Recommendations for obd2 scanners about £100???

[Bmwfan001]

Hi all.
Does anyone use or bought an obd2 scanner for about £100 or there abouts that is good? That really is useful ?
I don't want a £10 tool but something useful would be good.
I don't want to waste £150 if it's rubbish.

There are literally hundreds of them .....

The topdons or icarsoft??? But there are cheaper ones if any one has personal experience would be greatly appreciated.

Any ideas and thanks

Edited by Bmwfan001 on Sunday 5th November 09:59

[EmailAddress]

I prefer a generic reader with software that's being developed and updated.

E.g https://www.obdlink.com/ paired with https://bimmerlink.app/

It depends how many vehicles you're looking to read though.

[Bmwfan001]

3 or 4 cars at least in the family. Just something useful

[Radec]

Although over your budget I bought a topdog Artidiag500 to reset an airbag fault and some other stuff, worked really well and gets free updates

It's £159 on Amazon, however has a £25 voucher you can apply which brings the price down a bit if you can stretch your budget.

[cootuk]

I just got a cheap Autolink 319.
Basic, but reads codes and clears them ok.
It depends what you expect of it

[ScoobyChris]

My experience has been that the cheapo generic scanners are pretty good for the majority of “common” OBDII codes but that you will want something a bit more specialist for marque specific codes. My solution was to buy a cable and get the software for a PC for the marque (VAG, BMW and Ford) and use that, but it’s a bit of a pain especially where the software only runs on an antique laptop with a serial port . I also tried BimmerLink via an OBDII dongle but even that, disappointingly, couldn’t identify a parking sensor fault.

I’m not sure if the expensive tools you’re looking at give you coverage of multiple marques, but I ended up investing in one of these for my BMW as there are some maintenance tasks potentially on the horizon and I can DIY them and do the reset them without visiting a dealer:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/394126064192?mkcid=16&a...

Chris

[Decky_Q]

If you have a laptop I'd reccomend getting a fake delphi unit, they're all over wish/Aliexpress very cheap and do everything including parking brakes, airbags etc it's a very comprehensive system. I paid £60 to a local guy who installed it and set it up on my laptop. Its about £40 to buy and do it yourself.

[Bmwfan001]

Yes probably right. I have a BMW cable and the ista software.
I just didn't wanna buy a new canel and stuff for every car I have and use.
But it might be a better way.

Just fancied an All in one. But I guess will Cost much pennies.

My friend has a snap on solus ? I thought perhaps you can get a similar thing from China not costing thousands

[CraigyMc]

Bmwfan001 said:

Yes probably right. I have a BMW cable and the ista software.
I just didn't wanna buy a new canel and stuff for every car I have and use.
But it might be a better way.

Just fancied an All in one. But I guess will Cost much pennies.

My friend has a snap on solus ? I thought perhaps you can get a similar thing from China not costing thousands

If you've already got a d-can cable and ISTA/D with a laptop, I'm a bit confused why you're asking about all-in-ones.

For a code reader (without the ability to actually reset stuff) a bluetooth ELM327 from ebay for £5 delivered does the job as long as you have a smartphone and OBD application.

Given you've already done the painful bit for BMW group cars, it might be better to look at what specific software there is for the other cars in the family and get the specific code for each. For the VW group stuff, ETKA exists. It really matters which manufacturer you're talking to.

[Belle427]

I have an Icarsoft cr pro and its been great to be honest, topdon make some good stuff too. Try to buy something with free lifetime updates or at least reasonably priced.
The hooky Delphi system mentioned above is also good but not sure if you want to venture into that.

[keeling54]

I had an icarsoft for my merc, a brilliant bit of kit. When the merc went i sold it for pretty close to what i paid for it.

[Steve_W]

A timely thread revival for me.

I need to put a new battery on my 2016 BMW X1, that'll need logging to register the new battery with the car.

I've also got an old '98 Impreza turbo that needs to be brought back to life "soon"

Can anyone recommend a scanner that would suit both cars please?

I know there's things like Bimmerlink for the X1, but it'd be good if there's a tool out there that spans the 2 manufacturers I've got. Thanks

[CraigyMc]

Steve_W said:

A timely thread revival for me.

I need to put a new battery on my 2016 BMW X1, that'll need logging to register the new battery with the car.

I've also got an old '98 Impreza turbo that needs to be brought back to life "soon"

Can anyone recommend a scanner that would suit both cars please?

I know there's things like Bimmerlink for the X1, but it'd be good if there's a tool out there that spans the 2 manufacturers I've got. Thanks

The BMW can be done with a £15 d-link cable from ebay and a knocked off copy of ISTA.

For the Subaru you want SSM3, it's a bit too old for generic OBD tools.

[paul_c123]

Another vote for iCarSoft here.

[Steve_W]

CraigyMc said:

The BMW can be done with a £15 d-link cable from ebay and a knocked off copy of ISTA.

For the Subaru you want SSM3, it's a bit too old for generic OBD tools.

Thanks, didn't realise Subaru weren't on-board with OBD2 by then!
Have no idea about ISTA, let alone dodgy copies. Can have a Google but am always wary of things like that ( not the most IT tech savvy)

[ScoobyChris]

Check out the Ancel BM range - very user friendly and easy to use and won’t break the bank…

[richhead]

It is a daft situation, the idea of the move to obd ports was that you didnt need make specific cables, abit pointless if you need make specific licensed software to use the cable.

[LordLoveLength]

richhead said:

It is a daft situation, the idea of the move to obd ports was that you didnt need make specific cables, abit pointless if you need make specific licensed software to use the cable.

OBD is a standard that allows right to repair outside the dealer network for faults that affect emissions.

The same connector is used to access other vehicle systems but access to them is not required by law unlike emissions systems.
You can use the OBD cable/ software license free with standard code readers but generally pay a premium to access other systems.

Always worth looking at license length / renewal costs before purchasing a reader.

[fooman]

also worth looking at specific make / model versions like the icarsoft one for Mercedes rather than trying to get a universal one that's going to need ongoing licenses to support everything.

[LordLoveLength]

fooman said:

also worth looking at specific make / model versions like the icarsoft one for Mercedes rather than trying to get a universal one that's going to need ongoing licenses to support everything.

Topdon Artidiag EU is pretty good for that - it does VAG stuff (VW,Audi,Seat,Skoda,Rolls Royce,Lamborghini, Bentley, Bugatti) Mini, BMW and Mercedes with bidirectional control, all systems covered and free lifetime upgrades.

Downsides are small screen, only supports 1 parameter graph at a time and is wired not wireless. But is very good vfm if your car is covered.