I swung by www.ross-tech.com last week for my monthly check to see if the "BIM-COM" program has been released. Instead of the old notice about it being a future product there's now no mention of its existence anywhere on the site that I can find.

An email to the company on the matter has gone unanswered.

Anyone know anything about this? It seemed like a potentially very useful product.

/gary

 

Its been gone from the sight for some time now, but no one seems to know the offical status. I agree, it would be very sad to see it go by the way side.

 

The total lack of responses to their forum, at whatever level of disclosure about price, release date,etc , is unprofessional ... and certainly calls into question that they are having issues delivering the tool.

 

I think it’s more professional not to “blow smoke up everyone’s behind” with optimistic delivery dates and pricing.

 

I'm not sure we have the right to expect a response from their forum.
Andy has never exhibited a salesman side of his personality so no surprises as to expectations of delivery. I, also, prefer to have my behind free of smoke. Does anyone know if Andy exhibited his BIM-COM carrot? I would also not find it surprising to learn that Andys absence from this forum and the absence of the product are somehow connected. That said, I want it, want it, want it, but accept that it will be here when it is here, if ever.

 

I certainly hope the final version will be released, especially since I have been using the beta Bim-Com for some time now. The data gathering ability of this product is absolutely awesome...

I talked to Andy recently, and he wouldn't reveal any release information about Bim-Com. Thus, we'll have to be patient and just hope that the Mini community will see this unit fairly "soon".

 

Still there

How does one come by a Bim-Com beta?

 

Page is still there if you know the direct link, but it is no longer referenced from the main site or listed under products as it use to be.

 

Well I'm hopeful, that the page being there is a good sign. It would be nice to know more, but Andy need not tell us, and from what I hear his shop has been very very busy.

Patience is key with something like this.

 

and comment from toolmicheal....

after nearly two years of patiently waiting... and the bim-com forum was established on Nov 18, 2002....

Seems like there IS a lot of smoke being blown around !

 

The referred to forum was created by persons interested in BiM-COM, not an official Ross-Tech endorsed/moderated communication board. The link on the company page was provided as a courtesy with a disclaimer, so I believe there is a misconception about the association between the forum and Ross-Tech/BiM-COM.

I don’t see any responsibility failures surrounding the timeline for product release or keeping status issues quiet; be patient.

FWIW, although I’m not officially “in the know”, no one has told me to pull the plug on compatibility testing. Even in the beta state the product is feature rich so it will be worth the wait.

 

funny how andy from Ross-Tech is no longer around either. and he was the one always testing the manufacturer's claims and claiming that certain vendors "hyped" products too much before we actually saw anything materialize. pretty ironic isn't it?

 

 

I never read any “hype” of the product other than user accolades from beta testers, myself included. For the curious, here is a link to the previously mentioned discussion group: http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/BiM-COM/

 

i never said that andy "hyped" Ross-tech's products. only that he always longed for "numbers" to back up claims. and he usually asked for those numbers by showing his own charts, results and graphs which i think were created using the Bim-com or Vag-com software. you could say he was indirectly "hyping" the software that Ross-Tech develops. etiher way he seems like a huge hypocrit (spelling?) right about now. and don't get me wrong i appreciated his no B.S., prove it or move it mentality once in a while.

 

Controversial even in his absence

It's hypocrite BTW.

 

Here's a quote...

"Ross-Tech has plans to introduce a diagnostic package for BMW/MINI and we have put considerable effort into its development. However we've come to realize that before this product can meet the high standards that our customers have come to expect from VAG-COM, it will require considerably more time and resources than originally planned. Therefore the BMW/Mini product release is not imminent. As this situation changes, we will update this FAQ entry with the relevant information and will post announcements on our News page."

So there you have it. It's alive, but slower than before.

Matt

 

Slightly OT but did anyone notice the new diagnostic competition over at Club M7? I'm looking forward to getting my hands on this I understand that it will be more powerful than BimCom and user friendly...

 

any product that queries the subsystems other than the ECU other than BiM-COM, but then, I wasn't there so haven't seen or heard anything....

Matt

 

yea i heard its da bomb.........and will nock tha socks off Bim-Com fer sure......

 

And so the hype begins

 

 

Upon what experience or first hand knowledge is this based? FWIW, I was recently told of an Asian company (? Korean) that has produced a diagnostics product that does go into some of the subsystems.

I am using beta Bim-Com at this time, and hopefully Ross-Tech will continue their development and refinement of this product. When they get it to the same level as Vag-Com, it should be more than awesome!

 

Is to any of your knowlegde, whether BIM-COM or any other software will let us create and upload custom ignition maps? Or getting a new stand alone ecu like motec is the only way. Also i would like to know if someone has been finetuning his ecu real time, like dyno-road tunning?
Thanks

 

and doesn't let you tune any maps. There are ways to get this done. There are companies in Europe that will sell you software to allow for the creation of custom maps, but you're talking multiple thousands of dollars a unit. They're the ones that sell the software to the tuner shops that can sell you a tune.

I've heard rumors of some groups that have started hacking the ECU itself so that they can do maps. One I've talked with won't ever sell that SW, but is creating maps for thier own products, and tuning thier own cars. If I'm lucky, I may be able to go see it in action and maybe even get my car tuned!

But I'm not aware of anyone who is selling what you're asking for. If it's not tied to a particular VIN, then it basically makes companies like GIAC obsolete. One software, lots of cars......

Matt