OBD Reader / Fault Diagnostics
Discussion
Hey folks,
Looking at getting a fault reader OBD thingumy, any recommendations.
Ideally would like one device that does Range Rover (L322) and BMW X5 (E53)
more the merrier really (for future foolish purchases)
Just been having a look on amazon and ebay and lots of TLA's to confuse me!
Looking at getting a fault reader OBD thingumy, any recommendations.
Ideally would like one device that does Range Rover (L322) and BMW X5 (E53)
more the merrier really (for future foolish purchases)
Just been having a look on amazon and ebay and lots of TLA's to confuse me!
Unless you are spending a lot of money then you need to be careful which you buy.
The really expensive ones work with almost anything, but still won't have full dealer functionality in a lot of cases.
For specific vehicles you can often buy OBD2 products which are programmed specific to the vehicle or marque and unlock a lot of features usually only available with the dealer diagnostics. For example, you can buy Merc specific OBD2 devices for about £120 which do a lot more than a standard OBD2 but only for Mercedes, and still fall well short of what the Merc dealer diagnostics can do. I also have a OBD Eleven adaptor for VW, which does more than a standard OBD and allows programming some VW features.
I'd start by looking through forums dedicated to the two vehicles you want and see what other people are using, and what it costs. And then figure out how much you want to spend.
The really expensive ones work with almost anything, but still won't have full dealer functionality in a lot of cases.
For specific vehicles you can often buy OBD2 products which are programmed specific to the vehicle or marque and unlock a lot of features usually only available with the dealer diagnostics. For example, you can buy Merc specific OBD2 devices for about £120 which do a lot more than a standard OBD2 but only for Mercedes, and still fall well short of what the Merc dealer diagnostics can do. I also have a OBD Eleven adaptor for VW, which does more than a standard OBD and allows programming some VW features.
I'd start by looking through forums dedicated to the two vehicles you want and see what other people are using, and what it costs. And then figure out how much you want to spend.
cheers for the starters - seems to be as big a "minefield" as i suspected.
guess some idea of what i expect of it.
BMW OBD - this car is in the middle of nowhere and in the back end of beyond - objective is identifying faults early and easily so that i can pass on information to workshop for getting necessary parts in before driving / shipping the car 5 plus hours to the workshop.
Range Rover OBD - This one is close to a good workshop so is less important and more for turning off the periodical Range Rover Festive Lights display that sometimes pops up on the dashboard.
guess some idea of what i expect of it.
BMW OBD - this car is in the middle of nowhere and in the back end of beyond - objective is identifying faults early and easily so that i can pass on information to workshop for getting necessary parts in before driving / shipping the car 5 plus hours to the workshop.
Range Rover OBD - This one is close to a good workshop so is less important and more for turning off the periodical Range Rover Festive Lights display that sometimes pops up on the dashboard.
As a BMW OBD reader I use the Creator C310+
Functions:
1. Read trouble codes
2. Clear trouble codes
3. Displays live data stream and graph display and vehicle version information
4. Clear adaptation
5. Engine oil reset
Quite good for <£50.
I understand one of the best (in terms of functions) for the BMW home mechanic is the Carly system which you run as an app on your phone.
Functions:
1. Read trouble codes
2. Clear trouble codes
3. Displays live data stream and graph display and vehicle version information
4. Clear adaptation
5. Engine oil reset
Quite good for <£50.
I understand one of the best (in terms of functions) for the BMW home mechanic is the Carly system which you run as an app on your phone.
spookly said:
Unless you are spending a lot of money then you need to be careful which you buy.
The really expensive ones work with almost anything, but still won't have full dealer functionality in a lot of cases.
For specific vehicles you can often buy OBD2 products which are programmed specific to the vehicle or marque and unlock a lot of features usually only available with the dealer diagnostics. For example, you can buy Merc specific OBD2 devices for about £120 which do a lot more than a standard OBD2 but only for Mercedes, and still fall well short of what the Merc dealer diagnostics can do. I also have a OBD Eleven adaptor for VW, which does more than a standard OBD and allows programming some VW features.
I'd start by looking through forums dedicated to the two vehicles you want and see what other people are using, and what it costs. And then figure out how much you want to spend.
This. As an example I once had a £11 OPCOM cable for my VX220 which was great as it could read codes, erase codes, programme keys and probably cook you dinner if you found it in the options but I've also had £200+ ones which couldn't even tell me what vehicle it was connected to The really expensive ones work with almost anything, but still won't have full dealer functionality in a lot of cases.
