​​​​​​I have a 2008 R56 an I'm interested in purchasing a scanner for this car that can not only do diagnostics but
can also program different aspects of the car. I'm looking for anyone that can chime in on this with your
thoughts on the best possible unit to purchase. I would like to hear your likes or dislikes concerning the unit
and which ones to stay away from.

 

There aren't many supporting "scanners" to do all of what you described. But if you must work with coding, do look into getting some sort of INPA-K+CAN cable, then install "NCS Expert" software to do your programming. There will be lots of German language in that platform which can be annoying if you don't know German, but there's also an "NCSdummy" you can use to assist with the linguistics. Good luck.

 

I know it's low-level and I wouldn't really considering programming, but if you get one of those cheap bluetooth OBDII dongles that can connect to your phone you can read engine codes, output data, and with the Carista app you can "program" things like the dealer would be able to do. I don't remember all of the features, but they went into holding down on the key unlock button to roll down the windows, lock to roll up, setting DRLs on or off, setting fog lights to remain on with the brights, welcome home lights, and maybe a few other things. You can get your car set up with the free trial of the app, and uninstall it once you're done.

Again, I'm not sure if this or what Yupetc's message was about you programming things on the car, but hopefully this can help anybody looking into it! Good luck!

 

• If you are looking for a good scan tool that will read all of the proprietary BMW codes and activate individual modules for testing, etc, battery registration, ABS/Airbag reset and those sorts of things, I own the Schwaben scan tool from ECS Tuning. It works really well for my needs, and has more than paid for itself in money saved troubleshooting issues with my CMS.
• You aren’t going to find too many options out there that will read the DTC’s and do coding too. You are more likely looking at two separate purchases for that.
• let us know what you find

 

Since you guys seem to know a bit about this, do you know how I go about resetting my oil replacement mileage? I change the oil myself and I would like to reset the timer/mileage on that when I change it. Unless it only resets to 10k miles like I think is the "recommended." I change around 3-5k.

 

 

You're awesome! I always assumed it was done through the OBD port.

 

 

Foxwell makes a series of inexpensive scanners that work well with the BMW and MINI. Foxwell makes the Schwaben scanner. Currently, Foxwell scanners can code Mercedes; I've told Foxwell reps that if they could enable the coding function for BMW and MINI their scanners will fly off the shelves. I believe their engineers will be working a coding function soon.

My first scanner purchase was the NT510; I used it to reset my steering angle sensor after I changed my clutch. After I wrote them a thank you note, they asked me to be a BETA tester, and they sent a GT80 Mini scanner. The NT510 scanner is still out there on Amazon, but it will be replaced by the NT520 in 2019.

If you're a shop, or deal with a lot of different makes of cars. The current offerings from Foxwell are the GT80 mini and the GT90, they are designed for shop use and consequently are more expensive; it is also a windows 10 based system. Foxwell is going to Android in 2019 since this will speed up scanner performance. Look for the i70 and the i70 Pro in early 2019.

 

Thanks again everyone once again. I will be ordering a schwaben scanner today for my mini.
I want to purchase a foxwell scanner as well but will wait for the newer models to be produced
and Hitt he market.

 

 

As stated, I like the Foxwell scanner (money for value), but for programming you need a laptop, OBDII cable, and software.

If you wanted, you can do everything (scanning and coding) on the laptop with the required OBDII cable and software, but it not very intuitive; you have to read and learn. One of the pitfalls to coding is the fact that if you make a serious mistake, you can brick your power train control module. There are plenty of tutorials already posted for BMW & MINI coding.