INPA on an E46

[buggalugs]

This has been bugging me! I bought a Bmw Cables USB to obd cable with software from eBay a while back It communicates with the engine computer ok, live data, resets etc. But it can't speak to any other modules e.g. abs, body & comms. I read that this was likely due to pins 7 & 8 not being bridged in the connector but have had it apart today and they are.

Is there anything else I can check?

TIA!

[TheEnd]

What year is it, and where are you plugging it in?

[buggalugs]

It's a February 2000, and into the OBD2 socket under the dash.

[Blair357ci]

Your car is possibly to early to have full OBD, have you also got a round plug under the bonnet near the drivers strut?

[essayer]

Blair357ci said:

Your car is possibly to early to have full OBD, have you also got a round plug under the bonnet near the drivers strut?

OP, think you need to get the adaptor cable for that socket too

[TheEnd]

Yep, until 2001 for petrols, you still need to use the 20 pin connector under the bonnet to get full communication with everything.

[buggalugs]

OK there is a big round plug there, I am officially blind! It's in the cubby bit with the brake servo.

So is it something like this I'll be needing? That pinout looks like a piece of piss but for £7....

[TheEnd]

Yep, that's it.

[buggalugs]

That's worked a treat! Can get to everything via the 20 pin. Spent an entertaining hour making windows go up and down and blowers turn on before resetting the airbag light and calling it a night

I noticed in the activations list for the airbag that you can activate the 'crash sensor'... I assume this would have been a very bad idea?

[XVar]

buggalugs said:

I noticed in the activations list for the airbag that you can activate the 'crash sensor'... I assume this would have been a very bad idea?

I saw that in INPA when I was poking around the settings on my Z3. I was very very careful not to press that button, but I think someone needs to..

[TheEnd]

It's possible, no one knows as no one has ever pressed it.

Avoid clicking resets on everything, it could cause all sorts of problems.

You might find your one touch up and down windows aren't working, taking manual/INPA control can bypass the automatic parts and that just needs to be wound to the top and bottom, and hold the button down for a few seconds at each extremity and it'll learn the where to aim for.

[stevesuk]

Hi guys,

Sorry to hijack this thread - my 2001 (December build) E46 330Ci is showing the airbag warning light (just came on suddenly today when starting the car). I read it could sometimes be loose cabling under the passenger seat, but everything looks OK (although I'm guessing that once the light has come on, it won't go out again until the system has been reset?).

Before paying the local garage to look at it, I'm thinking the first port of call is probably to buy an INPA cable from eBay and try reading the code/resetting it (hoping it won't come on again!). I've seen they're only about £30, and I reckon it could be useful for diagnosing other faults in the future too.

Does this sound about right?

If so, OP do you have the name of the seller on eBay who you bought yours from (if its working OK), and is December 2001 build likely to be late enough to have full ODB?

Is this sort of thing fairly simple to do? ... I'm a bit of a numpty at mechanics, but I'm fine with IT and the basics of electronics :-)

Cheers,

Steve.

[TheEnd]

You'll be OK with INPA, that doesn't use the "OBD" formats as the term is usually used, and you'll find they work on cars as early as 1995.

The problem is often the wiring breaking up, and just moving the seat is enough to trigger the light if it breaks contact even for a short while.
Seat mats and pretensioners will be the causes, so you might find a shake of the wires and a reset will keep the light off for a while until it moves to that 'bad' position again.

[stevesuk]

TheEnd said:

The problem is often the wiring breaking up, and just moving the seat is enough to trigger the light if it breaks contact even for a short while.
Seat mats and pretensioners will be the causes, so you might find a shake of the wires and a reset will keep the light off for a while until it moves to that 'bad' position again.

Thanks, this makes sense, because just before it happened, I folded the driver's seat forward to get in to the back of the car (something I hardly ever do). So maybe something moved slightly and triggered the fault. I guess even disconnecting the battery for half an hour won't clear an airbag fault?

Can anyone recommend a supplier of diagnostics cables/software on eBay? ie. I mean a particular seller who supplies something that (a) works properly, and (b) comes with usable software?

If it was our E91, I'd probably send it off down the dealer for them to look at it, but this is a 10 year old car worth not very much, so I think I'm going to have a try myself first. The money saved (if I can fix it) will go towards the cooling system renewal I'm planning

Cheers,

Steve.

[TheEnd]

For your 2001, there is a seller called BMWCables or similar which will do a lead.
Later cars would use the can bus so need a K+DCAN lead (covers both old and new cars)

Disconnection the battery won't get rid of it, it's written in a memory chip that will store it without the power.

[stevesuk]

TheEnd said:

For your 2001, there is a seller called BMWCables or similar which will do a lead.
Later cars would use the can bus so need a K+DCAN lead (covers both old and new cars)

Thanks, I found some pictures on other forums of the location of the round 20 pin diagnostics socket, so I've been out to have a look under the bonnet, and I don't have it on my car - so I assume all my diagnostic functions are done via the OBD socket in the drivers footwell?

So I'm guessing I need something like this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-USB-Diagnostics-OBD-...

[TheEnd]

Yep, that's the one.

[stevesuk]

Just coming back to this topic one more time to say thanks for the advice.

Cable arrived, software installed - many hoops to jump through on Windows 7 64-bit, ended up using just INPA in the end, not the other vast array of software the seller provided. Finally the airbag fault has been successfully cleared - although I'm prepared for it to return.

Tackled and successfully solved more minor faults on this car than any I've owned before (previously, I'd have gone to the local garage for a fault like this). Some things are quite easy, and I didn't even get my hands dirty

Steve.

[TheEnd]

The other stuff is more automated, but it's a pain in the arse to set up.