For specific vehicles you can often buy OBD2 products which are programmed specific to the vehicle or marque and unlock a lot of features usually only available with the dealer diagnostics. For example, you can buy Merc specific OBD2 devices for about £120 which do a lot more than a standard OBD2 but only for Mercedes, and still fall well short of what the Merc dealer diagnostics can do. I also have a OBD Eleven adaptor for VW, which does more than a standard OBD and allows programming some VW features.
I'd start by looking through forums dedicated to the two vehicles you want and see what other people are using, and what it costs. And then figure out how much you want to spend.
spookly said:
Unless you are spending a lot of money then you need to be careful which you buy.
The really expensive ones work with almost anything, but still won't have full dealer functionality in a lot of cases.
For specific vehicles you can often buy OBD2 products which are programmed specific to the vehicle or marque and unlock a lot of features usually only available with the dealer diagnostics....
This.The really expensive ones work with almost anything, but still won't have full dealer functionality in a lot of cases.
For specific vehicles you can often buy OBD2 products which are programmed specific to the vehicle or marque and unlock a lot of features usually only available with the dealer diagnostics....
For the Range Rover, I would recommend the iCarsoft Land Rover specific device, which will give you a lot more functionality than a generic OBDII reader, for about £130.
g3org3y said:
As a BMW OBD reader I use the Creator C310+
Functions:
1. Read trouble codes
2. Clear trouble codes
3. Displays live data stream and graph display and vehicle version information
4. Clear adaptation
5. Engine oil reset
Quite good for <£50.
I understand one of the best (in terms of functions) for the BMW home mechanic is the Carly system which you run as an app on your phone.
I use one of these as well brilliant little box of tricks for BMW's 100% worth having one of these my one is 2 yrs old now and gets used a lot and is still working well..Functions:
1. Read trouble codes
2. Clear trouble codes
3. Displays live data stream and graph display and vehicle version information
4. Clear adaptation
5. Engine oil reset
Quite good for <£50.
I understand one of the best (in terms of functions) for the BMW home mechanic is the Carly system which you run as an app on your phone.
InitialDave said:
I'd start with a £10 bluetooth or wi-fi dongle from Amazon with a free phone app, and see if there's anything you need that it doesn't do before spending more.
Be careful of cheap Bluetooth dongles as they are mostly clones and do not have full elm327 functionality despite their claims. I bought a £10 one (transparent blue body) and it was very limited. A better one from OBDScan - the MX - does far more. It's c.£80 but if it works then it's worth it. Car Gauge Pro, and Torque Pro are popular apps for Android but it's best to snoop around the forums for the particular marque to see what other owners say.motco said:
Be careful of cheap Bluetooth dongles as they are mostly clones and do not have full elm327 functionality despite their claims. I bought a £10 one (transparent blue body) and it was very limited. A better one from OBDScan - the MX - does far more. It's c.£80 but if it works then it's worth it. Car Gauge Pro, and Torque Pro are popular apps for Android but it's best to snoop around the forums for the particular marque to see what other owners say.
Yeah, it depends what you need to do, really, I was just thinking that as a starting point, it's minimal cost, and if you don't need more than it can do, happy days, it's been a cheap exercise.XJSJohn said:
Hey folks,
Looking at getting a fault reader OBD thingumy, any recommendations.
Ideally would like one device that does Range Rover (L322) and BMW X5 (E53)
more the merrier really (for future foolish purchases)
Just been having a look on amazon and ebay and lots of TLA's to confuse me!
This will read the BMW - I have that engine:Looking at getting a fault reader OBD thingumy, any recommendations.
Ideally would like one device that does Range Rover (L322) and BMW X5 (E53)
more the merrier really (for future foolish purchases)
Just been having a look on amazon and ebay and lots of TLA's to confuse me!
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0788KYY4Q/ref...
NDA said:
XJSJohn said:
Hey folks,
Looking at getting a fault reader OBD thingumy, any recommendations.
Ideally would like one device that does Range Rover (L322) and BMW X5 (E53)
more the merrier really (for future foolish purchases)
Just been having a look on amazon and ebay and lots of TLA's to confuse me!
This will read the BMW - I have that engine:Looking at getting a fault reader OBD thingumy, any recommendations.
Ideally would like one device that does Range Rover (L322) and BMW X5 (E53)
more the merrier really (for future foolish purchases)
Just been having a look on amazon and ebay and lots of TLA's to confuse me!
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0788KYY4Q/ref...
need a similar for the Rangie now
damn them Christmas Lights ...
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