA, Bimmergeeks etc.

Anyone who uses something besides Carly prepared to discuss and point me in a similar direction please?

Ian

Frankly I don't trust everything the guy says as his business is based on selling ISTA/NCS Expert to people and helping them code etc by selling them membership packages. Granted his got the knowledge of BMW engines etc, I personally don't believe everything he says or does.

[N57]

Go to the bimmeegeeks website , and download rheingold, sp datens and bmw tools. You'll need K-DCAN cable and a half decent laptop with at least 500GB of space

I've got Cary BimmerCode and NCS, and NCS is the best. Only half decent thing about Carly is that it detects if the FRM is faulty.

[N57]

Originally Posted by aaronblack

Frankly I don't trust everything the guy says as his business is based on selling ISTA/NCS Expert to people and helping them code etc by selling them membership packages. Granted his got the knowledge of BMW engines etc, I personally don't believe everything he says or does.

I agree, that guy is a joker. £50 a month to listen to him wank over the N52 engine. Although some of his videos are useful

[Rich_D]

ISTA bricked my FRM, so I am very wary of coding now, it's a very powerful tool, but people need to be aware of the risks.

On my older BMW's I've used INPA & NCS Expert with no issues, but it's too old for my LCI car and the N57 isn't covered, so tried ISTA and ended up having to pay £50 to get the FRM repaired.

I use Carista now, for code reading and a few basic coding options, enough for me and cheaper than the other apps.

[Daviebrown]

I use ncs expert for coding and winkfp for updating modules and never had a problem, even with Lci ‘s E60 and E90.

[therealdb1]

Originally Posted by Rich_D

ISTA bricked my FRM, so I am very wary of coding now, it's a very powerful tool, but people need to be aware of the risks.

I am very surprised ISTA bricked a module. Did you have the car connected to a suitable power supply (not just a trickle charger) while working on it? If you try anything more than a few diagnostics you cannot really rely on the battery alone when coding.

The problem with INPA, ISTA, etc. is they are very powerful tools that are readily and cheaply available. Therefore many BMW owners have them but do not necessarily know how best to use them and what they should and should not be tinkering with.

I am not saying this is the case in this instance but the "risks" that people need to be aware of are that unless you are confident that you know what you are doing and are comfortable with the consequences if you get it wrong then leave it alone and find someone who can help.

[Rich_D]

Originally Posted by therealdb1

I am very surprised ISTA bricked a module. Did you have the car connected to a suitable power supply (not just a trickle charger) while working on it? If you try anything more than a few diagnostics you cannot really rely on the battery alone when coding.

The problem with INPA, ISTA, etc. is they are very powerful tools that are readily and cheaply available. Therefore many BMW owners have them but do not necessarily know how best to use them and what they should and should not be tinkering with.

I am not saying this is the case in this instance but the "risks" that people need to be aware of are that unless you are confident that you know what you are doing and are comfortable with the consequences if you get it wrong then leave it alone and find someone who can help.

I wasn't coding anything, it was just scanning the car for faults, but there is a known issue with the FRM3 module that causes them to fail. I only discovered this when researching what went wrong and how to rectify it.

Like I said I've been coding/scanning my BMW's for years using NCS, DIS & INPA and never had an issue, just making people aware that there are risks involved when dabbling with software like this.

[spudulike]

BimmerGeeks Protool. It's actively being supported and improved, the interface is very easy to use and it works on an Android tablet.

I've coded a few bits and pieces, checked and cleared errors. It's worked nicely.

[nomiS330d]

I’ve used Carly on a few cars and not had a problem. I tried watching one of the BMW DOCTOR videos and thought he was a bit of a tit so haven’t watched one since.

[aaronblack]

Originally Posted by nomiS330d

I’ve used Carly on a few cars and not had a problem. I tried watching one of the BMW DOCTOR videos and thought he was a bit of a tit so haven’t watched one since.

Exactly my point, I got no issues with somebody making a business/living out of cars etc. but putting up a fake review (in this case about Carly) to try and retain his customers gets on my nerves. What's worse is that his memberships are overpriced too.

For instance, I saw a new video of him claiming to never clean vanos solenoids as it doesn't work, you must replace it. In my experience this is absolute nonsense, as I've clean them on several BMW's and a lot of times it works.

[-claw-]

Originally Posted by aaronblack

Exactly my point, I got no issues with somebody making a business/living out of cars etc. but putting up a fake review (in this case about Carly) to try and retain his customers gets on my nerves. What's worse is that his memberships are overpriced too.

For instance, I saw a new video of him claiming to never clean vanos solenoids as it doesn't work, you must replace it. In my experience this is absolute nonsense, as I've clean them on several BMW's and a lot of times it works.

Got to agree, no problems giving them a clean at oil change, and it's not a hard job to clean the vanos filters, which I don't think hes ever mentioned.