[Shop-talk] Yet again ... best OBD-II hardware/software package ...

[John Morrissey]

On Sat, Sep 06, 2008 at 08:34:19PM -0500, Arvid Jedlicka wrote:
> I need to diagnose the Check Engine light on the wife's '97 BMW M3.
> 
> Given the plethora of Wintel laptops I have lying around it would seem
> that getting the hardware and software to make one into a dedicated OBD-II
> reader would be the appropriate path.
> 
> It seems it has been about a year since this topic was discussed so ...
> what are the latest thoughs on the subject?

I haven't had a reason to buy a scan tool (yet), but I've heard really good
things about AutoEnginuity's tool from other BMW people:

http://www.autoenginuity.com

Their marque-specific support lets you initiate a lot of the BMW-specific
tests and procedures that the dealer's diagnostic computer can do, such as
hydraulic pump cycling.

If you're a BMW CCA member, there was an article in May 2006's Roundel.
Unfortunately, it doesn't look like they've posted issues that far back
on their web site yet:

http://www.bmwcca.org/index.php?pageid=roundel_magazine

john
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